Slowing down to speed up

Talking to a client who works in one of the most prestigious LA restaurants, I asked about how their restaurant is run. My friend says that when the executive chef is there, the kitchen does things carefully, with great attention to detail. But when the sous chefs are running the kitchen, the emphasis switched to “hurry up.” I have experienced something similar in performance contexts working with a creative artistic team vs the artistic management team. In these cases, there is a way in which the fundamental operating practice in misconstrued- efficiency becomes confused with rushing. Hastiness ends up compromising desired results.

To innovate you need flexible, stable framework.

Chef Bill Telepan speaks succinctly about the importance of taking the right amount of time to get it right: “The one minute behind you are now is going to become 6 minutes because we’re gonna have to redo the plate…”

Watching this video of Michelle Kwon on Cathy Madden’s blog, I had a clear sense of slowing down to speed up. Michelle Kwon is known for her precision and clean execution as well as her emotionally evocative performing. As she prepares to go into a specific move (a triple lutz for example) I feel like I am in flow state with her. Time seems to stretch. A living pause to coordinate precedes clear intention and apparently seamless execution.

A single, unified performance is a series of next right movements that we have studied and rehearsed in preparation to use our skills onstage to communicate with an audience. This attention, this living pause, this is what allows us to bring quality to our performance and our lives.

Sources:
NPR: Organize Like a Chef
Wired Magazine
cathymadden.net