EVALUATION

I feel that Community term has been one of the most fulfilling and that I have learnt and gained so much from it. I have developed skills from planning a session to facilitating inclusive exercises. On top of this I feel that these are all skills that I will be able to apply and use in the future to support myself and others.

In the planning process I gained a lot of knowledge on how to approach planning a session for anyone but also I was able to hone my skills into creating inclusive workshops which taught me about sensory and inclusive theatre. One of the main things I learnt from this process was how important the practical side of planning is. When I started this term and it came to planning I approached it as a sitting down, theoretical process and one that included only discussion and thoughts. However during the planning for the Arts Week at St Giles we were able to get up and practise all the different games and exercises that we wanted to play with our groups. This showed me how important physically playing and running the games was as it highlighted the problems and benefits of each game to a group but also it showed how inclusive the games were to be played with a mixed ability group. I also found that running the workshops allowed us to work on our own facilitating skills and what language was and wasn’t suitable. I personally found this really helpful with my confidence as I was able to learn how to approach the workshops and when it came to running exercises I was less nervous and my skills had been worked on and I knew that the games had a good chance of working and offering something to the students.

Throughout the week we spent at the school working with the students I learnt many different things personally and related to running workshops and working with the students that I feel have all benefitted me massively. From working with the PMLD students I found that all different exercises can be adapted and made to be inclusive and to engage them on sensory levels as well as the other students benefiting from the exercises as well. For example in the vocal warm up exercise where we have to chew an imaginary piece of toffee, to engage the PMLD students would couldn’t join in we got pieces of play dough and rolled them on their arms like toffee, this included the students as they were able to feel the toffee and be engaged in the exercise. Personally this way of being able to include everyone in the games regardless of ability was one of the most important things that I learnt as it showed me how when working with mixed abilities there doesn’t need to be boundaries and have to push people aside because they can’t join in, instead everyone can be engaged on different levels. When we first got our group I was worried as we had PMLD students and then students with the highest ability and I was unsure as to how we were going to find exercises that would cater to all their needs and not be too easy for some but too challenging for others. However small adjustments like the toffee has showed me how easily everyone can work together and on top of that how nice it is to combine the to different groups and getting them to work together to produce a piece of art.

This week has also improved my facilitating skills massively and has taught me about the role I took on and as the week went further I feel I improved in this role and was able to fulfil it and run workshops successfully for the students. I feel that throughout the week I grew in confidence and comfortable with running the students which allowed me to be more relaxed and enjoy the games with the students. I think that this is really important as I found that when I was enjoying the games more and putting more enthusiasm into them, the students relaxed and felt more comfortable to get involved and put themselves out there. This was demonstrated when one student: Georgie, started to run some of the tongue twisters and call and responses and I think that this showed that we had created a safe and comfortable environment for the students to work in and to get involved.

Overall I found this whole experience really fulfilling and that although I was there to teach the student I feel that I learnt and gained a lot from this experience as well. I think that getting to know all of the students individually was really important and made the experience more fun and engaging for both us and the students as we could have fun and jokes with them as well as being able to teach them.

ROUTINES

The Happening Dance Routine

 

• Material swaying being held by Michael (M), Shay (S) and Georgie (G)
• Mexican wave/ hoops peeking
• “The Hap-en-ing” à Hand, hand, heart, heart and sway for 8
• Hand Jive
• “The Hap-en-ing”
• Chair dance

-          Chairs all in a line (5 chairs) – 2 on either end come forward and meet and back for 8

-          2 on the inside come forward, meet and back for 8

-          Middle forward and back for 8

-          4 outside chairs go back to back for 8 à open for 8

-          Middle comes forward and back for 8

-          4 chairs close again

-          All chairs move into a V formation

-          All turn ¼ to the left for 8

-          One by one turn to the right à 4 counts each

 

• Back into a line and finish with hoops and balls

 

Paint it Black Dance

Shay (S), Michael (M), Georgie (G), Tate (T)

-          Intro for 8

-          S, M, T sauté one after each other, hold for 8 and drop

-          G enter walk past the 3 and they are shocked that he has a mobile on him for 16

-          All put hand to ear (mobile) for 8, drop for 8, type for 8, drop 8 à with G controlling them

-          S, M, T put hand up and turn head away from G à he walks off left and they turn their heads and hands in the opposite direction then they fold their arms and look at the audience.

