Wednesday 24 September 2014

An AudioVisual Banquet. Intermediality- a collaboration,

Posted on 9/24/2014 by

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This morning at ISB, Ed Grody, Lisa O'Leary and Francesco Di Paolo (the Theatre Lighting, Sound and Video teachers) and I collaborated for a one-off class, in which we wanted to bring our two groups of students together for a mini-project. The aim was to integrate multimedia live performance software (Isadora) with experimental spoken word performance and to play around with this as a sandbox.



Prior to this class, The Advanced Performance Works students worked collaboratively to create original texts, but without knowing what the end result would be used for. Below is the writing exercise which is good for collaboratively generating texts.

Meanwhile the Theatre Lighting, Sound and Video class were getting to grips with the Isadora software and with the live camera work. Then this morning we all got together and in just 40 minutes this happened...
Group 1

Group 2

Group 3





Collaboratively Generating Text Exercise

 First I asked them to fold a piece of paper into 8 squares and to write a word in each square- the first words that came into their heads. Any nouns, verbs or adjectives. Then students ripped the squares apart so they had 8 separate pieces of paper. Then they paired up and shared the words they had written. Next it was the object of the pair to arrange the 16 words into a list that had some structure or meaning from them, could be into some kind of loose narrative, could be arranged by similar words, whatever. They were allowed to edit out up to 3 words that weren't fitting in at this stage. Then it was about writing a text together to include these key words into a larger piece of writing.






Friday 19 September 2014

Performing with Voice- a collaboration.

Posted on 9/19/2014 by

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Last year, me and a colleague of mine, Cat Leclerc, who teaches The Voice Works class here (https://twitter.com/MS_VoiceWorks), had one of our exciting discussions, which always tend to lead to us working on some new idea together. This particular conversation was about trying to find a way for our classes to collaborate. In the end we agreed to work independently for a couple of weeks, with our own students then to bring that stuff together for a final presentation, exploring the themes of dream, war, a race and crowds. With my Performance students, we explored the themes through silent movement pieces, students devising each part in small groups. With the Voice students, Cat looked at creating vocal soundscapes, with song, sounds and words.

After two weeks of workshops and creating some material, we brought the classes together to watch what each had made and then we mixed up the students into groups to work together on combining it into one piece.

This video is the result of two of the themes: war and crowds (which became protest). 


Thanks to Lisa O'Leary for the filming and editing.


The exciting part of this project was that students had to leave their comfort zones in order to bring the whole project together. Performance students at this age are much more comfortable with words, speaking tends to be easier than moving or expressing yourself through the body, and Voice students who are more confident with singing, need an opportunity to explore a much wider range of vocal sounds.
Bringing the students together in this way also helped elevate the performances from the regularity and safety of our individual classrooms. Adding some ceremony to the event lifted it to a new level and brought something special out of the students. And as a result, a rich and quite different final presentation was delivered.

Collaboration. It's great.


Thursday 18 September 2014

Monday 15 September 2014

Moments of Magic

Posted on 9/15/2014 by

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I have just finished teaching one of my favourite classes of the year.

As part of the Expressive Arts Program here at ISB, I teach Grade 1 and right now we are just starting of the program for this year. It's week two and last week I introduced students to the class and to their first foray into Expressive arts, by giving out objects and asking them to describe how they feel. I use a pillow, a large tin pot, a rope, a big pipe-cleaner and a silver Christmas tree bauble. It's a key part for me in building their understanding of performing arts, and allows us to start thinking about the world around us and how to present that on stage.

In this week's session, I start by asking students to pass around the objects again, but this time with a catch- I didn't bring the objects. Well, more accurately I did bring objects, (and I really ham up the roleplaying of this) I just brought along imaginary objects. I show them where they are in the room and one by one I bring them over to the group. We then pass them around just as before but this time using our bodies/hands/eyes/voices and most importantly our imaginations to bring them to life. Instantly kids get it and with out much encouragement they already start acting- struggling when the tin pot is heavy and laughing when the pipe-cleaner tickles.

But all this is just building to the next part, which I love, when I tell them I brought them all a gift. I make a big show out of picking up the pile of imaginary silver balls I brought (each one the size of a ping pong ball), ask them to hold their hands out and then one-by-one I hand them out. I then explain why I have given them this special gift and how it can be used. 'This ball is not just any ball,' I say. 'It's a magic, imagination ball! Because you can do this with it-'  Then I pantomime molding and expanding the ball into the shape of a bird, I add the details of the beak and wings with my finger tips, then I stroke its head to show the shape and then while the kids are still working out what I'm making I say " Watch! and you'll see what it is!' and I give a little push and let the bird 'fly' around the room, dipping over their heads until it finally lands back in my hand. Instantly the kids understand what I just did and what they are also capable of, so I almost struggle to calm them down enough to give them a chance to do it themselves. They start inventing and creating straight away with their own magic ball.

The class then organically turns into an opportunity to explore the (lack of ) limits of imagination. So after a couple of minutes of students experimenting in their own space, I bring students together for their first presentation in front of the rest of the class (an audience) and each student shows what they can turn their ball into. As an audience we try and guess what it is.


