Adapting the choreographic space to a public space to allow communication with the audience.
Title of the activity
Adapting the choreographic space to a public space to allow communication with the audience.
Duration
8 to 16 hours of workshops (depending on the capacity and pace of the group)
Participants
Any mixed group with and without disability: The example given in the video is a group of 30 school children (12-13 years old) with a group of 5 adults with intellectual disabilities
Activity proposed by
DK-BEL Company
Goals
The goal is to match the practice space with the public space in which participants will perform. It’s about giving them enough bearings so that they are not lost when they arrive at the show.
Hardware
A space that is at least the size of the public space for the performance.
A sufficiently powerful sound system. Studs to delimit the space
sound system.
Preparation
Collective preparation of the team of performers (4 to 35 participants)
Define together the steps of each workshop—who does what? The facilitator involves the group in all decisions but is ultimately responsible for making the final decision.
Scout out the performance space with the group. Show a video of the space before the show to prepare for it.
Steps/Instructions
1. Identification of play sites in public spaces
2. Get each group work in a space that has the same dimensions of the performance space.
3. We create with props or other materials a performance space that most closely resembles the public space in which we will perform (in its dimensions and landmarks: for example in the video: existence of a staircase in the center of the space…) Determine the order of passage of the groups and the transitions between the different phases, as well as the leaders of each of the groups who will give the different cues of time and/or space.
4. Each group shows its position which will serve as input markers for the next group.
5. We decide how to end the show: one group, a collective moment? Do we leave the performance area, or do we stay there?
6. This configuration of group succession is repeated several times in the practice space.
7. On the day of the show, we try to have a run-through before the performance. If this is not possible, we practice the entrances and exits and the marks of spaces (what is called repeating in the Italian way)
8. We dance together during the show!
9. We invite the public to take part in the party at the end of the show: sharing emotions.
Evaluation method
The facilitator can assess the workshop by observing the following:
To what extent participants
- Agree to participate with or without assistance.
- Collaborate with another dancer and in a group
- Feel good in the group
- Accept being watched as a dancer
What you need to know as stakeholders
Never put dancers in ‘emotional danger’, which means giving them enough reference points or surrounding them with people who can guide them during rehearsals and the show to ensure they won’t get ‘lost’.
Variations
Some dancers won’t be able to memorize the different phases. It will be necessary to help them with a caregiver (adult or participant who can guide them to stay connected to the group)
Method
The result of these workshops will be embodied by its participants if each gesture danced comes from one of the members of the group.