-          G enters with posters marching and hands them out à G marches down the aisle and S, M T raise their signs for 4

-          G shouts “No school, all tech” à S, M ,T repeat X2

-          G shouts “what do we want” à S, M, T “Tech” à G “When do we want it” à S, M, T “Now” X2

-          S, M, T posters to the right and then left à G walks to T

-          S, M mover forward and back à G takes T poster and walks round and back

-          Slow motion protesting

-          Air guitar, head banging, fist pumping, sign waving, chair tricks  

ST GILES ARTS WEEK

Monday

Today we spent the whole day at St Giles School and ran workshops with the students and worked on their performances and their dances. As we had already got to now the students we started the session with a vocal and physical warm up. I think that this was really good to start with as it woke up the students and got them ready for the day ahead as a warm up should do. More than that it gave the students an insight into our everyday life at BRIT and it gives them the skills within theatre and the arts to get ready for rehearsals and performances. We taught the students how to siren their voice through the exercise of visualising a man on the ledge jumping off and as he falls the voice gets lower and the same in reverse. I think that by adding a visual element to this exercise not only made it more fun and enjoyable to do but also it also gives the students something to follow and lead from so that they were all able to be involved. This exercise also allowed the students to explore and develop the vocal range so that they can use their voices effectively and efficiently.

We also played the vocal warm up game, Boom Chicka, this is a call and response game where the group have to copy the leader and what they say. This started off as a good game to warm up the group and to get everyone working together and concentrating. Also it is a really fun game to get everyone energised and getting involved in the game. As a result of our group picking up this game really quickly and easily we developed it so that each different round of the game was done in a different accent or character. This worked really well as we were able to work on their characterisation for some of the dances, for example doing it as a moody teenager helped them to get into the idea, theme and characters of the “Paint It Black” dance. We went even further with this game by letting the student participate in the choices of what style we do the exercise in, this allowed the students to take ownership of the exercise and get more involved with the game.

After the vocal warm up we lead a physical warm up for the students so that they could feel ready to do the dances and to get their bodies ready and awake for the sessions ahead. As all of our students, except one, are in wheelchairs we focused on warming the top half of the body up by wiggling our fingers and circling our arms and wrists and shaking out the top half of the body. This made sure that everyone was included in the warm up and that it was suitable for all the members of the group to join in with. We then played a game called shape it, where we would name a shape or a person, for example a moody teenager and the students would have to take form of that shape. I think that this exercise worked quite well as it got the students moving around and thinking about making their own positions so that they were being creative independently and thinking for themselves. However we only did this game individually and I think that if we play it again we could get them interacting with each other and creating images together so that we are pushing them and developing the games. This would also make them work together and collaborate their ideas.

We then spent the rest of the morning working on and choreographing the dance moves to “Paint It Black”. We used all the games that we had been working on to lead into the dance that we have been doing. For example we used the actions from our version of Zip, Zap, Bong as stock movements and poses for the sequence. I think that this was really good as the student had already learnt the movements so they were comfortable and confident in doing them. We also made sure that we got a lot of ideas from the students by doing a spider diagram of their ideas with the song on in the background, we did this so that the performance had their ideas in it and so that they are engaged and learning and developing their skills as well as performing.

In the afternoon we did an arts and craft session where we made props for the performances. For example those in the “Paint It Black” routine made posters for their performance and those in “The Happening” made love hearts. I think that as we had been working the whole morning, the craft session allowed the afternoon to be more relaxed but at the same time the  students were all still being engaged and creating their own work for their performance. This session was really good as the arts included all the students, even the PMLD students, as they could touch the material and get involved making things. The feel of the material and could also worked with the sensory element that is really important for the PMLD students, so that they could be engaged through all the senses.

