TORONTO CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
WORKSHOP, March 30, 2009
THE MOVEMENT FACTOR:
“INSTANT” CHOREOGRAPHY, INEVITABLE EXPECTATIONS & NO-FAIL FUN
---Glenys
THE CHAIR WARM-UP
(included partial TEMPER TANTRUM!)
OBJECTIVEà “working out of the box”—making a chair ‘not just
a chair’
o
connecting voice/ body/
emotions—& inserting elements from learning sources
SPACEà in the workshop, participants sit on chairs in a
large circle, with enough space between them to work safely; chairs can also be
in rows, even with desks in front of them (if necessary).
PROGRESSIONSà
TEMPER TANTRUM SECTION:
·
POUNDING feet on floor
(lifting knees to chest), slapping thighs; releasing voice to say
“’aaaahhhhaaaa” &/or “NO, I WON’T”, etc. (voice is same “size” as stomping/
slapping)
·
THROWING STONES! Pretend
you’re fighting the people opposite you in the circle (and they’re far away
from you); throw stones and yell at them, while maintaining stomping feet…
·
GREETING LONG-LOST
FRIENDS! Imagine the people opposite
you in the circle are dear friends, but they’re a couple of blocks awayà stomp, wave both arms frenetically, shout to get
their attention…
·
SLO MO-STAGE WHISPERà redo all above in slow motion, with
stage whisper voices [you’ll note it is harder, more control
required, more of a workout!…and more fun!]
POLISHING [back of chair, then seat
of chair, then both by wiggling] SECTIONà an
excellent way to “contextualize” the exercise…by suggesting that participants
‘polish…as if…’ (and then add the suggestion you want, such as … “you were
lightning”, or “thunder”…or “water evaporating/condensing”…or “Ophelia’s mind as
she picks flowers”…or “a person as (s)he decides to leave his/her country…etc,
etc. [NOTE: Although this may seem very
abstract at first, it really does provide a platform for discussion and for
delving into areas/elements/issues of study from a kinetic basis that
facilitates learning, reflection, and memory of the work].
DANCE SECTIONà
·
UKRANIAN dancingà 1. sit forward on edge of chair, feet together; 2.
let back fall against chair back, kick one leg in air, arms open wide and yell
“HAAAHHH”; 3. sit forward to starting position, stomp feet together on floor
& clap hands; 4. kick other leg in air-yell “HAAAHHH”, etc.
·
CHORUS LINEà 1. sit forward on edge of chair; 2. open arms and
push left foot out to side so left leg is straight (right leg stays in original
bent position, with toes on floor), and shout “DAA…DAAHHHH”; 3. clap hands,
while bringing both legs together again & stomp feet; 4. fling open arms
& push right foot out straight sideways & shout again, etc…
OLYMPICS SECTIONà sit back on chair so that feet are off floor
[those who are tall—cheat!] and ‘run’, trying to touch heels to underseat of
chair, as fast as you can; pump arms back and forth, with elbows bent, in time
with feet]
INSECTS SECTION à Imagine there are insects or reptiles all over the
floor; lift feet off floor; slide over on seat of chair, and lean body over to
one side, to see the insects on the floor at that side…then see there are more
on other side, and sit back up, shift weight to be able to lower head to other
side to see insects on that side…
AROUND THE WORLD SECTION à keeping feet off floor, manoeuvre with hands to
lift feet and twirl [slowly] feet up and around the backs of the chair till you
end up back in normal sitting position; repeat other way.
NOTE: Invite your students/actors/ participants to come
up with new variations under each section!
You’ll be amazed how quickly your repertoire increases.
PUPPETS (in PAIRS)
A
no-contact, non-verbal improvisation, excellent for introducing movement &
collective, creative story- and meaning-making.
|
♫ NOTE: from the beginning, add slow
mood-based MUSIC AS BACKGROUND. It will help concentration and will keep
movements slow. ] |
·
in pairs; decide who is
puppet first and who is puppeteer.
·
with index finger and
thumb together (as if holding a string between them), puppeteer points to body
part that puppet is to more.
·
keeping his/her
fingers about 3-6 inches from the indicated part of the puppet's body,
puppeteer gestures slow, clear instructions (in silence) for the puppet to
follow.
·
when puppeteer stops the
movement, puppet stops.
·
puppeteer
"freezes" the string (and therefore the puppet) by opening the thumb
and index finger.
·
puppeteer then continues
to direct another part of the puppet's body.
·
puppet is to work hard
to follow the puppeteer instructions as exactly as possible.
·
Switch roles after a
couple of minutes. Discuss what they learned/felt/ experienced.
