InterPlay specialist CathyAnn Beaty will be conducting a workshop that will help you express yourself by tapping into your own creativity, writes Akshata Shetty

Have you ever given yourself a second chance to help achieve what you always wanted? Well, this is not an article suggesting 1,000 ways to rejuvenate your life. Nobody can make your life easy or stress free. But you can always try and search for that inner peace. Helping you rediscover yourself,  CathyAnn Beaty will be conducting an 'Interplay' workshop at Gulati Hall, St Vincent's School (near Shivaji Market), Camp, on Jan 12 and 13.

Interplay is teaching different art forms to use the body in a way to create its own creativity. And that is done by movements, story telling, voice and stillness. “It’s about expressing yourself and creating an ease in your body. For instance, through movement, you learn to find your own dance movement. We show the participants different movements and encourage them to find their own. Interplay is simple and easy because what’s best than finding yourself!” says CathyAnn, a dancer, visual artist and an InterPlay expert.

Based in the US, CathyAnn started practising Interplay professionally 20 years back. And so far she has being getting a lot of positive feedback. “I personally got to know about Interplay through a friend who conducted the workshops. The founders, Cynthia Winton-Henry and Phil Porter, are philosophers, speakers, teachers, and performers. I am a dancer and visual artist, and taking up Interplay did help me a lot in my life,” CathyAnn adds.

But how does one apply Interplay in daily life? “It helped me to get to know people in a different way and made me look at my surroundings more affirmatively,” says the expert.

Before she embarked on Interplay, CathyAnn was a parish pastor for 15 years and  was a minister at the United Church of Christ. “I started by conducting basics of Interplay, and then later combined it with my venture Soulplay. I understood that instead of working, we must play; it helped me become patient and playful,” explains CathyAnn. InterPlay creates a place to have fun, makes one enjoy the company of others and, most importantly, it makes you share and express. 

She feels that most of us (adults) have forgotten to play. So, we need to discover our playful side. “Besides teaching adults how to play, it also helps them to tap into their own creativity. InterPlay is primarily a form that creates and nurtures connection and friendship through creating art in community. This is a very important aspect,” she says.

Another important aspect is the element of peace. CathyAnn shares, “Those of us who are teaching InterPlay are committed to creating peace in the world using the practice of play. We also help create friendships. InterPlay is a powerful way to make this happen.”

 CathyAnn will be assisted by teacher of dance and drama and InterPlay leader Alsion Lee for the workshop. For registration and details, call Janaki on 9422089906 or Suhasini on 9850008328.