Tuesday  

Today we were with the students for the morning, working and developing the routines that had been created and running workshops with the students. In the warm up I took on the role of a workshop leader as part of my role as an Artistic Facilitator as I lead the group in the vocal warm up by running exercises that engage the facial muscles and the vocal cords. I did exercises such as the siren with the voice, humming in a siren, chewing toffee and making the face as big as possible and as small as possible. I ran these exercises as they wake up your face by engaging all the different muscles in the face to get them ready for facile expressions and being free and open with your face as a part of characterisation. Also they loosen up the vocal cords, face and tongue so that you can create better sounds with the voice and be clearer when you speak on stage. I hope that these exercises will be able to help the students when they are acting on stage and saying their lines as well as in the song routines, meaning that they can adapt them to their other creative needs. I also did tongue twisters with the group however I made the do a beat along side the tongue twister, this was so that the PMLD students could be involved in the exercise. From the speaking to the teacher I have learnt that a sound or a beat involves them in the exercise as they are engaged on a sensory level, because of this I adapted the tongue twister game by adding a beat. I think that this made the game more inclusive for all of the students involved, especially as we are working with two groups with very different abilities, I think games like this offer different elements to each group, challenging and engaging both at the same time.

Linking into the sensory element of the exercises that engage the students we did an exercise where we as a group created a beat/rhythm together by one person adding a new beat to the music one by one. The PMLD students also got procession instruments to shake and hit and play to help to create the music as a group. I think that as an exercise this worked really well as it included all of the students in the group and made us all work together by listening to each other and connecting together to create a piece of art in a really simple way. Although this was a really good game to play I found that after a few times of playing it, I think that for some of the students it wasn’t challenging enough and after a time they got disengaged from the exercise and we had to move on quickly.

We also spent some time with just the PMLD students and in this time we took the students outside to look at the flowers, and listened to songs and ripped tissue paper with them to create flowers. This was really enlightening for me as it showed me how important it is for the PMLD students to be engaged with all the senses and they are more included by experiencing through sound and sight and touch. It also showed me how to communicate with the students without being able to speak and how they enjoy communicating and doing the exercises and the arts with others. It also made me see that the arts can be even more important and engaging for PMLD students that conventional learning experiences for them as it can connect to them on a more sensory and creative level.

Wednesday

In today’s sessions I feel that I learnt a lot from some of the exercises that we have been doing. In the vocal warm up where we get the students to chew an imaginary piece of toffee normally only certain people in the group can be involved and included as some of the PMLD students have difficulty in doing it. However in today’s lesson when we did this warm up, to help engage the students with PMLD, we got a piece of play dough and rolled it on those students’ arms so that it can feel like toffee and they can be engaged through touch. This helped show me how you can adapt nearly any exercise or game to include all members of a group. At the start of the week I was concerned that we had to groups of students with opposing abilities and disabilities and that we wouldn’t want to cater for all of their needs through the exercises as some might be too easy for one group but challenging for another. However this showed me how I can add or adapt things to an exercise so that it can connect and include all members of the group and still be challenging for everyone as well. In this section I also took on the role as a supporter for the students as I worked with one of the PMLD students by rolling the play dough on his arm. I also helped the children decorate in the arts and crafts section and I helped a PMLD student to ripping and scrunching tissue paper. Through these interactions and exercises with the student I have learnt how to communicate with the students and challenge them and get the best out of them with the games that we play. Also through this role of supporting the students I learnt the importance of sensory games for the students to engage them in a more creative way. It showed me how to connect with the students and how to get to know them as individuals rather than as their disabilities.

Today we also went through the two routines and worked on and developed them. From this experience we have learnt that repetition through the week on the performances makes it stay in the students minds and so that it can become natural and easy for them to do and more enjoyable rather than having to overly think about it. This is also good as it gives the students the idea of what we do in our rehearsal process and gives them the skills that they need when creating work.   

Friday

Today was our last day at St Giles so our focus was on making sure that the students were happy and confident in their dance routines. At the end of our morning we had a small party with our group to say goodbye and thank you to them, as well as us, as I feel that I have learnt and got a lot from this process.

We began with our vocal and physical warm up, as we have been doing this throughout the week, I feel that the students feel comfortable in the exercises and are able to see the benefits within the voices in their performances. Also at this point we allowed some of the students to run some of the tongue twisters or the Boom Chicka game and I think that this helped to build the students confidence when speaking in front of a group as they had the responsibility of leading the group. This was a unique and subtle way to get the students more comfortable talking to a group and consequently hopefully more comfortable on stage and performing as they have had some experience in being the centre of attention in a large group, in a more formal setting than with their friends.

We then went through both routines; repeating and refining them so that they could be ready for the performance. From the week I found that repletion was really important as I helped the students to remember their routines and to have them embedded in their minds. Also I found that this has made them more confident in the performance and the routines and consequently allowed them to work on the acting side and facile expressions as well as being able to enjoy it more because they have got the routine solid in their minds.