·
Context: instruct puppeteers to "sculpt" a
specific kind of statue: e.g. …that represents the emotions/feelings
of a character from a play, story, or movie, at the height of his/her emotional
journey.
·
Viewing: Sculpture
Gardensà Give
puppeteers fairly little time to do this… Then, puppets stay frozen in
position, while puppeteers step back walk around the outside of the puppet
sculpture garden, viewing puppets (they look like a sculpture garden).
·
Have them imagine a
story created by any 3 or 4 or group of puppets, etc.
·
Do same exercise, with
the puppets now being puppeteers.
Another large group exercise…& an excellent
segue from Puppets…
·
Divide class into groups of about 7-9 per group
(for learning...afterward, groups can become much larger).
·
While one group works, audience stands on both
sides of room to watch.
·
Working group stands at one end of the room,
shoulder to shoulder in a straight line, ALMOST touching elbows.
·
There should be no "leader" for the work;
the group concentrates on 'listening', sensing each others' impulse to go, then
the entire group will move forward as if one. Their feet DO NOT need to be in
unison--it is the lining up of the bodies that creates the effect.
|
♫ Add slow, gentle, mood-based music for the groups to move to… |
·
The group begins moving SIMULTANEOUSLY forward,
crosses the room, turns around and returns-- maintaining their close, straight
line formation. Let each group repeat the crossing at least a couple of
times before stopping them. Students should keep hands by their sides
and eyes straight ahead.
·
ADDING STATUES: as the working group (the WAVE)
crosses the room, anyone
in line may stop in a statue formation. NOTE: at least one person from the WAVE
must remain walking!
|
♫ Again, add slow, gentle music |
·
The 'statue' stays frozen in position until the
WAVE returns and 'envelops' them back into the line. Statues may wait for
more than one passing of the wave to be enveloped.
·
The effect is like a wave, leaving shells and articles
on the beach…to be picked up and moved back out to sea by a subsequent wave.
·
ADDING CONTEXT: as it is already slow and
contained (ie not chaotic), it works very well accompanied by text spoken
simultaneously--from within the WAVE itself or from outside.
An
excellent way to teach any process, system, plot, series of events, concepts,
etc. for general educational purposes…and the most effective way of
transforming any source into image-movement theatre for performance
purposes. It is also excellent for
language teaching, as the active verbs you choose must be dramatic, as well as
effective.
PREMISEà “If you extract the verbs or
images from any action, idea, event, etc., you will have a dynamic, dramatic
movement text.” (Jacques Lecoq, class.1970).
1)
GROUP CIRCLE: THE “GESTURE STEP”
·
We
used “brushing teeth” as example
·
Extracting
major “dramatic” action verbs/imagesà reach, grasp, yank, twist,
squeeze, ooze, scrub, swish, spit [note strength of voice/gesture connection]
·
Changing
Roles/ ‘Abstracting’: switching point of view from “doer” to “done to.” [imagine hand reaching—from
toothpaste tube’s point of view; do “swish” from toothpaste point of view]
·
Universal
choreography: realizing we already know the dance [toothpaste tube; gargling]
because the world choreographs itself all around us: we only need to observe
and recreate it.
2) SMALL GROUPS: THE “ABSTRACT’” MOVEMENT STEP
·
Divide
the group into sub-groups of about 5 participants per group.
·
Each
group chooses the source [we used “events from the kitchen”] & extracts 5-7
of the main, or most dramatic action verbs/ images from their source.
·
They
prepare the full-body choreographic equivalents of those verbs, remembering to
switch to “the done to”, rather than the human “doer” [use individual,
collective or combinations of choices for how to interpret the verbs].
·
Groups
also decide their presentation’s dramatic atmosphere[s]/ narrative/drama
·
Be
sure presentation has: a) structure: strong beginning & ending image; b)
clear overall dramatic atmosphere
·
This
pre-determined dramatic atmosphere becomes basis for requesting accompanying
music.
·
Groups
will present one at a time.
|
♫ Add appropriate mood
music according to dramatic atmosphere requested. [see Soundtrack Performance Group Library of Dramatic
Atmospheres used for this] |
3) POSSIBLE VARIATIONS:
·
Mix
& Match music, using; a) ‘opposite’
or b) random music selectionsà and see how interaction with
music alter work
·
Mix
& Match groupsà have
one person from each of 3-5 groups come up and do the verb chain just as they
did with their original group, taking into account that they may need to pause
to let others pass by, move, etc. These
“non-verbal improves” can give some wonderful results, even if they are
impossible to replicate.
Extensions: into writing, painting, sculpting,
storymaking, storytelling, soundscapes.