Thinking Through the Body part 1

How would you move in this space?

Can you picture a child moving through this space?

What would they be inspired to do?



I took a workshop at the beginning of the school year with Alison Marshall called Thinking Through the Body. When the workshop choices came out last year, I was thinking of one student in particular who I don't think I supported enough last year -- one who is definitely a kinesthetic learner.

Many of the activities were geared towards older students -- some theatre staples like energizing games and tableau -- but I definitely took some inspiration from the week. We talked about character pathways, and that inspired our chalk on the floor. In the workshop, we mapped how a character moved in a story. Some were emotional, some were physical, but all were interesting. My hope was to see how children would react to this line, without being prompted to use it at all. Would they follow it like a tightrope? Would they change how their body moved with each change in the line?