VISITING ST GILES

This week we have visited St Giles School on Monday afternoon and Friday morning to get to know the students that we are going to be working with in their Arts week and run a few workshops with them to get a better understanding of the students that we are working with and what we are going to be doing.

In these sessions we learnt that as well as working on the “Paint It Black” number, we are also going to be working with the PMLD students on “The Happening” routine. Although this was a bit of a surprise to us and I personally felt a little out of my depth, the teachers and staff at the school were really supportive allowing us to get to know the students and think about what we might do for their performance. I also felt that all members of our group went into the session ready to work and to put themselves out there, which could have been harder as we didn’t know what were doing. Our openness and willingness to get involved in the session showed us to be really committed to the students and the work being produced. Even though we were unprepared to be working with PMLD student I think that this will push us and challenge us to create workshops that included all the students that we are working with and that we will be able to learn from this process and the teachers and students through this process as well as us sharing our skills with them.

In our other sessions when we are working on the “Paint It Black” number, we started to work through parts of our session planes with the students, however we only had a limited amount of time so we worked on getting to know the students through playing games and exercises. I think that this was really helpful and a useful thing to do in this session as it was only a short one so getting into the routine could have felt broken up and unfinished if we had to stop the routine and creation process half way through. By playing games to get to know the students and them getting to know us creates a feeling of mutual trust between us and the students so that they can trust us and want to work with us in the future lessons and so that they feel more comfortable. I think this is important as theatre and the process of the creation of theatre can be a scary and an exposing process for almost everyone at some point so by making sure that we have a strong bond between us and the students hopefully it will allow them to get more involved and open to the process.

BREAK DOWN OF SOME OF THE WEEK

Mondayà

 

We want to start our very first session with the group that we are going to be working with in a casual, unpressured way. We thought that it would be good to get know the group a bit and to give them a chance to get to know us and ask us any questions that they wanted so that they could feel more comfortable with us. I feel that this is really important because it starts to build a relationship between us and them so that they might feel more confident and comfortable working with us and pushing themselves. We also thought that this would be a good time to talk to the students about any ideas they had about the piece as we want them to as involved in the creative process as possible so that it can be their piece not ours that they are performing. By getting to know their ideas early on it allows us to adjust the week to fit in and explore their own ideas as well as ours.

We then wanted to play some theatre games later on in the day so that the students could get used to working with us and playing the games that we are more likely to be playing and developing throughout the week. Also for us it shows us what the students are capable of doing physically so that we can plan the choreography around that to make sure they are all included.

The craft time allows the students to get involved in creating the props that will be in the final piece. It also allows them to personalise it a bit more and have their own creative ownership over a certain piece of the performance.

Tuesday à

On Tuesday we are going to be playing some more physical games to lead into the creation of the piece. The games such as mirroring and sculpting and contact games allows us to see how far the students can go and push themselves and it also allows the students to get more comfortable with what they are going to be doing in the piece. It is also a really good way to start developing work for the piece and it allows us to explore and see what does and doesn’t work. More over I think that it give the students some ownership on what they are doing as they can interpret the games in their own way to create unique elements and movements to go into the performance.

PLAN OF THE WEEK

Sessions	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thurs	Fri
1	Introduction, Name games, Chat – get to know the group , Spider diagrams and chat about “Paint It Black” – Share ideas	Intro. Zip Zap Bong – Warm up / games.	Intro. Warm up / games. Zip Zap Bong		Intro. Warm up / games. Zip Zap Bong
2	Warm up – Vocal and Physical. Games: Fruit Salad, Shakespeare says and Zip Zap Bong.	Shape it. Mirroring. Sculpting. Contact Game	Recap the movement e ct		Recap and refine choreography
3	Games: Pass the emotion, See it Be it, Still Images, Improv	Movement / Choreography	Add and develop piece		Last run of piece – dress and play final games.
4	TUTOR
5	Craft session – making billboards
6	Craft session – making billboards

RESEARCHING SENSORY EXERCISES

http://www.scope.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdfs/Early_years/Scope_games_for_all.pdf - This helped us to look at games that included all children with or without disabilities. This was really helpful because in our groups that we are working with the students all have a variety of disabilities so this allows us to look at all the games that would be suitable for all of the students.

http://www.youthgroupgames.co.uk/youth-group-games-for-disabled-children.html
- This website lists a lot of different games to be played with everyone of different disabilities and what is really helpful is that it goes into detail of different disabilities such as wheelchair games or sitting games or feeling games. This is really helpful as movement is something that can cause a problem in games and could exclude some people also the feeling game links into our sensory games that can be used with the PMLD students.

