Several of the improvisations here are specifically meant to free the imagination. It involves the give and take of ideas and cues, the capacity to individually reinforce the collective structure of rising and falling action and to contribute to conflict within the whole. Ensemble refers to the actor's ability to take appropriate individual focus or to blend into the whole when necessary. Ensemble is also the individual's ability to function as a supportive member of the group while maintaining full responsibility for her own choices. All of the group improvisations in this book are ensemble exercises.
Spontaneity is the actor's self permission to freely follow the unexpected impulse.
It is strongly linked to imagination. Spontaneity may be viewed as a catalyst for imagination, because it thrusts open the gate from which imagination pours forth before the actor has time to build a dam to restrain it. A great deal can be discovered by giving spontaneity free rein in training studios and in early rehearsals. A more refined measure of spontaneity is often applied to performance. Although it is hoped that all performances are spontaneous, in that the actor responses are not planned and stale, most externals of performance are more solidly rooted the closer one gets to technical rehearsal.