BODY AS COMMUNICATION DEVICE
Session developed by VISUAL
Authored by David Francis Moore
General Information
In this session participants are introduced to ideas and exercises that explore presence in relation to the body as a communicative devise. The work of two key arts practitioners are explored in this session and participants are invited to partake in a number of exercises that have been inspired by the work of these two artists. The first being British voice coach, author, and theatre director Pasty Rodenburge and her theory on human presence in the second circle.
And second performance artist Marina Abramovic and her work on presence within her own artistic practice and her ongoing research into the relationship between performer and audience.
Two key video resources are used by the facilitator to support the learning within the session.
Aim
To inspire lateral thinking with regards to how the body communicates with others by shifting focus away from the action ‘to perform’, ‘to pitch’ or ‘to present’ and instead placing emphasis onto the quality of the interaction/ engagement with others, i.e. ‘being present’.
Profile of the trainer
To deliver this session the trainer should have a basic knowledge/understanding of performance, embodied performance, and theatre. And should have some prior experience in workshop facilitation.
room/ equipment requirements
- Large room with chairs and adaquite floor space for moving around.
- Projector
- Laptop
Outline of activities
aim
To give participants some insight into what will be covered in the session.
To create a focused and relaxed environment.
description
The facilitator introduces his/her/themselves.
The facilitator asks the group to place all mobile phones on silent and/or off and place them into a box a the top of the room. Participants are also asked to disengage engage with technology for the next hour.
The group are asked to stand and take three deep breaths before returning to their seats.
The facilitator introduces the group to the concept of performance as a tool for entrepreneurial practice.
aim
To introduce participants to the concept of presence within Patsy Rodenburg’s theory of second circle.
To get participants to explore and play with this concept physically within the space.
description
Participants are given a brief introduction to Patsy Rodenburg and her theory of second circle.
Patsy Rodeburgs recorded lecture is played for the participants.
Participants are asked to walk through the space exploring each of the three circles within Rosenburgs theory, starting with circle one, then moving to circle three and concluding in circle two .
Participants are asked to reflect in pairs and then to the group.
aim
To introduce participants to the concept of presence within Marina Abramovic’s artistic practice with regards to the performer/audience relationship.
To get participants to explore and play with this concept physically within the space.
description
Participants are given a brief introduction to the work Marina Abramovic, with particular reference to her 2012 work ‘The Artist is Present’ Participants are
then shown a recording of Abramovic’s ted talk lecture on trust, vulnerability and
connection.
Participants are asked to pair up and to look into each others eyes for two minutes.
Participants are asked to reflect in pairs and then to the group.
The group is then asked to discuss in groups ‘how can these lessons be applied to everything you do as a creative entrepreneur?’. Meet the Professionals short sessions.
All the modules
For a 5 day duration programme, with a group of 25 students, the recommended outline has been defined as follows.
Module 1
Initiation & Ideation
Ice-breaking session where students introduce themselves
and discuss their goals and expectations about the programme through a series of interactive exercises. This is followed by team-building exercises to define the working groups. At the end of the session, challenges are presented and, through design thinking strategies, teams should be able to decide and briefly present the dea they will be developing throughout the rest of the days.
Module 2
Creative Project Planning
During this day, the groups learn how to use project planning basic concepts and tools, namely the Creative Project Canvas, in order to develop their project structure/ business model (depending on the challenge they chose). The Creative Project Canvas is the tool suggested for the groups to during the entire training week, to plan and reflect on theproject/solution/prototype to be delivered at the end of the pilot.
Go to the module 2Module 3
Intellectual Property and Strategy for CulturalProfessionals
After a brief introduction about the characteristics of cultural markets’ structures and dynamics(particularly those of cultural work), students will learn the basics of intellectual property (with special focus on copyright) and how such regulations can affect their work (projects, business or career wise). In the second part of the session, through a series of examples of AH projects (businesses and non-profit), they will be introduced to other differentiation factors and how they can strategically use them in their projects in order to reach their own goals more effectively.
Go to the module 3Module 4
Pitch and Communication
The Pitch and Communication session starts with some pitch warm-up exercises, so the teams can test a first approach to present their projects to each other.
They learn how to structure and deliver a good 5 minutes pitch and also about essential communication rules and techniques that will help them define the communication strategy for their projects.
As the day ends, a series of drama exercises allow students to learn and test their most natural and important communication tool: their own bodies.
Module 5
Body as Communication Device
In this session, participants are introduced to ideas and exercises that explore presence in relation to the body as a communicative devise and they are invited to partake in a number of exercises.
Go to the module 5Module 6
Meet The Professionals
Depending on the chosen format/ duration of the programme, you can choose to include “Meet the Professionals” short sessions involving your guest entrepreneurs/ mentors.
Go to the module 6Module 7
Final Pitch Day
In the final day, the teams will present their 5 minutes pitch to a panel of 5 juries, who will give feedback on the project and the presentation performance and decide which team is the winner.
Go to the module 7