But even with all these learning encounters, and the explosion of creativity that ensues (today I saw a dog in a doghouse being given a bone, a boy smashing a ball with a tennis racket, a girl with her own personal rainbow, and a whole load of other things too), the best part of this class is the end. When I tell students that they can keep the ball, on the condition they remember to bring it with them next week. They are almost surprised that I say they can have it and as they leave the room every student is bursting with ideas, desperate to share it with their friend and to make something with their imagination!

"Look I made a bike!!"
"I've got a lollipop!"
"Mine's a pair of earrings!'


- magic!

Friday 12 September 2014

The Power Of One Word (Part 2)

Posted on 9/12/2014 by

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The other half of my Advanced Performance Works class are also going through 'The Power of' process at the moment and creating some equally interesting performances, in very short amounts of time.

Here's one in response to this photo:

 The word this group chose to use was "Goodbye":







The next group took this photo of some ants, rotated it 180 degrees and interpreted it as their chosen word "Attention".





Finally, the last group chose this photo:
 And bent the rules (you can always bend the rules for a good idea in my classes) to include the words "I'm sorry."





Thursday 11 September 2014

Artist Toolbox: To Roll, To Crease, To Fold, To Store...

Posted on 9/11/2014 by

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In 1972, Richard Serra presented his (apparently famous) Verb List, after using it to great success in his sculpture work.

In 2006, I was presented with what I think must be a version of this from one of my lecturers at University. Now looking back, being presented with that document was one of the turning points of me as a student and as an artist. It helped me to not only look at my work differently but also to view the world through a different lens. It helped me to see that any material, be it text, image, movement, sound or idea, could be manipulated in such ways as to make it new, and not only that, by doing the same or different actions with multiple materials I discovered new and interesting connections between those things.

Now in 2014, I was listening to another TED talk, this time from Julie Burstein about creativity. And she talked about Serra's Verb List and it reminded me of that similar list that I received. These words are a fantastic resource for anyone who is working creatively. With the right outlook it's possible to apply the verbs to so many things, including ideas, for new and interesting possibilities and it's especially useful when devising theatre.


I'll be using them in some of my workshops coming up and will post explanations and results, but in the mean time here is the list digitally in case you are interested:

TO ROLL
TO CREASE
TO FOLD
TO STORE
TO BEND
TO SHORTEN
TO TWIST
TO DAPPLE
TO CRUMPLE
TO SHAVE
TO TEAR
TO CHIP
TO SPLIT
TO CUT
TO SEVER
TO DROP
TO REMOVE
TO SIMPLIFY
TO DIFFER
TO DISARRANGE
TO OPEN
TO MIX
TO SPLASH
TO KNOT
TO SPILL
TO DROOP
TO FLOW
TO CURVE
TO LIFT
TO INLAY
TO IMPRESS
TO FIRE
TO FLOOD
TO SMEAR
TO ROTATE
TO SWIRL
TO SUPPORT
TO HOOK
TO SUSPEND
TO SPREAD
TO HANG
TO COLLECT
OF TENSION
OF GRAVITY
OF ENTROPY
OF NATURE
OF GROUPING
OF LAYERING
OF FELTING
TO GRASP
TO TIGHTEN
TO BUNDLE
TO HEAP
TO GATHER
TO SCATTER
TO ARRANGE
TO REPAIR
TO DISCARD
TO PAIR
TO DISTRIBUTE
TO SURFEIT
TO COMPLIMENT
TO ENCLOSE
TO SURROUND
TO ENCIRCLE
TO HOLE
TO COVER
TO WRAP
TO DIG
TO TIE
TO BIND
TO WEAVE
TO JOIN
TO MATCH
TO LAMINATE
TO BOND
TO HINGE
TO MARK
TO EXPAND
TO DILUTE
TO LIGHT
TO MODULATE
TO DISTILL
OF WAVES
OF ELECTROMAGNETIC
OF INERTIA
OF IONIZATION
OF POLARIZATION
OF REFRACTION
OF TIDES
OF REFLECTION
OF EQUILIBRIUM
OF SYMMETRY
OF FRICTION
TO STRETCH
TO BOUNCE
TO ERASE
TO SPRAY
TO SYSTEMATIZE
TO REFER
TO FORCE
OF MAPPING
OF LOCATION
OF CONTEXT
OF TIME
OF CARBONIZATION
TO CONTINUE


Monday 8 September 2014

The Power Of One Word

Posted on 9/08/2014 by

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First thing Monday morning. Kids drag their feet into class. The lesson drags by as kids half sleep, half interact. By the time they've left they're just waking up, but too little too late. Right?

Wrong.

This morning The Advanced Performance Works class arrived ready to work, full of enthusiasm and energy and the lesson exploded into the week.

In our last session together we had been working on performance without words, in a session titled The Power Of Nothing. At the end of the session I launched our next task, The Power Of One Word, with an interesting social experiment. It went something like this:

Students were asked to each select a picture from a set of stimulus photos and attach one word to said picture. These pictures I get from a fantastic resource which is The Big Picture. They then present this picture and the spoken word to the group then lay it down in front of them. Then the experiment bit, (something I had never tried before but worked pretty well) was that I asked students to stand next to the photo they though the group should take forwards into the next part of the exercise, which would be to devise a scene based upon the image. Students could stand next to their own if they wanted, or move to another that inspired them more. 

