The Creative Conversation | Stanley Kaplan

The Creative Converstion

Summer evenings at the family home, leaning against the car — father and son talking late into the night. It began with improvisation. Those conversations, which started when Rob was 21, expanded into the larger questions: creative process, spirituality, how one lives in relation to the world. For Stan, they were a catalyst — giving new life to his sketching and his creative process in general.

Zasis

Zasis — Rob Kaplan, Thomas Chapin, Bill Sloat, and Thad Wheeler — entered every performance with nothing pre-planned. For Stan, watching them was creative fuel. A visual record of music made in the moment.

Doodle Project

Son inspired father, father inspired son. What began as doodles on a school notebook became a college art class project, then a creative practice project for dancers — passed back and forth across decades and art forms, and in the end, a language between them when words no longer worked.

Beyond Words

A classroom activity became a private language. Rob and Stan kept a drawing conversation journal for the last two years of Stan's life — marks on a page when words became difficult. At the bedside, Rob kept creating.

Collaboration in Print

In 2002 Stan's sketches found their way into two of Rob's publications — Rhythmic Training for Dancers and An Interactive Guide to Music for Dancers, CD-ROM. Cover, pages, screens — his visual language woven throughout. The creative conversation, now in print.

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