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Review by
Eric Miller Review of a Workshop on "Using Fairytale and Myth in Drama-and-Movement Therapy" On the afternoon
of Sunday 2 October 2016, Mike Clarke and Anshuma Kshetrapal conducted a
3-hour Workshop on "Using Fairytale and Myth in Drama-and-Movement
Therapy" in Chennai. 24 people
attended. Mike and
Anshuma have both studied at London's Sesame Institute -- one of the world's
leading training centers for Drama-and-Movement Therapy. The Sesame Institute works with a
University in London that offers a Masters degree in this field, and both
Mike and Anshuma have earned this degree. To begin with,
Mike and Anshuma told the group that this session would just be a brief
introduction to Drama-and-Movement Therapy.
In no way should participants consider themselves trained as
Drama-and-Movement Therapists as a result of this Workshop. For one thing, before one could think of
calling oneself a Counsellor/Therapist, one should at the minimum have earned
a Master's Degree in Psychology or Social Work. Nonetheless,
in a brief 3 hours, the Workshop participants experienced a basic pattern of
Drama-and-Movement Therapy: 1) We did
a series of self-introduction and warm-up activities. For examples: Some of these activities involved walking
-- faster and slower, and making one's body smaller and larger. We walked alone, and also in pairs and
groups. Joining others, and leaving
them, as I was walking produced interesting feelings within me. We playfully and imaginatively walked
through the seasons and weather conditions of an entire year in a few
minutes! In pairs, we took turns
shaping each others' bodies as if they were pieces of clay. 2) We
listened to Anshuma tell a story. 3)
Individually and in groups, we played with and explored the story. We entered the story, and the story entered
us. We mimed the story (with no or
little speech), focusing on postures, gestures, other movements, and sounds
of characters. We drew images of
aspects of the story. Then we all
stood in a large circle. One-by-one,
participants entered the circle and in some way enacted a gesture, sound,
and/or emotion from the story. The
Stationary sculptures became Kinetic (Moving) sculptures: we repeated the
gestures, louder and softer, larger and smaller. 4)
Finally, we all shared about what we had experienced and learned in the
Workshop. *** During
this sharing time, there was a discussion about the possibility of inviting
clients/participants/students/etc to act-out emotions. Mike
pointed out that doing so can be dangerous in certain situations, such as
inviting groups of adolescent young men in juvenile delinquency homes to
act-out "anger". It was
agreed by all that when working (as a therapist, teacher, coach, trainer,
etc) with individuals or groups -- to ensure the safety and comfort of all
concerned, one has to always 1) be
very sensitive and aware, 2)
closely monitor the moods of the participants, and 3) act
accordingly. Anshuma
said that it is often best to let emotions arise, and remain contained, in
stories. However,
various contexts were also mentioned in which inviting
clients/participants/students/etc to act-out emotions are popular and
long-standing practices. For examples: --- 1) In
Psychodrama, session directors sometimes suggest that an emotion be
represented by a colored cloth, an empty chair, a person, etc. Then participants can address and interact
with the representation of this emotion. --- 2) In
Creative Writing workshops, story-composition prompts such as the following
are often used: "Why
Does He/She Feel That Way?" If a
character might be [happy, sad, impatient, confused, etc], she might feel
this way because ______. (Participants
fill in the blank, based on their imaginations, inclinations, etc.) Think of
the last time you were [happy, sad, impatient, confused, etc]. Why did you feel that way? Think of
a character in a favorite movie, novel, etc, of yours who was [happy, sad,
impatient, confused, etc]. Why did
he/she feel that way? Sometimes
in story-composition processes one develops characters and stories in
relation to and/or inspired by certain emotions. --- 3) A
popular warm-up in storytelling sessions/workshops is for the participants to
act-out a series of emotions, each with a facial expression, a gesture, a
sound, and sometimes words. Sometimes
the 9 Rasas (emotions, or mental states) of Classical Indian Arts are used in
this activity: 1) Love 2)
Laughter. 3) Fury. 4)
Compassion. 5)
Disgust. 6)
Horror. 7)
Heroism. 8)
Amazement. 9)
Tranquility. *** In
summary, this Drama-and-Movement Workshop was a splendid occasion! We really got a sense of how therapy could
in part be conducted by the client (of any age) playing, acting,
storytelling, and drawing -- not just doing plain talk-therapy. The event
was a wonderful addition and stimulant to Chennai's blossoming Arts Therapies
scene, which includes a one-year Course, and an
International Conference,
both coming up in December. *** Mike
Clarke, London / Kent Anshuma
Kshetrapal, New Delhi / Bangalore http://thecolorofgreycells.blogspot.in *** The
Workshop venue was Studio 360, a dance studio in Gopalapuram. Studio 360 was very comfortable, clean, and
professional. The space was filled
with sunlight, and the air-conditioning was near-silent, For info about the space's availability:
98846 64333. Return to
WSI E-newsletter on
Monday 3 October
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