Activities

SOUND AND MOVE MACHINE

Number of participants

5 to 25 participants

Objectives

● To promote self-expression through movement and sound.
● To foster group awareness and reflection on the day’s activities.
● To discuss the impact of theatre activities on participants and their projects.

Where does the activity take place within the process (beginning, middle, end)

Middle

Duration

15 to 20 minutes

Material needed

Preparation

Prepare the room/space so that it is as spacious as it can be, without obstacles.

Step by step description

1. Invite the participants to stand up.

2. Ask participants how they feel and invite them to express this feeling (ex. “tired”, “curious”, “scared”, “confused”) with their body and as if they were a statue in a museum, freezing in a concrete position.

3. Explain to participants that they can use various movements and body positions to convey their emotions. They can close their eyes if it makes it easier for them.

Observing and Connecting:

4. Once all participants have become statues, invite them to take a minute to observe their own statue and the statues of others. Encourage them to slowly get closer to the statue that resonates the most with their own, for any reason (the position is similar, the feeling seems to be the same,etc.) without explaining why.If a participant or participants stand alone, invite them to get together and form a group themselves.

Group Sound and Movement:

1. Organise participants into groups based on the statues they resonate with.

2. Explain that you will visit each group and after a countdown (e.g., 3-2-1). Each participant in the group will make a vocal sound that represents their feelings and will repeat it a few times, simultaneously with the rest of the members in the group. Then, each participant adds a movement without the sound, and this is also repeated several times in a simultaneous way.

3. The group must repeat the sound and movement, starting from the original pose (the statue of each participant) and returning to the movement and sound as if they were a machine, in a loop.

4. Do the same with all groups one by one and invite the rest of participants to carefully observe in the meantime.

5. Once you have concluded the work with a group, discuss what participants felt in their respective groups and while performing, and ask other participants for their opinions on the emotions conveyed.

Closing up

You can reflect jointly with the groups on this exercise asking the following questions:

● How was it – easy or difficult?
● What was easy/difficult?
● Was it easy to connect with the emotions?

Resources

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Comments / hints for facilitators

It is useful to underline that the goal isn't necessarily to end with a final performance, but to bring people together in a space where different ages can interact and dialogue can be initiated not only verbally, but also through the body. Reassure participants that they are already performing, improvising and creating together something.