Building Creative Citizens
By Jasmin Skelly
This workshop was given by Dr Rea Dennis, a senior lecturer at The University of Glamorgan. The workshop showcased the methodology behind the highly successful Beacon for Wales project ‘Reclaiming the shrew’ that Dr Dennis ran two years ago alongside Gemma Fraser Jones, an accomplished dance artist from the Valleyskids Artworks programme. The project took vulnerable young people from the South Wales Valley communities, and taught them innovative techniques in physical theatre, before letting them perform a final piece in front of their family, friends, and fellow community members.
Dr Dennis began by asking everyone to give 3 words to describe why they chose to attend her workshop. Although not strictly adhering to the 3 word limit, one gentleman summed up the responses by pointing out that creativity and the creative process should be inherent in every area of human life.
With this in mind, we began to learn first-hand the powers of the physical theatre methodology that had proved so successful in the Beacon project, for which no spoken word had been uttered. We began by standing in a circle, closing our eyes and concentrating on our own bodies. Then, in an exercise designed to familiarize us with the space around us and encourage spontaneity, we walked to different areas of the room that we had not been in before. This sounds like a seemingly easy task, however there was a sense that for some reason we had avoided parts of the room that were less comfortable to us, and by visiting them had empowered ourselves in some way.
We walked around the room, clapping our hands, shouting our names, sharing glances, at first of shyness and then of humour and enjoyment. We then worked together, walking around the room shoulder to shoulder, and in formations. The activities were designed to encourage communication, synchronicity and partnership, and at the end, when asked for feedback, people reported overwhelmingly positive experiences.
Learning more about the ‘Reclaiming the Shrew’ project, it appears that this method had observable effects on all the young people involved, but induced a striking transformation in one young woman in particular. At first unwilling to speak at all, gradually this girl increased in confidence, involving herself in the group and becoming one of the most accomplished performers on the final day.
The overall message from this workshop was that the brain and the body are of course intrinsically linked, but sometimes the brain forgets this, becoming overly critical and introverted. Bringing the brain’s attention back to the body through physical theatre techniques can lead to greater self awareness, calm and also a greater awareness of the world around you.
