Turn around games and acting scenes

Today, the guys from turn-around hosted a different game which goes towards their Arts award. This was very fun as we were all very supportive and enthusiastic, however there was some loss of focus throughout the games. It was nice for the rolls to change as the BRIT people usually hosted the games and so it was nice to see a bit of a difference.

We then moved on to the acting scenes, where there were three separate groups. Two groups focused on real life situations (one from turn around, one from BRIT) and this was very effective as we were seeing it in a theatrical interpretation. The group that i am in, i believe it is very brave that the material we have is being expressed; i really think it will open people's eyes and help them to understand more about how words and bullying can effect people and families. Honestly, our group did lose a lot of focus (partly because we were missing the person we needed most) but i do think there should have been more focus on such a serious situation. Will (unintentionally) brought some Brecht style theatre into our piece, where he wanted to include signs, multi-role characters and make something serious appear comical. He was very happy finding out that his ideas were Brecht!

Progression and performing

Today we Split up into three groups to work on the songs we created. My group created a brand new song including: instruments, voice and rap. At first we improvised and it started to come together and sound really good. We were all supportive of each others ideas and now it needs a bit more work and cleaning.

One of the groups performed today and the progression was amazing. It sounded like it was already a successful song in the charts but of course it's a one of a kind ;) The fact that as a group we worked together and shared all of our skills to make such wonderful work. There were some aspects such as projection and confidence that needed some work, but that was only because they had performed that one time to an audience.

Theatre oppressed

The Origins of Theatre of the Oppressed Augusto Boal began his experimentations in participatory theatre in the 1950s and 60s while he was artistic director for the Arena Theatre in Rio de Janeiro. He went beyond the stage and organized performances with the Arena troupe in the streets, factories, unions, churches where they could reach the people of the favelas or slums of Rio. In 1971, Boal’s work drew the attention of the military dictatorship and he was arrested and tortured. After four months he was released and sent into exile, spending five years in Argentina, two in Portugal and eight in France before returning to his home in Rio.

Theatre of the Oppressed was born in 1971, in Brazil, under the very young form of Newspaper Theatre , with the specific goal of dealing with local problems – soon, it was used all over the country. Forum Theatre came into being in Peru, in 1973, as part of a Literacy Program; we thought it would be good only for South America– now it is practiced in more than 70 countries. Growing up, TO developed Invisible Theatre in Argentina, as political activity, and Image Theatre to establish dialogue among Indigenous Nations and Spanish descendants, in Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico... Now these forms are being used in all kinds of dialogues.

Future ambitions and sharing of work

Very progressive day today, we started off with some warm up games such as "the sunshine game", "hot and cold" and "heads up". We then played a trust game where we all had to close our eyes and memorize the person who stood in front of us by walking around the room to feel for them. This worked really well as we all kept our eyes shut and followed the rules making it very tricky but fun. It also showed that as a group we are comfortable with each other enough to play games like this without there being an loss of focus or any sort of restrictions.

We then came back and went into our groups for the songs, spoken word and dance. Everything is all coming together now and it is looking and sounding amazing which is very exciting as it was down to our team work and bonds we have made with each other.
We did an interesting activity which was filmed in different ways and locations on camera. This started off with finding a partner and letting them make 3 different shapes with the other person of the things they want in the future. This can be goals, dreams or even lifestyle changes. This was very interesting and everyone stayed focused and was very creative with how they portrayed the movement whether it was changing the levels, speed or the movement itself. It was quite difficult having to change the way the movement was when in the different locations and there was some loss of focus but in the end we ended up with a lot of good material on film!

The music in particular touched me today as the songs told a story (whether it be personal or not) of the different situations some younger people have to go through daily. It made me realise how people make their choices and why they make them, which is for many reasons. Mixing the rap and singing together was beautiful and it really gave a sense of equality and that there is not really a difference between us and them. The talent and potential is overwhelming and at first I didn't realise it would pan out like this!

Series of workshops and putting creative minds to work

The lesson today i think was the strongest session as we all really got involved in the activities. Although some faces have gone and new ones have arrived, the bond between the two groups is strong and we are making a lot of progress. today we did a fun singing warm up, a sort of creative story game and some workshops including: beat-boxing, spoken word and song making. We got a lot out of this as we saw peoples lives, emotions and opinions though the art of music and spoken word.

The songs are still work in progress and have fantastic lyrics along side of them... Particularly what interested us was the poem about education as it related to us all in different ways. I think a spoken word response to the video in some way would be interesting!

Monday partner games and acting workshop

Script from Love&Money!

On Monday before we started the partner games and the acting workshop, Matthew went through a rule list with us for everybody to follow. This was very helpful as it applied to each individual person so there's no inequality. Moreover we started off with some warm up/greeting games and then split up into three groups. In these three groups we played a game where we must get all the chairs to the other side of the room without  anybody touching the floor. This went really well(even though our group came last twice), the only downfall was when one of the groups won by not following the rules properly.

We then moved onto doing some acting where there were directors and actors. I bought in a couple of plays and ended up doing the duologue i bought in from Love&Money. Nikita and I were the actors and Josh was the director. This went really well as the scene was very dynamic and emotional and there was very good direction and support.

Matthew's amazing rules!

BRIT school and Turn around centre

On Friday, we finally met the youths we will be working with from the centre. At first i was a bit nervous then  i realised how they are not any different from us. They have passions and dreams, just like us and do truly want to achieve them but might not show it as much. When leading the "follow the leader" game, everybody was involved, taking part and enjoying themselves which made me very confident. Everybody fully engaged and had a part which did leave to having a successful first meet up!When speaking with the youths deeper, there is no doubt that they feel there is some sort of barrier from them achieving what they want to achieve, but with our help, we will let them finally get a start in what the performing arts feels like :)

NOTES NOTES NOTES!

 Diana called it "planets" i thought it was "mirror" but it's really the "Columbian hypnosis game" ;) ... Really fun, interactive and always remember not to be wild with the movement because it is taken in turns!

 Some of my very first notes.. should come in handy about the "name games" and what will work well!

More notes on some good activities, possible scenarios and how to deal with these situations!!!

research on community arts

Some snapshots from the research i found out about community arts and how they work. At first i did not have the slightest clue about the community arts and how it works, but i am starting to understand and learn a lot about it... especially with our lesson today, I've learnt that there is a lot of skills involved in making it happen.

Introduction to community arts and 4th wall

WONDERFUL workshop with a lovely woman named Diana today!!! We learnt some of the skills it takes to bond and communicate with other people when engaging in different activities.... GROUND RULES are essential!!!! The whole group came up with some different "name games" where in which we find out each other's names in a fun way without any kind of problems. This was a challenge as each game had it's pro's and con's but it was very interesting to know how different people may react to different activities and what it takes to deal with these situations.

"The 4th wall" to me symbolises that particularly within this project, there is no barrier or "4th wall" between us and the teenagers from the Turn around centre. When we are working together, it is all about equality and finding our similarities instead of our differences.

This is the place we will be working with to apply community arts skill. We started to learn about practitioner work and particularly a practitioner named "Boal" who is well known for trying to help people become free from oppression through his plays.