Learning by movement: biographical narrative of the body

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Organisation

Associação Social de Silveirinhos – ARCSS

Methodology

Art therapy

Type of activity / modality

Workshop / In presence

Summary

This workshop presents autobiographical methodology applied to body expression and improvisation.

Theme

Educational activities based on art-therapy for social inclusion through art&craft, autobiographical storytelling techniques and digital storytelling to support migrant women in self-awareness and empowerment projects, both in-person and remote. This kit describes how to prepare activities and materials, offers evaluation and self-assessment models of activities and outcomes, making it easier to use this tool and to replicate proposed activities.

Participants

This activity has no restrictions for the profile of participants

Objective

To promote the connection between body and mind of participants, aiming body conscience and mindfulness.
To stimulate the creation/investigation of autobiographical narratives.
To create a safe space where participants can allow themselves to explore and express with their bodies.
To potentiate the opportunity of reflecting on memories: the individual, the common, the universal ones…
To promote self-esteem through the knowledge of the potentialities of the body, getting a new vision of themselves

Materials

Loudspeaker for music (and computer/ mp3 player if needed)
Paper and colorful pens
An open space for working comfortably with movement according to the number of participants. If it’s possible, it’s recommended to have soft lightning

Preparation

The preparation instructions explain what you have to do in advance in order to deliver the exercise without any interruptions or any kind of logistic hold-ups. We do not include obvious suggestions, such as targeting the activity to the participants’ group, checking facilities in advance or tasks allocation among team members.

Step-by-step instructions

Introduction and common ground agreement.
Soft warm-up – Self awareness of body and space.
Guided visualization – The paths of my body.
Autobiographical exercise – Mapping my body.
Improvising – My story in movement.
Sharing – The bodies of our community.
Evaluation and reflection.

Evaluation

We propose a evaluation dynamic where each participant will write in a few minutes the answers of the following questions:

Today I’ve enjoyed the taste of….
Today my eyes have discovered…
Today my skin has touched…
Today I’ve listened to…
Today smells like….
Today my body told me that…

Tips – Safety

Tips and considerations for facilitators is the box providing ideas which might apply to your case, or might be important for further developing the exercise. Developing an exercise with a heterogeneous group raises a rich and diverse range of questions and suggestions for implementing the activity. You’ll also find a few safety instructions here.

Group size

The group size recommended is from 5 to 15 participants. Although, the group can always be bigger as long as the room size allows it and as long as the time available for sharing is enough.

Complexity

2/3 – You need more time and materials to prepare the activity, you also need greater expertise in delivering it; e.g.: you might need a lot of materials, you need a specific kind of venue, the activity explanation is rather complicated.

Time

2 hours

Author(s) – Sources

Gabriella Modesto.

Further suggestions for the implementation of the activity

Introduction

Timing	Introduction and common ground agreement	Objectives
5 min	Presentation of the trainer and the group (if needed in the context)	– Ice Breaking
5 min	Presentation of the workshop: Opening with a short evaluation of expectatives (What do you think we are doing today? What’s body expression?)	– Soft Ice breaking – Introduction to the matter
5 min	Common ground orientations The trainer will set some shared agreement between the rules, for example: – Confidentiality: The stories, emotions, reflections, opinions that will be shared in this activity won’t be exposed outside the room. – Generosity: We, as individuals, will be generous with ourselves allowing us to connect, to explore, to enjoy this session, working with honesty to our stories, emotions and bodies. And, as a group, we’ll be generous to each other, sharing, receiving and embracing the stories, emotions and bodies shared with us. Then, participants can propose shared directions: (pictures, lights, noises…)	– To create together a safe space for the exploration – To promote the connection of the group
Total	15 min

Warm up

Timing	Self-awareness of body and space	Objectives
15 min	Mobilization of main body’s articulations Dislocations: playing with rhythms and levels Ice breaking game: zip – zap – boing	– Warming up the body – Activating attention and presence in the “here and now” – Familiarization with faces, names and space
Total	15 min

Guided visualization

Timing	The paths of my body	Objectives
10 min	Participants will find a comfortable position in the room. The trainer will provide a guided visualization offering to the group a self-recognition of their bodies and starting to connect to the stories related to them.	– Promoting focus – Setting a different mood for the activity
Total	10 min

Autobiographical exercise

Timing	Mapping my body	Objectives
15 min	Drawing a map: Following the concept of the visualization, participants will be invited to draw on paper the map of their bodies, highlighting at least 5 parts that they relate to the storytelling of their life.	– Helping participants to identify the story markers of their lives – Creating visual maps of the bodies, as an external element
30 min	Map in motion: Once the elements are selected, participants will find a movement pattern for each of it, translating the story to motion. With the help of the trainer, the group will transit through the plasticity of the pattern, playing and exploring with it. After it, every participant will have a short choreograph that we will call “Map”	– Fomenting body expression through movement – Providing to participants new tools for storytelling – Creating a dynamic to revisit personal stories from a different angle
Total	45 min

Sharing

Timing	The bodies of our community	Objectives
20 min	This is my map: Participants will show to each other the final map they have investigated.	– Open space for sharing the exploration
10 min	A patchwork made of maps: Participants will interact with each other’s maps, creating a common one: the story of a communityAfter it, every participant will have a short choreograph that we will call “Map”	– Helping participants to interact with each other through movement – Potentiate the understanding of a common story, with empowerment attached to it
Total	30 min

Evaluation

Timing	My body’s journey	Objectives
10 min	We propose a evaluation dynamic where each participant will write in a few minutes the answers of the following questions: – Today I’ve enjoyed the taste of…. – Today my eyes have discovered… – Today my skin has touched… – Today I’ve listened to… – Today smells like…. – Today my body told me that…
Total	10 min