Say ‘Pfff!’ to performance in this Philly festival of improvised art

What is freedom in performance? This is one of many questions to discover, experience, and debate at the Impermanent Society of Philadelphia’s (ISOP)’s Philadelphia Free Form Festival (Pfff!), a series of performances, conversations, and workshops coming up throughout the city from October 17-23.

This “multidimensional” fest of “freely improvised sound and movement performance and practice” hasn’t announced all the times and locations of its 28 curated participating artists yet (follow along via ISOP’s website for the latest). But there will be three nights of “fully improvised collaborative situations” going down at Crane’s Icebox Project Space, including dinner (for an extra $5 on the $10-$15 “sliding scale” cash-at-the-door price) on October 21-23.

On October 17 at Mascher Space Coop, Karen Nelson will offer an advanced improvisation workshop: FormSmash Tuning Scores, on “an intriguing way to investigate fundamental elements of performance and communication to compose live art, together.” Advance tickets are available online.

On October 21 from 1-3pm at Temple’s Tuttleman Learning Center (room 107), a Pfff! Panel Discussion will ask “What is freedom in performance?” This conversation featuring Pfff! artists and ISOP members will explore the art of improvisation with moderator Asimina Chremos. The fest will also include youth workshops with Girls Rock Philly and Moffet Elementary.