Improvisation: The Creative Habit That Changes Everything

What if improvisation was your creative partner and not scary...

What if it was simply about discovering what's already inside you?

In this episode of The Artist Behind the Art, Jennifer explores why improvisation is one of the most valuable creative tools a performer can develop. Whether you're creating a new act, exploring character, or feeling stuck in the choreography process, improvisation creates space for curiosity, experimentation, and artistic growth.

Instead of searching for the perfect movement or waiting until you have the entire plan figured out, this episode will help you approach creativity with less pressure and more possibility.

In this episode:

✨ Why improvisation is about finding possibilities—not perfect answers
✨ The mindset shift that unlocks creativity
✨ Why "getting oil on the canvas" matters before refining your work
✨ Three practical approaches to improvisation you can use immediately
✨ How to identify the creative gaps in your act
✨ Letting your music become your creative partner
✨ Using movement you already know to discover something new
✨ Why resistance is often pointing toward your next breakthrough
✨ Simple ways to add creative constraints that spark new ideas
✨ How improvisation helps you uncover your unique artistic voice

Your first draft isn't supposed to be your masterpiece.

Its job is simply to exist.

Because every improvisation session leaves clues—and every act begins with the courage to explore.

Thanks so much for listening to The Artist Behind the Art.
This podcast exists to support performers in building sustainable, aligned, and castable careers — beyond just the skills.

✨ Work With Me: Own the Stage Act Creation Mentorship

I’m currently building the next round of Own the Stage: Act Creation Mentorship.

If you feel like you have the talent—but when it comes to act creation, something just isn’t fully clicking—this is for you.

Most of the time, it’s not a complete overhaul.
 It’s a few missing tools and a few shifts in how you’re approaching the process.

That’s what takes you from second-guessing your work
 to becoming the artist who is ready to go for the opportunities you actually want.

If that resonates, I’d love to connect.

📩 Email me at jennifer@aretementorship.com

📲 Or DM me on Instagram at The Artist Behind the Art

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Remember — you already have what it takes.
 The question is: are you ready to prove it to yourself?

Until next time — show up big and own the stage.

Transcript

0:01

Welcome to The Artist Behind the Art, the podcast that lifts the curtain on what it takes to thrive as a professional performer. I'm your host, Jennifer Pierce, artist coach, creative strategist, and lifelong advocate for performers who are ready to go from unsure to unforgettable. This is where the gatekeeping ends and your journey to thriving in the industry begins. Let's dive in.

Speaker 2 0:31

The more that we can have a low-pressured way of experimenting, the more growth and the more possibilities that really open up to us. Today's episode is about improvisation, and it's not always about finding the answers. It's about finding possibilities. When we encounter a song or we have an emotion we want to explore expressing, or you have an act you need to create and you see some of where your biggest skills belong, but then you get into the studio to experiment and choreograph, and all of a sudden nothing. And you convince yourself that you need a better plan before you begin. So, I think if we can just approach choreography or a song from a place of curiosity, then from there it really opens up a whole host of possibilities. And when we see a portion of it, that's the part we need to hold onto and experiment with, and then step back and review. And that's all that improvisation is really about, is about taking the parts that you either understand or the parts that need to be developed, and give those a place, to explore and to really, really see what is possible for growth. So, I am hoping in today's episode that I can change your relationship with improvisation. I don't want you thinking of it as something that is scary or something that dancers are only good at. I want you to see it as one of the most valuable tools you have to propel your creative process. And today, I'm gonna share three different ways I use improvisation in my own creative process and with the artists I coach. My hope is that one of these approaches changes your relationship with improvisation and gives you a practical way to start creating

