As promised in my last post Unleashing my creativity - one, here is a brief overview, plus a few videos showing you more of the games and activities that made up the How to run a workshop class.
Warm Ups – warm the body up and relax students
Body stretch
Standing tall and feet firmly but comfortably planted on the floor, our bodies loose releasing tension, we were instructed by Petina to lift our left hand and move to left, then right, eight times. Next the same for our right hand, making sure not to move our arms. Then move both elbows, shoulders, and so on, head last, focusing on bringing our bodies gently into the workshop.
Wax Work stretch
Another body stretch. We pretended we were a wax work celebrity in Madame Tussuad's. We posed holding for a few seconds. Then with slow energy and focus we stretched out of our pose getting as tall as we could. Once tall, we were told we were melting, so we had to melt slowly, focusing on our body parts, energy and position; until we melted to the floor and got as small as we could. We stayed curled up on the floor for a few minutes, then like seeds we slowly and exaggerated grew into a tall tree. If you do Yoga or Pilates you will be familiar with these exercises.
BreathingNow standing tall, we breathed deeply while raising our arms in a large gesture, then breathing out we delicately (like a ballerina) let our arms float down to our sides. We did this three time.
Back to the floor, relaxed, we lay on our backs and closed our eyes. Petina told us to think of ourselves as a slice of toast with warm butter flowing through us. In a gentle voice she told us that the butter was changing colour, we were instructed to see and feel the colours, yellow, burnt orange, blood red, sky blue, grass green, white, and back to green, blue until finally yellow. We took several deep breathes, and without thinking (we told told not to think) emitted a sound, then amplified the same sound three times.We ended this exercise by shaking our body loose / out and safely sat up.
Blowing up a balloon
We had to pretend to blow up a balloon, we blew until we can’t blow any more, then we released the balloon and moved around the room as if we were the balloon losing air.
Focus and Concentration – aid and develop visualisation, imagination, storytelling and expression skills.
Zip Zap Boing or Zip Zap Zop
I’ll let the video explain this as it took some of us a little while to get it. Once we did we had lots of fun.
Mixing things up
We used the first verse of Twinkle Twinkle little star and taught those who didn’t know it … “Twinkle Twinkle how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are.” Split into smaller groups, we were instructed to deliver the lines from the nursery rhyme in two different genres, that were then acted in front of the others.
My group chose X factor, two contestants and two judges. Then those who weren’t in the X Factor sketch acted out an Eastenders sketch were I was a combination of Peggy and Bianca delivering my lines to a crying male character in an exaggerated cockney accent. Great fun!. Others chose the opera, gospel choir,
Action around around the circle
Group in a circle, one person goes in to the centre, performs an action e.g jumping, everyone copies the action, then another goes in to the circle and performs another action, and so on until every one has been in the centre.
Sound around the circle or Machines
This activity really took us outside of our comfort zone, each of us had to produce a different energetic sound and rhythm that followed the sound and rhythm made by the person before. This activity caused a stir, some said they were not rhythmic, but Petina told them not to worry, “just go with the flow”. By the end, we were surprised that we had managed to create a giant beat box of 12 different sounds and rhythms that managed to go well together – who would have thought.
Shapes
The moderator calls a shape, venue, scene and the group as a whole must make that shape as quickly as possible without speaking e.g circle, triangle, square, church, hospital
Story Circle
This was my favourite activity. We sat on the floor again this time in a circle, Petina gave us each a colour and an object, I had silver and a handbag. Each person has to include their object and colour into their story, but didn’t have to remember or include the colour and objects from the previous person. I offered to start:
I really like my friend Amanda, but she does take liberties. For example she is due to marry Brian but she is always cheating on him and using me as her alibi. This time i have had enough so when Brian asked if she was me with me I said no. When she found out she was mad, “You call yourself my friend, you’re like Judas you’d sell me out for 30 pieces of silver.” “Like Judas, you don’t even know what you are talking about”, I said. We haven’t spoken since then, but I’m not going to let that get me down, I’m off to Oxford street to get a new handbag. And so it continued, into a very funny story until it ended using the theme and characters I had kicked off.
Pair Work – great for stimulating creativity and building characters
Freeze Tag
Two people act out a scene and location suggested by a member of the group. After a few minutes, the moderator yells freeze, the acts act frozen. Then going around the circle of the seated group, one person taps one of the actors on the shoulder and takes the exact position of the actor. The actor that has been tapped leaves and rejoins the group. Then the other actors enact a new scene. continues until everyone has had a chance to act.
Theme argument
Working in pairs, someone we hadn’t worked with, we used the theme of love. Our pair could be anyone, mother and daughter, lovers, unrequited love etc. My pair was mother and stroppy teenage daughter, I was the loving but frustrated mum.
Subtext - paying attention to what is not being said
For this improvisation exercise, in pairs one person A and the other B, we used the following text:
A: Good morning!
B: Is it?
A: Scrambled eggs?
B: What a sickening thought
A: Only asked!
B: Well don’t!
Each pair was given 15 minutes to devise a scene and practise making sure to focus on communicating what is not being said. Then each pair acted their scene for the others and received positive feedback. The scene from my paring was as follows:
Two friends were camping in the wilderness, one, A, was camping ready, the right clothes and attitude, while B was not. A woke early, put on her warm clothes, unzipped her tent and unzipped the tent of her friend, saying “Good morning”. B, who had spent the night shivering as she bought the wrong clothes, grumbled back “Is it?” A got twigs together for a camp fire and started breakfast, “Scrambled eggs?” B getting dressed in her tight top and skirt and high heels replied, “What a sickening thought”. Both friends are now around the camp fire, A: “Only asked,” B: “Well don’t”.
Park bench
Two chairs were placed side by side mimicking a park bench. Two enacted a scene for a few minutes e.g one person walking their do the other a drunk. Then someone else entered the park and changed the scene, while one of the initial actors gave an excuse and left the park and on and on. Petina gave us all a colour, when one of us entered the ‘park’ we had to act in a personality inspired by the colour given e.g pink very girly / shallow and grey, sad and dull.
The end
After
hours of acting and improvising, the last half and hour was spent
discussing “what next!” We talked about getting work as a workshop
leader and obtaining qualifications to teach the activities we had
learnt today. Petina told us there weren’t any specific qualifications,
just drama related qualifications e.g from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
- UK's largest statutory speech and drama awarding body.
This information sadden me as I do not plan to take a whole load of acting qualifications so I can provide creative workshops. Petina told us to take what we had learnt and try it out learning from experience, perhaps even linking up with others for credibility.
At 5.30pm, the class was over. Despite my initial reservations about leaving my warm flat early Sunday morning to battle the Winter wind and rain, I was surprised at how much I had enjoyed the day. At no time, during the class did I feel self-conscious, after all everyone had participated without fear and with great spirit and energy. I wish the course was longer, I would happily attend every wintry Sunday, this was the most enjoyable Sunday I have had in ages.
So if you are like the old me, a person who to paraphrase The Carpenters, “…rainy days and Sundays always get you down”, I urge you to do something different with your Sundays from now on. Yes, like attending the next running a workshop at City lit.
