2. I hear you: Allowing the body to talk and listen through DMT inspired activities
Age Range or Target Group| This workshop is appropriate for all age groups, it isrecommended however that participants of the workshop are at similar developmental stages. In regard to target group, as the projects depicts, both EU citizens/natives and immigrants/refuges/asylum seekers can participate in the workshop. The workshop is open to people from any socio-economic background.
Number of participants| 10-15 participants. If the workshop is happening with more than 15 participants, more time should be given for each activity and maybe the help of another facilitator will be needed.
Duration| 1h – 1h30m
General Aim- Objectives| Aim of this workshop is to provide an opportunity for the participants to explore their creative impulses and their bodies’ movement without the necessity of attaching labels or using language to frame it. Through the activities of the workshop, participants will explore different movement qualities and experience movement interactions with other participants. During the debriefing session they can openly share thoughts and emotions they experienced during the workshop or any connections they have made with their daily lives.
Key Words & Phrases| movement; movement qualities; interaction; imagination
Instructions (Step by Step Process) |
A. Greeting and Introduction to the workshop (5-10 minutes)
B. Warm-up (10-15 minutes)
1. Name and movement: Participants come in a circle. Each participant is asked to pronounce their name accompanied with a movement, any movement they want. Then the whole group repeats the name and the movement. Then move to the next participant. For the second round, the facilitator gives an open-end sentence or question to the participants and each participant is responding to it, accompanyingtheir answer with a movement (i.e. “If I was an animal, I would be a…”, “My biggest joy is…, “What is your favorite color?” etc.) . Each participant, per turn, completes the sentence or answers the question and then the whole group repeats the answer and the movement. Then move to the next participant.
2. Move across the room: The participants are asked to spread out and start walking across the room. They walk at normal speed across different directions. Advise them to be careful not to use repetitive partners or to move in circles. Use the whole room, all the directions. Go between other participants, walk backwards, sideward etc.Following, the participants are instructed that when someone stops walking, everyone should stop walking as soon as possible. When they feel it, a person initiates walking and then everyone starts walking. They can gradually speed up and do it while running. In order to progress from the warm up part to the main core of the workshop, participants are asked to slowly decrease speed and go back to walking rhythms again.
C. Main part (30-45 minutes)
1. Participants are asked to take their time to find a spot in the space and to relax. With their eyes closed. Facilitator introduces background music at this phase.
Participants are asked to start moving whenever and however they want. To explore their space, what their body can do. They are instructed to try to go to places and movements they have not explored yet.
2. After moving for a while, then the facilitator can start guiding a bit further participants’ movement quality. The facilitator can ask the participants now to start moving at a fast pace doing very quick movements. After they have explored this concept for a while, they can then start moving in slower paces and explore how slow they can get. Then they can start exploring controlled, strong and strict movement. How one moves if asked to be staccato and steep? Then they can explore light and free movement quality. In order to facilitate the participants, the facilitator can be changing the music in order to accompany the movement quality that the group is exploring.
3. After exploring a couple of qualities, the participants are guided to slowly find an end to their movement. Then the facilitator asks them to choose one movement quality that they enjoyed, or a movement quality they want to explore more etc (steep versus light movement). After they have chosen a quality, they are grouped into groups based on their choice. The groups start moving and interacting within the group, each one based on their chosen quality. After sufficiently exploring their quality, the participants are guided to slowly find an end to their movement.
4. The facilitator asks the two groups to form two lines, one line at each side of the room. They are then asked to start moving, each group in their own quality. They are asked to gradually come closer to the other group, maintaining their movement quality. Start interacting with the others and explore where the movement can take them. When there is a common sense of sufficiently having explored the idea of the activity, the facilitator can ask the participants to find an end to what they are doing and come to a pause.
D. Closure/Calm down (20-30 minutes)
D1. Deep breathing in circle: The group comes in a circle. They relax and try to synchronise their breathing as a group. Inhale from the nose and exhale from the mouth, not afraid to make the natural sounds of breathing. They try to deepen their breath every time.
D2. Brief stretching
D3. Debriefing – Suggested questions for initiating the debriefing section of the workshop: How did you feel during the workshop? Was there anything that made you feel discomfort or extremely comfortable? What was the most enjoyable moment for you? How did you feel dancing only with your group? How did you feel dancing with the other group as well? Can you relate any of your feelings stemming from the workshop with your daily life?
Desirable Outcomes and Competences| Desirably, the workshop will work onimagination and creativity skills. It will use both physical and mental activation since participants will move physically but they will also put themselves in certain states of mind or they will be mentally and physically alert while interacting with other participants. Through the exploration of different movement qualities, they will also be able to explore different versions of themselves and understand and appreciate the diversity within the self. Observing and interacting with others, they will also experience the diversity in the movement of other people, appreciate and embrace this. Metaphorically, this can help them make connections at a broader level with the diversity of the human beings and the beauty of embracing the difference. All these, help construct people who are open to diversity, respectful and with bettercommunication skills and better interpersonal relations. Eventually, this also influences levels of self-esteem and confidence.
Photos and Videos deriving from the workshop’s applied process
The videos are uploaded as unlisted in youtube website and their goal is only to provide educational material for this output. Please use the videos only for your own personal understanding of the workshops.
Materials| No special material is needed for this workshop. Facilitator could arrange for some music to be playing during the workshop.
Resources|
Main part activities:
Artmademan (2015, December 15). Dance Movement Therapy -Video for trainers (Art Made Man Integrated Methodology), part one. Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nlp6GBdDc-o
Media and Techniques| The workshop was based on theory of Intergroup Contact, online videos about DMT techniques and articles and books about DMT.
Tips for the educator| Please refer to the general tips for the educator.
Questions for Evaluation|
- How did you find the exercises of the workshop?
- Are there any suggestions/comments/questions you would like to make?