PLANNING

We started to plan the exercises we would be doing with the students that we are working with to facilitate their rehearsal process and the construction of the final piece. We have been coming up with generic games that we can play with all students and then more focused exercises that will lead into the creation of their performance. This is so that we can work with all the students, even if they are not in our performance sections so that we get to have more experience facilitating workshops and so that they all get to be involved at some point. Also by doing exercises in the workshops towards the performance it gives us a chance to work out what can and cannot work with the students, but on top of this it gives them the chance to have a creative input into the final performance.

PMLD

The Lovers Chase

In our first section – “The Lovers Chase” – we are working with the students with PMLD, this means that our exercises and the performance that we create will have to be focused around sensory elements to make sure that all the students and audience involved and included. For us this means that we have to research sensory games and exercises to do with the students to produce a successful and inclusive workshop.

Imagination games- In this game we want to be able to engage the students imagination through sensory exercises and storytelling so that they can get in to the world of the performance and know more about the section that they are doing. We would do a version of the exercise my group did in the first lesson, where we ask each student to get into a space and close their eyes. We would then hand out leaves for them to feel so that they could imagine the woods from touching a part of it; we would also rustle them to create the soundscape of the woods, as well as making animal sounds. Then we would hand out soft, comfortable material and link it to love so that the students have a physical feeling of what love could be to make them more connect to it. We would also have the Supreme song in the background that the performance is around, so that the students can get used to it and comfortable with it and linking it to their performance. Other sounds that we might have are bells to create a light, magical performance and drums to show the heartbeat. 

 This game will hopefully engage the students as it focuses on the sensory experiences that include them in the exercises. Also I think that we could push this exercise further if we felt it was appropriate for the students and could get them involved with making sounds of animals for the soundscape or holding shakers ect, so that they were also creating a performance as well as experiencing one. 

Yr 10/11

Paint It Black

In this section we will be working with the year 10’s and 11’s to create a movement piece to the song “Paint It Black”. The section is all about the teenagers wanting to be moody and do what they want, so for this piece we are focusing on the actions that they could do to put in the piece but also trying to give them a bit on creative control in making some sections their selves as well.

Zip, Zap, Bong goes moody teenagers.

Zip = What? (Arms out)

Bong = Not Fair! (With folded arms)

Zap (across the circle) = groan

This will be a warm up game to get the students into the feel of the piece that they are going to be creating but could also be played with people that aren’t in our section. We will teach it in stages and have practise rounds so that the students all feel comfortable in playing it and the rules. Also we will have a head action, arm action and a sound for each of the movements so that students will a variety of disabilities can still be involved in the game and it can be adapted to peoples own specific abilities. It will also be a good game to get the students energy up and for them to get excited about having fun working with us and the project as a whole.

Voice

For this we will do a call and response exercise using the lyrics from the song, so that they get to know the lyrics and learn the song that they will be performing to in an engaging and fun way. Also with this we can experiment with the tone of voice that we use and ones that the students want to use in the performance so that in the songs their can be different tones, emotions and dynamics to their voices.

Dance

We will lay a game similar to Musical statues, but with another name so that it is age appropriate. We want to use this so that we can work with still images in our workshops to create sequences and movements for the performance.  For this we will lay the song, so that again they are getting used to it, and then when it stops they should freeze in a guitar/band position or a moody teenager position. This will allow the students to use their own imaginations to come up with movements for the performances. Also we may a free dance piece in it so that the students can do what they want so this will give them time to have fun, practising and enjoying the music.

Still Images

As there are six students in our section we will split them into two groups of three and in these groups together they will come up with some moody teenager movements or freezes. Then we will share them but in a competition so that each group has to be bigger and better than the other one. This will give the students the chance to have an input into the performance and develop their skills in devising and telling s story through the images. Also the competition aspect will push them to exaggerate their movements and to put their all into it. We will then put the movements that they have come up with together to create a section of the piece that can be repeated.

See it. Be it.

