Wednesday, October 04, 2006

SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGE

We are in the middle of a 5 day residency at SOS children's village in Maseru, Lesotho.

We are teaching life dream workshops. Bringing to life children's dreams of what they want to be when they grow up. We share the teaching between the three of us. Warmup, theater games, and then different visualization activities.
Jamie leads the first day, we visualize what we want to be when we grow up and draw pictures of it.(us assistant teachers go through the exercises with the kids, each class I want to be something different - a mother on a farm, a chef, an explorer).
Alice leads the second day, selecting objects from a magic pantomine box that will help us acheive our dream. Objects that we need for our dream job. Kids pantomine using a computer, riding a horse, putting on soldier boots, etc.
Today, the third day, I lead the kids through a physicalization of themselves already working their ideal job. We warm up with moving around the room through different environments (the room is full of water, mud, we're walking up a steep mountain) and then as if our bodies are made up of different things.


MOVING AS IF OUR BODIES ARE MADE OF WATER

Then half the group at a time does the exercise and the other half watches, eyes closed. I lead them through a visualization that they mime with their body as well:
- If they could be anything in the world, what would they be? Imagine that right now they already are that person, that doctor, or scientist, or driver, or teacher, or soldier.
- What does it feel like?
- Imagine that they look down at their own bodies, what are they wearing?
- Now start walking to work, what do they see? the weather. sounds. smells. the street. other people. and
- stop. they have arrived at their workplace. In front of them is the building where they work, and right in front of them is the door to the building, reach out and open the door.


OPENING THE DOOR TO HIS WORKPLACE

- what does it look like inside? the walls. light. furniture (reach out and pretend to touch a piece of furniture, what does it feel like)
- outloud I have them greet another person who is at their workplace.
- then they get to work and use some of the objects they have imagined in the space.
- after putting in some good work, they take a last look around them at the room, at the clothes they are wearing, feel what their body feels like as this person.
- take three deep breaths and open their eyes.

Then we talk about the excercise. The difficulties. Their favorite moments. What it is like to watch other people doing it. or be watched.
The youth group class goes particularly well.


THE YOUTH CLASS

For our youngest class we do a different excercise, making tableaux of their happiest memories:


FEEDING THE FISH AT THE ZOO IN BLOEMFONTEIN

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