Speaker 3 2:38

So one of my earliest experiences with improvisation was truly terrifying. It was a place that I was under pressure to do well. Early on in my dance career before I found circus arts, I was at an audition for Gus Giordano Dance Company, and in the audition, there was the assignment that we needed to do about 32 counts of continuous turning. But the one exception was that we weren't allowed to use the same kind of step. It was they wanted to really see more organically and creatively what came out of us. And I completely froze because when I got what I couldn't do, I all of a sudden didn't see the possibilities. And they started the music, and everybody started moving, and I completely froze. And at this time, Gus Giordano was actually himself running the audition, and he stopped the music, and he called me forward and said, "I know what's in you. Do better." And I think I was just so scared of not impressing this man who was a legend in the jazz dance world that I think the only thing I could do was listen to the music, and I let that be my guide. And I don't think I necessarily excelled at the assignment because it was not something that I had exercised and gotten good at, but I guess I did good enough because I did get the position for that summer program apprenticeship that I was hoping for. But it was the wake-up call and the moment where I could only at that point hear the music and ask my body to move. And I wasn't lacking movement or technique, but I was trying to think my way into creativity, and I was looking for that magic step, and it just doesn't exist. So let's dive into these different ideas where we can have improvisation not be about finding the answers and about finding the possibilities. One of the things that I want for you to carry forward and to be the biggest shift that is going to help you really put this tool to use is that nothing can be refined until it exists. You can't edit choreography that never has left your imagination, and you can't shape movement that hasn't happened. So I love to say, "Get oil on the canvas." Don't worry about painting the masterpiece. Just get the paint on it, and then you have something that you can shape. So go in and really allow yourself to be curiosity-driven Because every improvisation always leaves clues

Speaker 7 5:30

So approach number one, when it comes to improvisation is to discover the gap, and don't feel like you need to have all of the answers. If you can sit with the music and with the concept and know what you do connect with, go ahead and put the music on and do the part that you understand, the part that you feel. Use the skills that you feel most comfortable exploring with. This then gives you a place to go ahead and step back and look at what you have produced in that improv session and then go, "Okay, here is the gap. The gap is in I am not resonating with the character or the gap is the technical high-level skill elements are not sitting in the pocket of the music. But until you really actually let yourself express without any expectation, filling in that gap is going to be one of the hardest parts. So I think the biggest thing is remove the expectations. Let yourself just go into the session with what you do feel, with what you do understand, and then that way you can go ahead and connect to the moments or to the parts that need to really be developed with purpose. And I think once one iteration of something exists, then you can just layer those parts on that feel that they have that resistance, and it gives you a way to explore from a place where something is already established, and then you can start tweaking it instead of feeling like it has to be this completely well-thought-out act to begin with. So don't try to solve for the entire act. Just solve for what you know and then start exploring that gap.

Speaker 4 7:33

So approach number two, let your music become your partner. Because when we make time for our body and our imagination to connect to the song, it also just creates this comfort level. So taking time to listen to the vocals and the melody and the downbeat, then that way your body becomes safe within the music, and it gives you that place to exist within the pocket of the music. So if you take time before you, you have your improvisational session to listen to the music and just listen and see what parts of the song move you, this is going to allow your instincts to be able to kick in. And I really believe that the first time that you apply movement, that your natural instinct is something so valuable to be able to view because it's part of your artistic fingerprint. And by taking that time to really learn the structure of the song, it helps because then we know how the song starts. Does it have a verse that leads into a chorus? We then can connect a little bit more to give our body a place to explore within a little bit of semblance of, of knowing. And then from there, my favorite thing to branch off with having the music be our partner is to challenge how our ear hears something. So if you are an artist that naturally hears the downbeat and the rhythm and you-- your natural instincts is to go to that more faster tempo, to then challenge yourself to be able to move in half time allows the exact same movements to be able to sit in a different pocket of the music, and that says something completely different. And it often just reveals a different way that the music can be interpreted And often I'll work with artists and we'll sit around and talk about what do you hear in a song? And sometimes when we have our ear challenged and then we sit with the music and ask ourself, "What do I naturally hear? What is my body really motivated by?" But then from there, you challenge yourself to only move to the strings or to maybe listen to for the places of silence and really maximize those impactful moments in an improvisational session. We really build this deeper understanding of our music, and when we can play with these different textures and different instruments and then sit back and observe, we then really become the master of our music. And I think this is where we can really help the audience see what they hear, and within that is so much power