In this exercise we are working with still images to stimulate the student’s imagination, get them working together and getting them to be engaged and taking ownership of the creation of their performance. In this exercise we give the students a number and this is the amount of people they have to be in a group with. We then say and object or person such as “The London Eye” or a “grumpy teenager”, along side this we give them the instruction to either see the object or person we have given the or to be it. Then in their groups they have to create that image.

This exercise is a really good one to direct the students into becoming active in the creative process as they can put their own interpretation, ideas and opinions onto the image we had given them making it their own and making them think about what they want to present to the audience. As these images could be developed and moved forward to become part of the performance or movement piece. When we gave the students a person to be such as a “moody teenager” we allow the students to develop their characterisation and development of their character individual as well as part of the group. The being an object part of the exercise engages the student’s imagination and makes them think more creatively as becoming a “magical woods” might have to be more of an abstract image than a realistic image. Finally it makes the students work together and for us and them to get used to working with each other and learning how to use each other abilities and disabilities to their advantages to create an interesting image.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM

MY ROLE

Artistic Facilitator

• Understanding of working with people with disabilities
• Run inclusive workshops
• Engaging, stimulating and inspiring others
• Organised/ prepared and flexible
• Creative
• Able to communicate
• Research and plan

FACILITATOR

Good Workshop Leader

·         Introduce yourself

·         Name the game à good for if you are returning

·         Say the aim of the game à is it possible to win? Or to warm up voices?

·         Set and extend your expectation

·         Deliver it in stages – break it down

·         Practise/rehearse it

·         Qualify with a question à “Is that clear?” “any questions” à double checking and putting the ownership on yourself

·         You have to be fully committed – energy and enthusiasm

·         Make sure you feel confident in you and the workshop à with people who don’t do theatre it will make them feel more comfortable – give a bit of info about self (not personal) – don’t make anyone do anything you wouldn’t – especially if people are more venerable à these will make people feel more comfortable.

WORKSHOPS

Workshop leaders

We looked at what it meant lead a workshop and what an individual needed to lead a successful workshop. To do this we got into groups and had to run a short workshop on a drama game or warm up with the rest of the class. I found that this was really helpful because it allowed us to learn through practise what is needed to run a good workshop and to be able to have experience doing it instead of simply talking about it.

 

Whoosh
 

Our game Whoosh was a really good company game and warm up game as it got the group energy up and ready to rehearse/ perform. It also made the group focus and work together to make the game successful and fun at the same time.

 
From the feedback we received, what was good about our group and the way we lead the game was that we were all really enthusiastic and full of energy meaning that the people in the company felt like they could get more and be more involved as we had already set the standard of the energy as high, meaning that they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable or venerable by giving 100% energy. Also the instructions were clear and loud so that everyone could understand clearly what was happening and keep up with the rules of the game. We also taught the game in stages, we did this because there were a lot of different elements to the game so by teaching it and practising it in stage meant that it could be taken in by the whole group easier. It also meant that if we felt that we had enough levels to the game and any more would make it too difficult we didn’t have to put them in, this meant that the game could be made to fit all abilities, and equally if we wanted to we could challenge groups further.  The practises also made sure that everyone understood the game before we started playing it for real so that no-one got left behind or felt uncomfortable in what the were doing.

However there were certain elements to the piece that didn’t work so well and that could be changed to make the workshop better and more accessible to everyone. One of the things was that we would need to make a judgement on the amount of instructions to put into the game and be able to read the people in the group well to see if they were okay with the different levels of the game or if we need to make it simpler or more complicated to suit their needs. Also when we did the practise round everyone had to do it by them selves rather than everyone doing it at the same time together. This would have been better as it would have been less exposing for the people who didn’t feel comfortable or sure about what they were doing and it would have given them the support and comfort to get involved.

Swap

 At the very start of this workshop each member of the group introduced themselves and explained the space that they wanted us to be in. This was really helpful to start with as it added a personal element to the group and made those involved feel more at ease because they had presented themselves as people who wanted to get involved as well. Also it made it really clear to all of those involved what was expected of them from the spacing and how we should be, instead of us floating about feeling unsure. The language that the members of this group was really inclusive which was really important when working in a group of people with a range of abilities as saying “stand in a circle” could make some people feel excluded and insecure, however this group used language that included everyone in the game.

