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"Notes on Posture, Gesture, Movement and Dance in Storytelling", and "Dance-movement, Storytelling, and Theatre Activities" April
2018 "Notes
on Posture, Gesture, Movement,
and Dance in
Storytelling" Storytelling
involves bringing characters to life, so tellers and listeners can experience
the emotions and thoughts of these characters. Using movement, gesture, posture, and dance
are excellent ways to bring characters and stories to life. Movement -- like
voice -- can be an external manifestation of one's own, or of a character's,
inner state. Things, beings, and
processes can be embodied, enacted, and expressed through movement. Body movements
can bring up memories. One has a
memory of the positions one's body has been in, and of what one was thinking
and of how one was feeling when one was in those positions. One might seek
to be aware of, and at times to consciously create, "signature" body
language (posture and gestures), stylised ways of moving, and types of
quality of movement (slow or fast, smooth or jerky, curved or straight,
meandering or intentional, etc) -- for oneself, for a narrator of a story,
and/or for a story character. Gesture
can be used to illustrate (mime), to express feelings, to emphasise, etc. As one breathes
in -- the body expands (straightens). As one breathes
out -- the body contracts (bends). Movements can be
pulsing, rhythmical, repetitive, and evolving. This can become dance. One can dance as, for, or about a
character (including a character that is a personification of an emotion or
idea). Freeze -- strike
a pose. Individual and group
body-sculptures can represent characters at
particular moments in stories.
Regarding group sculptures: session participants can walk around and
enter a story scene -- this gives the scene a certain sense of reality. A narrator or a
character could Stretch, Extend, and Reach -- to express yearning for
something one, or a story character, wants. ____________________________________ "Dance-movement, Storytelling, and Theatre Activities" These activities
could be done in a number of contexts, including Play. Teaching-and-learning. Self-development (including self-exploration,
self-expression, and development of imagination and creativity). Healing. Therapy. These are too
many activities for a single session.
One could choose between them, and of course one could modify them as
one might wish. *** 1 Warm-up
activities -- Participants
could be invited to find a partner and ask and tell, 1) What is your
name?, 2) Where did you
come from today to attend this Workshop?, and 3) Why are you
attending this Workshop? What do you
hope to get out out of it? Participants
could be invited 1) To walk
around the space. 2) To walk as if
one were going on a journey. 3) To walk
faster and slower. 4) To make one's
body seem smaller and larger. 5) To walk
alone, in pairs, and in groups. 6) To imagine walking
through various terrains and weather conditions. Participants
could be invited to stand in a circle.
Participants
could be invited to place one of their hands near their diaphragm muscle
(above the stomach), and breathe in and out -- feeling one's body expanding
and contracting. Participants could
follow the group leader in doing some vocalising and singing (vowel sounds
with an "h" in front of them are recommended). Participants could be asked to seek to
produce richness of sound and resonance within the body, not loud volume. Participants
could be invited to bend, twist, and stretch their upper bodies. Participants
could be invited to say their names, and then express how they feel at that
moment -- using posture and movement only. Participants
could do group "mirror" activities.
(Participants
could take turns being the leader.) Using single or
repetitive movements, participants could, 1) Imitate a
leader's movements, and/or 2) Respond to a
leader's movements. Using words,
non-verbal sounds, and/or gestures and facial expressions, participants could
express various emotions, personality traits, and/or attitudes. (Each behavior could be done once, or a
number of times.) The emotions,
traits, and attitudes could include: 1) The 9 Rasas
-- Surprise, Laughter, Love, Disgust, Heroism, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and
Peacefulness. 2) Depression,
Anxiety, Introversion (Shyness), Extroversion (Boldness, Aggression), etc. Group members
could imitate and/or respond to what the leader does. Situations,
relationships, and conversational exchanges could arise, such as, "Let's go
to the (fill in the blank)".
"Can I come?"
"Yes", "No".
If "No" -- "Why?" "I feel
sleepy". "Why?" "I feel
full of energy". "Why?" These improvised
scenes could develop into stories (composed and performed by a leader and the
group members). *** 2 Participants
could be invited to answer these questions with posture and movement only: 1) What emotion
did you get up with this morning? 2) What is
something you were doing in the last few hours? 3) How did you
feel while doing this thing? Participants
could be invited to show through posture and movement some experience or
situation in the last few days that has had a strong impact on them. If they might
like, participants could express regarding these experiences or situations in
metaphorical terms. Examples of
metaphors include: One could mime
swimming in calm ocean water. One could mime
swimming in rough ocean water. One could mime
an erupting volcano. Participants
could be invited to close their eyes and imagine they are in a place that
makes them feel happy and safe. (These places could be in their memories or
imaginations.) Participants could then
open their eyes and mime aspects of the place, how they got there, and/or
their feelings once they would be in the place. Participants
could be invited to express with posture and movement a mood they have been
in recently, or have been in for a long time. Participants
could be invited to respond (using posture and movement) to things the group
leader might say. If a participant
might give permission, other participants could physically imitate, or
respond to, some of the participant's postures and movements. *** 3 Participants
could be invited to sit. A leader
could say to them: Imagine a
character. This character could be
you, a part of you, from a movie, someone you observed and/or interacted with
recently, totally made-up, etc. Using
words, non-verbal sounds, and/or gestures and facial expressions (posture and
quality of movement), communicate replies to these questions: Who is this
character? Where is
he/she? What is she
wearing and holding? Visualise and
portray her skin, hair, facial expressions, posture, and quality of movement. How does she
feel? Why does she
feel this way? If you have
recently felt this way, why did you do so? When you have
felt this way, what are some events that have brought this feeling on? Where has she
been recently? Does she want to
go someplace? If yes, where? Does she want
anything? If yes, what? Does she want to
do anything? If yes, what? Does she want to
make anything? If yes, what? Does she want to
meet anyone? If yes, who? Does she want to
become someone or something? If yes,
who? If she wants to
do something -- What might she
need to do, in order to do it? What obstacles
might she need to overcome? How might she
seek to do this? Who might assist
her? *** 4 A leader could
tell a story (a folktale, a personal-experience story, etc). Participants
could be invited to mime the story -- individually or in groups; while the
story is being told, or after the story has been told. <end> Many thanks to Mike Clarke, Tripura Kashyap, Anshuma
Kshetrapal, Anita Ratnam, Smita Rajan, and Mrinalini Sekar! Elements of the above have been learned
from these individuals.
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