Speaker 5 10:42

Okay, approach number three is the safest place to start, and this is starting with what you already own. Improvisation feels intimidating because we feel that we have to invent everything, and you don't. Especially in circus arts, our brain is already busy trying to stay safe or really nail a catch or something that is already very demanding. So often, our brain doesn't have a lot of room left to be curious. So what I would love for you to do if you find a lot of resistance around improvisation is to take a sequence you already know or take an act that already exists and now layer it on top of the new song. You don't have to change the skills. Let the music change you and how you then deliver that moment. That way, your body and your mind have already experienced it, so there is this safe space for your subconscious to allow it to just develop and be unique in that time and that space. And I think this is one of the most easiest ways to enter into improvisation because it just allows something that already exists be unique on its own. And if you are looking for a way, if you're developing a character, and let's say you are wanting to take an existing act and really discover what is possible for the development of this idea, this emotion, you can take three different songs that really evoke that feeling or that character you're after, and by planting that choreography on three separate different songs just by improvisation, no expectations, often there are going to be other unique pathways that you're gonna find that you're gonna naturally explore. The placement of skills are gonna just sit and be developed a little bit differently with nuances. So don't expect the act to come out completely as verbatim as you choreographed it. Allow your body to interpret and go with the flow because that's where that magic happens and that curiosity. But by taking pathways and sequences that already exist, it just allows us to disarm that part that wants to have all of the answers. And I think that's when you're not creating from scratch, you're creating from experience. It really allows something new to be created

Speaker 6 13:32

So when you take these three different ideas into the studio, I want you to know that resistance is normal, and to please expect it. And I think resistance is often pointing toward your next artistic breakthrough. So instead of asking, "Why am I uncomfortable?" You can ask, "What is this trying to teach me?" The only way to have the breakthrough is to go through it, and I think sometimes when we encounter the resistance, that's the thing that makes us pull away, and I want you to sit there with it and just be brave and explore. L- let the space and the time just exist and create. And then from there, be really kind in the time that you use to observe what you've created, because that time of watching the recording is going to be the most powerful part of the whole experience, is seeing what you create, what are the possibilities, and what direction is this now leading you in? And sometimes if it is still, uh, you're not feeling like you're having that breakthrough, we might just need a little bit more direction. So my last tip for improvisation is sometimes you need to add a lens, and this gives your brain one thing to discover. It gives your brain one job. So depending upon what you are looking to create, you can get really clear on one emotion that you are then layering over a sequence or choreography that already exists, or a concept to explore that with. So whether it's giving your movement quality the, um, an underwater resistance-like leading lens or one objective like a rhythm to follow. And when our conscious mind has one thing to focus on, the subconscious has room to play And if all else fails, one of my favorite coaching sessions to do with students is to do an improvisation coaching so this gives another set of eyes and ears, another perspective, and someone who can hear the music, something that maybe you haven't heard yet, or in observing you in your improvisation session, a movement quality that needs to be explored that you didn't realize is really uniquely yours and within you. And I think by having that extra eye and that encouragement, it helps someone discover what is possible through that place of having just someone on your team. So if all else fails and you are feeling that resistance, ask a trusted friend or a mentor or a coach if they will do a improvisation session as a coaching session to see if they can help pull more of what you are looking to fill as that gap out of you, so then that way you can really find the path forward. So don't feel like you have to explore everything, and when you are exploring different movements, don't feel like you have to fit into every box or every casting or every style. Explore what calls you, because sometimes you'll uncover another shade of yourself that's worth pursuing. And we all have a unique artistic voice, and it is up to us to really develop that. So the next time you walk into the studio, don't wait for the perfect idea. Get oil on the canvas. Create before you know exactly where you're going, and trust that your first draft is not supposed to be your masterpiece. Its job is simply to exist. And remember, every improvisation session leaves clues. It reveals how you naturally hear music, and before the choreography, before the planning, and before the overthinking, there is simply the way that you naturally move and really embrace the preferences that your body has, the rhythms, the qualities, and your instincts. These are the beginning of your artistic voice. Some of these qualities deserve to be nurtured, and others deserve to be challenged. So that's the gift of improvisation. Choose curiosity over criticism, and when something inspires you and surprises you, lean in Thank you so much for spending this time with me today. If this episode helped shift the way you think about creativity, I'd love for you to share it with another artist who might need the reminder to trust themselves a little more. And remember, you already have what it takes. Your body knows more than you think it does. Now it's time to trust it, explore it, and discover just how much is already inside of you. Until next time, show up big and own the stage