 
Similarly to our group, this group did a practise round so that everyone was sure of what was happening and felt comfortable, but before this they did a demonstration so that they could visually see the game and if they hadn’t understood the explanation of it the demonstration would make it clearer to them. The game was also very simple, this made it achievable for everyone involved and the instructions were given out clearly to make it understandable.

However their were some elements of the game that were left unclear, for example some people weren’t sure who the last person was in the circle and this meant that the game became broken and it wasn’t as easy to follow as it could have been. To make it clearer everyone could have had chairs to sit on and the person at the end that didn’t have a chair would be in the middle, or you could have to walk in a clear pathway or even allocate one person in the group to be the decision maker and be in charge of saying who was last. These all would have made the game clearer, more fluid and easier to play.
 
Also there was a point in the workshop when everyone started to ask questions at once and it was just a rabble of noise. To avoid this they could have asked if anyone had questions before the game started and said that people had to put their hands up to make it more controlled and organised.

Slapathon

This workshop was really good as everyone leading it was really energetic; making everyone else put more energy into it, so that everyone was involved. However nearing the end of the session everyone got a bit out of control and the energy wasn’t being just focused into the game, even though the amount of energy was really good the group could have channelled and controlled it more by adding a rule of not talking so that people stayed focused throughout the game.
 
The game was based around a team effort, this meant that everyone had to get closer physically but also in working together to understand and tune into each other and make the game successful.

Some of the instructions weren’t always clear and the group could have added them in and put in a practice rounds so that everyone was on the same page and understood what was happening in the game. This could also have been done if the basic rules had been clearly established at the beginning so that everyone could start in the same place. Also sometimes the instructions went quite fast, to improve this, the game could have been slowed down or broken up more so that people could get used to it and gain confidence in it before speeding it up to challenge people.

Zip Zap Bong

 Similarly to the other games, this one was presented in an energetic and lively style making all the other people feel more comfortable and want to get involved with the game as it gave off the energy of fun. From seeing all the games, it really highlighted the importance of being enthusiastic about the workshop you are giving as it can have a large impact on the people involved as it gives them the confidence to get involved and you can’t expect people to be enthusiastic about your workshop if your not. Also when they had practises of their game, firstly everyone did it at the same time, this was so that no-one felt exposed and everyone could understand what they needed to do without being put under pressure.

 
However the instructions of this game were given in a bit of a splurge and this made it very unclear as to what we were supposed to be doing. Also there was a reference back to another game which confused those involved as the games began to be mixed and no-one was sure what we were doing or play. The group needed to be clear on their own rules and instructions so that everybody was focused on this game rather than mixing the two.

1st VISIT TO ST GILES

• Openness of the school/environment/ teachers à really welcoming and able to ask questions – made us feel comfortable
• Excellent facilities – higher disabilities needs the more facilities needed. à So that the students get a valid learning experience, with visual help, making it fun and welcoming for all.
• Going to school and meeting the people there was a surprise à Children were having fun and enjoying life during break time. à The range of disabilities with some being physical and others mental and sometimes both. à Showed us the problems that might have been encountered in mainstream schools? – Access for wheelchairs ect.
• PMLD area à sensory experience that was provided but also the teachers wanted to give them a teenage upbringing, with the current music ect. à really thoughtful and considerate of students
• Student and teacher bond really strong and good with fun and banter.
• All specially set out for student’s needs à but does that make it harder/scarier when they have to leave, as they have always been surrounded by each other and therefore not experienced real world? à Separate schools – mean that students aren’t educated.

SENSORY PERFORMANCE

In groups we created a performance based around a section of “A Midsummer’s Nights Dream”. In these performance’s we used the skills of sensory performance which we had learned through the exercises to make the performance more inclusive for all people involved and in the audience.

Our performance centred on the forest that most of the characters move through throughout the course of the play. Leading on from the exercises we had been exploring our piece was centred around having audience members who were blind and focusing more on other sense’s such as touch and sound. For this we had our audience members placed around the room with their eyes closed and a narrator would make small indications as to what was happening and who was entering to woods to keep the audience on tack. We gave each audience member a leaf to hold on to and to explore through touch, this was to set the core of the piece and so that the audience could keep relating back to it to remind them on the setting without having to see it. I also think that it helped to transfer the audience to the place of the piece and be able to visualise it more clearly as they have something to reference to. This was supported by the sounds that we made of the animals in the forest and the wind and leaves rustling, our aim was to create the sound scape of that place so that the audience could feel immersed in it and transported there.

