As a warm up practice, I proposed the group to play with a A4 white paper We were holding a A4 white paper to move around the space and we had to not let it fall or bend. It was not suppose to be dancing with a paper, the idea is to walk and have the paper as another member or our body as we have 2 legs and 2 arms. The whole time I am doing the task with the participants and simultaneously verbaling instructing others layers of the practice. I think this type of task – with an object – before a pair work can help to become present and aware of things outide of oneself. It gets brain and body ready/atuned for the practice with a person – who will then follow. So we started each session with the warm up in circle and expanding through space. This allows the group to start small and in their own time to grow and open to the space and to others. Also opens up a familiarty with the paper that we will later use for expressing by drawing on it as a register of a dance we saw and document by writing our interviews, which will then become healing scores.
The interviews — the very first task — took place in a circle, sitting on the floor.
During the interview moment, anyone can start, there is no order to follow. Anyone can just start talking and answering or reflecting on the following: What have you been interested in lately? Which part of your body feels most present today? At that same moment, another person starts to note down what the person talking is saying. And then these two persons are working for the rest of the day together, meaning that they they change roles, and the one whi was talking is now noting down. Like this they both have their partner´s shared reflection notation with them and theuy will create a dance. This dance will then be seen only by these two person, not the whole group.
The rest of the group is witnessing this. In this way, we begin a three-role form of participation: the Doer, the Listeners, and the Witnesses.
This simple task already brings in negotiation and agency and set up the rules that will follow the rest of workshop.
After everyone had been listened
Throughtout the tasks, and their performing moments, I see perfomers/participants engaging with each other in a caring and curious way. I see how every hour they are able to bring more fun and performativity. I observe how they took time when asked and also were fast when the task was demanding that. They´re flexible to in the moment wehre choices have to be made so negotiation and adjustments need to be also skills to learn possibly when working in pairs or groups and specially when there is a performing for the others/other group to see moment in the class. This can be very challening moment and to give space to negotiate with the group and feel heard is essential learning material. To listen to others.
Why I chose to work in groups (interview) to pair work and then group has to do with this need and aim to creata a safe space for everyone. As showing to others can be a challenge, dancing for others or being watched by others I planned the order of the practices also with that in consideration. Hoping for this strucutre to allow them to feel safe and brave enough to dance their gestures. Key concepts as outcome of this study I have brought to my practice and I continue to move with them have to do with care, healing, identiy, agency, transformation, resistance, co-creation, non-hierarchical methodolgies, democratic spaces for leanring, and how imagination can heal and has a leading role in our hearts and mental health. I was very much inspired by Valentina Desideri and Denise Ferreira da Silva (with their Fake Art Therapy and how they’ve created their artistic practices spaces of affection, ritual, and healing.
Because by the last day we already have met the others participants and feel much more opend to perform for them I could feel it was a good struture proposal for this study. However I am curious to know the outcomes of that experience too! As the class developed and I have observe that the structure was sucessful – from interview, to pair work, to group work, I also ask myslef what if I try other order? Would they also feel at ease?
