Get to know Cindy 1 

Cindy Pittens: Romanian improvisers are open to new spices being added to their toolkit

Cindy Pittens, the Dutch improviser who has rocked our world here at Improteca during her two-month residency, leads with a mindful approach to improvisation and says if you are hesitant about whether improv is for you or not, you should try it because you won’t know until you’ve taken the first step.

Cindy’s approach to improvisation entails connecting to your body and your feelings and she says some Romanian improvisers are curious about this mindful approach, which takes the pressure off from seeking to be funny at all costs, while letting the humor emerge naturally.

Daniela Stoican: Cindy, how do you feel about your experience in Romania?
Cindy: “I feel really good about it! I think from the first moment people in this improv community - these are the people I’ve met - everyone’s kind, everyone’s curious, welcoming, open to help. Most of the people here are very open about how they feel.”
DS: More than Dutch people?
Cindy: “I think so, yeah. Their hearts are more on the outside, I would say. And it allows me to be more myself. It allows me to express myself as I would like to, more than I would say in my country. I can sometimes have the feeling that I am too expressive and I share too many vulnerabilities and people are intimidated by that.”

DS: You mean in the Netherlands?

Cindy: “Yeah. Here (in Romania i.e.) I feel as if everything is super welcome and it doesn’t really matter, everybody’s human. We all suffer and we share it and we also enjoy the good stuff. And Romanians, at least the ones that I’ve met also have a celebratory, social side. You celebrate relations and connection.”
Cindy says she felt boosted in her self-confidence as an improviser in Romania.
“I have received a lot of appreciation in my work. I heard stuff that I know I have been working on in the last ten years and people saw that skill and that mindset in me or that part of an improviser that I really worked on - stuff like connect to others. I really worked hard on that part, so I’m proud and I’m happy and grateful for all these responses.”

DS: Have you noticed some specific features of Romanian improvisers and their style?
Cindy: “I’m not sure if it’s specifically very Romanian, I think this is also a thing around the world -  it’s what many improvisers do is stick to the comedic part and not really dive into a character - feel real, also on stage, feel that body, feel these emotions - there is an awareness of all these things that get lost when you try to tell a nice story or you try to be funny. I saw that happening here.

But I also saw the curiosity - the players here are “Oh, I want to learn that, I want to do that! How does that work?”
Cindy says more experienced Romanian players want to teach [mindful improv] as well.
“Andrei Bratu for instance from Improteca wants to do that. So it’s a thing that is there, as in every improv community. You see people who are not connected to that (mindfulness mindset i.e.) yet, but are curious and want to learn.”
Andrei Bratu is in fact set to start a class that teaches character building soon at Improteca.

Cindy also talked to people who said <<Yeah, but the audience doesn’t really want something else than comedy because they think it’s related to stand-up or they expect it to be funny.>>
Her answer to them is that you can throw in different spices and see if the audience likes them.
“We really talked about it here - how can we create formats - for instance with Jukebox (a format that Cindy, Andrei Bratu and Michalis Panagiotakis tried out during Cindy’s stay in Romania i.e.) - it’s a way to give people new spices and give them the opportunity to say << Neh, I don’t like the new spice, I want the old spice. >> Fine!
But they’re actually interested in the new spice. So you can gradually educate your audience as well. And it can be awesome quality and it can be interesting and it can touch me as an audience member.”
Jukebox has indeed been appreciated by the audience and the three performers may join up again in the future to perform it.

DS: What would you say to someone who would like to try improv but is hesitant?
Cindy: “To that person I would say Do it! Because there’s only one way to find out. You don’t know it until you have reached out and taken the first step.
So take the first step. And maybe the first step for you is to see a show. Or to have a conversation with another improviser. Or with a teacher that you feel safe with, so that you know a little bit of what’s coming. Maybe your first step is just to leave all hesitations behind for one second and jump in and do it and see after a class whether you liked it or not.” 

So if you want to jump in and try improv, follow Improteca’s social media pages to see when the next beginner class starts.

DS: And do you have a message for Improteca?
Cindy: “I would really like to thank Andrei Bratu since he has been creating this residency, and his whole team from Improteca working really hard to get stuff done. It’s extra work for them. They don’t earn anything more. They are just creating this space for us and it’s just the biggest present to be somewhere, to give what you have to give without worrying about the circumstances or where you live or how do you get somewhere or all these pragmatic things. You’re just here, there’s a life created for us, a space, and it’s amazing, that is such a gift! And I really want to thank Andrei for that and the people from Improteca.”

Cindy Pittens is a Dutch improviser who made it her mission to connect the improv mindset with being human. She has a background in social work as well as theater and has been teaching improv both for leisure purposes and in corporate settings through her company CP Impro for 8 years.

Here is what a participant in one of her workshops at Improteca had to say about her:
“Cindy is one of the most modest, straightforward improvisers and humans that I have met. Her honest, empathic way of teaching aims at cutting away the overthinking energy and allowing yourself to connect with yourself, your partner and your scene environment. Her classes are student-centered and very captivating.” Radu Andone, architect.

Cindy has been part of a two-month cultural residency at Improteca theater in Bucharest, Romania, where she created several shows together with fellow residents Michalis Panagiotakis (Greece) and Matilda Lindström (Finland), as well as with top Romanian improvisers. The improv show that represented the culmination of her residency was called Mad World and was wildly successful.

You can read the Romanian version right here!