For each set of characters travelling through the forest we had different forms of touch and sound to show the audience their relationships and characterisation. For Example for the lovers we had romantic music playing in the background to emphasis the love between their relationships. The lovers ran through the forest and the sound of the fast pace feet emphasised the urgency that was created in that section and the danger of their running away and tension was created. This was then contrasted with the fairies entering in the forest as there was much lighter foot fall and we touched the back of the audiences legs to create the feeling of small creatures around them, we also traced the journey of the character on the shoulders of the audience with our fingers to help them to keep on track with the story. We also blew on the necks of the audiences and this created two different interpretations of firstly the wind but also the fairies flying past them, making sure that each audience member has a different experience. Finally the clam and cute feel of the fairies was interrupted by the layers entering, they were a lot louder and heavy footed, and this was to show the contrast of the characters and to make the transitions a lot clearer. Also we made them cough and snort to make them more grotesque characters, this made sure that each set of characters were really easily distinguished from each other so that the changes in the story were clear to the audience. This usage of the different senses made the performance more interesting and inclusive of all the audience members and put them all on the same level, so that they can have an exciting performance.

SENSORY ACTIVITIES

We looked and did exercises that were more focused on the senses and how we can take some away and rely on and wake up other senses. The ones that we looked at were especially for the blind, so in each of them we had to close our eyes and try to tune in our other sense to do the exercise successfully. I think that doing these exercise were really important to us as they enlightened us and helped us to understand the importance of the senses in performances and it showed us what it was like to be in their position so that we could appreciate what they might want or need in group situations to feel more secure. One thing that these exercises did was put us on the same level as those who are blind, so if we were to do these exercises with a group where some were blind and other weren’t everyone would be put on the same level and no-one would be advantaged in the group making everyone included and fully involved. I think that this could give some confidence to those who are blind as they know that everyone is equal to them and taking them into their world. The exercises also opened up our awareness to our other senses and allowed us to use them more than we would do in everyday situations. I found that it showed me how important senses such as sound and touch could be and how much they enhance your experiences without sight. It also made me think about how the other sense could be used in performance to make it more interesting and effective to those who are blind so that they are included and still getting an interesting and enriching experiences, arguably even more so than those who can see as they are engaging their other senses and becoming more in tune with what is happening physically or through sound.

Bottle

In this exercise a bottle was put in the middle of the room and each member of the company had to walk across the room without stopping and pick up the bottle with their eyes closed. I found this exercise really useful to use and explore as it highlighted the sense that was taken away and consequently the difficulties presented without the ability to see. This gave a very small and quick enlightenment into the world that some of the people we will be working with live in and helped us to understand, to a small degree, what it is like, putting all of us in the company on the same level. When doing this exercise I felt really disorientated and self-conscious and as a result I felt unsafe and confused during the process and I think that this was really helpful for me as it showed me how some people may feel as a result of their disability. Now I have this emotional knowledge I think it will help me to not under estimate how others are feeling and to be more in tuned to making everyone in the company feel safe and happy to be involved in the activities that they will be taking part in.

Sound  

In pairs we had to come with a sound to remember, then with our eyes closed we were moved away from each other and had to find each other again by following the sound. The main issue that was presented in this task the amount of sound being created by the other people also trying to find their partner, making it harder to pick out the sound that you are listening for. This disorientated me personally and made me feel alone and a bit panicked as I could not hear my partner. It made me think of how people who are blind may feel in crowds or busy, loud places and how intimidating it could be to some. However it also showed me how important sound can be in a sensory performance and how it can be used as a way of communicating. Also it showed me the power of sound, as when you mentally blocked out the other sounds and focused only on your one it became easier and this showed me how little we depend on hearing compared to sight yet the power that it can hold and how it can be used. This really made me think about how the usage of sound could be in a performance to enhance the experience of it as it can show distance and personality and can be used in really interesting ways to make a performance more exciting and engaging for members of the company or audience who are blind.

Feel

As a group we stood in a circle and all facing one way, with our hands on each others shoulders and eyes closed. We then had to feel each others backs and get to know how they feel, so that then we were moved away and had to reform the circle in the same order as we were before by feeling each others backs to find the person who you were originally behind. This highlighted the importance of touch as a way of identification and getting to know a person for people who are blind but also for us to get more comfortable with each other as well.