Once students had selected for the first time, (a spread of a group next to one image and then a couple of individuals who had stayed with their own) I then asked the students to re-evaluate their choice to try to come to a group agreement. After a few re-evaluations students started to gather into two groups and from that point on didn't look like agreeing further. My original plan had been that the students would work in one large group, but as they had divided equally and organically into two groups, I changed my plan and let them continue like this.

- 'Brainwash'

- 'Abandoned'


Now in this morning's class and with the chosen stimuli in hands, I set the students to task- to create a short performance inspired by their image, in which they were allowed to speak only one word. They therefore had to choose carefully a new word which would have the maximum impact. It also encouraged them to think about the other elements of performance, in the absence of text, such as eye contact, movement, silence, lighting, music,  and to think carefully about the timing of the speaking of the word, given that it could only be said once.

In just 20 minutes, students were able to create absolutely gripping performances inspired by their chosen image. The words absolutely were powerful especially in the context of otherwise wordless performances, and the rest of the material was rich and delivered with commitment and focus.
In response to the 'Brainwash' photo, students spoke the word "Why?"

In response to the 'Abandoned' photo, students spoke the word "Next."



Not bad for a Monday morning...

Monday 1 September 2014

Artist Toolbox: Building trust. Building a team.

Posted on 9/01/2014 by

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As it's that time of the year when our groups of students are new, where students actually coming into physical contact with each other is only through awkward hugs or unfriendly 'roughhousing', and when there is more ice in the classroom than at the antarctic, many of us have team-building and ice-breakers on our planning.

I've had some really successful outcomes from some of my recent team building, so I wanted to share some of my favourite team/trust building exercises with you.

Here's one of them...

1. The Human Obstacle Course
This exercise requires at least a corridor's width of space, but obstacles from the classroom can be incorporated into the activity if space is tight. It also requires a blindfold.  It's an ideal one for when you have a group that need to be active to remain focused as the whole group can participate in one go, but your attention for safety can be focused on the parts with risk.

One 'adventurer' is selected and three 'spotters/guides' each time. The rest of the group will form the obstacle course.

Now imagine a scene from Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider, where the adventurer is negotiating an obstacle course with swinging pendulum blades, rotating gears, puffs of flames, spikes that repeatedly pop out of a wall and so on. This is what you are trying to create but with human bodies. An obstacle course that has students working in pairs or threes with arms/legs/bodies that create shapes to step over or crawl under; and repetitive and regularly timed movements (2/3 seconds between each movement at least) that mimic the kind of obstacles I mentioned above. When setting this up, remind students that it should be a little bit challenging but achievable- this is about building trust and confidence remember! If a situation ever looks like becoming dangerous e.g. you are swinging your arm to create an obstacle and you can tell that at the current pace and direction the adventurer will connect with your arm, stop swinging it. Or as a teacher, intervene. Safety first.

Before starting, brief the whole group on the purpose of the exercise. It's about building trust, communicating and giving directions, and working as a team (which includes the people of the obstacles too) to give each adventurer an experience and to build their confidence. There should be no practical jokes. Ever. That's so important. Jokes in this situation destroy trust and after one the whole exercise can fall apart.

Then take your spotters/guides. It is their primary responsibility to ensure the safety of the adventurer (the adventurer will be blindfolded for the obstacle course so they must be the eyes of the person). Brief them on basic safety, keeping an eye on the adventurer's head, not letting them fall, etc. Then their secondary objective is to guide them through the obstacle course. Two spotters hold the adventurer's hands and the third stays behind/in front and helps to give verbal directions to the adventurer.

Then take your adventurer. Reassure them on being safe for five reasons- 3 spotters, 1 teacher watching/intervening for safety and 1 group of people as 'obstacles with awareness'. Then blindfold them. From this point on, they should never ever be left with out someone physically connected to them (it's disconcerting to be blindfolded without the safety line of physical contact) So ask the two spotters to take the person's hands and not to let go until the adventurer is through the obstacle course.

Then when everyone is ready, start the rhythm of the obstacle course, (remember steady, rhythmic movements) and then help your adventurer to pass through it. The spotters should be talking to them all the time. This is also an exercise in communication- the adventurer can't see, so the spotters have to describe what's coming, direct how to pass it and reassure/congratulate throughout.

Then when they have finished, change the spotters, change the adventurers and get the obstacle course to quickly change it up for new combinations/new obstacles.

And watch as that early year ice melts away...


Lessons to be learned: A teacher speaks out...

Posted on 9/01/2014 by

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When Sam Burton began teaching three years ago, he was determined to thrive. But after spells at an academy and a special educational needs school in the UK, he's had enough. Here, he tells the story of how even an energetic young teacher can struggle with the demands of modern teaching.

And another-
An Open Letter Of Resignation From A Frustrated Teacher

I'm very, very, very lucky and grateful to be a teacher at ISB.
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