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.