Using interactions between dancers to enrich inclusive choreographic writing for public spaces
Title of the activity
Using interactions between dancers to enrich inclusive choreographic writing for public spaces.
Duration
8 to 16 hours of workshops (depending on the capacity and pace of the group) It is the facilitator’s role to pay attention to developing interactions throughout the process.
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 create a group dynamic that allows to find danced interactions between dancers. It is to guide them by giving them a danced ‘vocabulary’ that will allow them to create a duet at first and then to use this gesture and these interactions within a group in a second time.
Hardware
A space large enough to include the whole group and a sufficiently powerful 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.
Steps/Instructions
1. Guide participants in creating interactions with each other.
After the solos were created here in Chapter 2 using the theme of ‘Getting out of your Bubble’: they were then asked to work in pairs and look for interactions that will help get their partner out of their bubble by giving them different gestures:
● A gust of wind
● An electric shock
● A helping hand
2. The pair research phase – participants meet by changing partners very frequently and quickly during this research phase.
3. Then each pair chooses what they prefer to do and creates their own choreographic story: Who starts to make the bubble? What instruction does the other send him to get him out of his bubble? then we change roles ….Partners try to repeat the same story several times: (to commit to memory)
4. Participants are placed in groups of 4 to 6: each pair shows step 3 to their group
5. We move on to the choreographic writing itself, the facilitator includes the participants in making choices, giving meaning to the movements created, and uses the interactions created by the different groups within the collective creation to make a single whole.
6. The facilitator puts all that has been created by the different groups in line with the public space in which the piece will be shown (see Choreography for Performing in Public Spaces video)
7. Then we dance together during the show!
8. Lastly, we invite the audience to share the stage at the end of the show.
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
Provide a team of accompanists large enough to be able to follow each of the groups that will be formed. When working with school groups, teachers can also take charge of small groups.
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.
