in frames of Footprints: 3 hours long workshop , created by Greek National Team: Niki Louladaki, Kiriaki Maria Papalitsa, Sophie Papaspyropoulou. Stellalena Nalmpanti, Anastasia Lampaki, Maria Roumkou. (P.E.P.S.A.E.E , Rhodes Volunteer Community). 17. 04. 2020.

Annotation :

Prior to introducing the exercises which will take place in our seminar, we would like to state that our goal, which we have set up when we were trying to interpret in a practical way what exactly means understanding of self , is our participants to understand themselves through their answers in a variety of questions relative with their preferences.
Certainly, our participants after been involved in exercises which will test the cooperation, trusting, leadership skills, following or guidance skills, will answer in questions such us: under which circumstances did you feel more comfortable or embarrassed, confidence or disbelief?
In accordance with the feelings stimulated during the exercises above mentioned, we strongly believe that the participants will create a more concrete image for their selves, especially in the field of their confidence with people that they don’t know very well, as well as in the field of leadership skills, of taking initiatives and of cooperating. In this way they will achieve a better self – aware.

3-4 main keywords:

understanding of self, self-awareness-trust building-connection- cooperation- initiative

Intention:

Understanding of self

Duration:

3 hours

Target group:

20 young people age 15-22

Approach:

non- formal kinesthetic learning trough movement and dance.

Introduction with the theme:

  • Welcome the team
  • ask our participants to take some time (2-3 minutes) and think about the following questions, try to give very quickly answers to themselves , but not to announce these answers to the team.

Do I trust or not someone that I don’t know very well?

Do I like cooperating with others or not?

Do I prefer being the leader rather than follow someone?

How do I react when I take initiatives?

  • After the time of consideration will have passed, we explain to our participants that they will be involved in exercises which will make them to come into better conclusions about their selves in the field of their confidence with people that they don’t know very well, as well as in the field of leadership skills, of taking initiatives and of cooperating.

Description of the Exercises:

Here we are…let the rhythm start. Duration 5-7 min Intention: breaking ice: Team building. Self presentation. Contact.

  • In a circle we start building a basic rhythm(clap your hands or use your feet etc).
  • We keep the beat and one person says his/her name( ex. Maria) the group responds (hello Maria) the second person follows / the group responds etc, until all members have said their name and received the welcome from the group.
  • We repeat the same, only this time every person who says his/her name is making a move. The group responds by saying the name and doing the move.

Chain of energy. Duration 10 min

PART 1

  • People standing in circle and passing a tennis ball in a circle in level of gravity center;
  • -Gradually more and more tennis balls start to be involved in the circle. At the end it can be so many as people in the group;
  • -Change the direction of ball’s traveling in the circle;
  • -Balls can be passed to anyone in the circle BUT first eye contact should happen and then attention to the ball. Start from one and then add more balls in the game.

PART 2

Walking in space balls can be passed to anyone in the group BUT first eye contact should happen and then attention to the ball. Start from one and then add more balls in the game. Increase the speed.

Note: Do not let balls on the ground! Increase the speed! Keep the energy chain ( balls’journey) even ( do not drop it down!) Pay attention that you do not loose eye contact, when it is needed!

Dancing Game. Duration 7 min. Intention: Observation skills. Contact. Group dynamic.

  • The coordinator chooses one person to stand next to him/her. The selection is based on a common external feature (colour of clothes or shoes, height, hair colour, etc.).
  • Now this person is choosing the next one based on the same terms (external feature) and asking him/her to stand next to him/her.
  • This process continues until everyone is next to each other and holding hands creating a semicircle.

Note: If there are members who come from different cultures they can be held using handkerchiefs instead of bare hands.
The music starts and the leader of the circle (the coordinator) asks the members to follow his/her steps.

STEPS ANALYSIS:
Everyone turns their bodies 3/4 to their right side:

  • Starting with the right foot we do 3 steps forward (right, left, right).
  • The left foot hits twice the ground.
  • Change of direction to the left side and repeat.
  • Three steps to the left (left, right, left).
  • The right foot hits the ground twice.

Links for the music and the steps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBElWGXdoH4&feature=youtu.behttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI2sAqYG49M&feature=youtu.be

Walking & Connecting. Duration 5 min. Intention: Trust building, Contact. Self-presentation. Initiative.

Walking in the space and:

  • With every person we meet we stop and have eye contact with him/her. We separate and move on to the next “meeting”
  • With every person we meet we start a “dialogue” with our arms.
  • With every person we meet we start a “dialogue” with our feet & legs.
  • With every person we meet we share a hug.

Leave it on me! Intention: Handle with being the leader. Handle with being the follower. Connection. Responsibility. Trust of each other.

First Part:

  • The coordinator asks the members to choose their couple.
  • One person from each couple will be the “Guide” and the other will be the “Follower”. The “Follower” has his/her eyes closed.
  • The “Guide” has his/her eyes open and holds the hand of his/her partner.
  • The “Guide” is travelling around the space leading his/her partner with safety.
  • When the coordinator asks for it, the couples change roles.

Second Part:

  • The team remains in couples.
  • Now the couples have to decide with which part of their bodies will be connected until the exercise will be finished.
  • Again the couple is divided to “Guide” and “Follower”.
  • The “Follower” closes his/her eyes , and let the “Guide” lead him/her.
  • When the coordinator asks for it, the couples change roles.

Many bodies, one soul. Intention: Connection. Cooperation

  • The team is gathering in one circle.
  • Everybody sits on the floor with the members to the right or to the left facing the back of the person who sits in front of them.
  • The members put their ear on the back of the person who sits in front of them and try to start breathing with the way that their anterior does.
  • The challenge for the whole team is to cooperate and connect with each other in such a great level, so if someone out of the circle looks at them, they have to seem like one body breathing.

In pendulum we fall…. Intention: Build of trust. Responsibility.

  • The group is divided in sub groups of five.
  • One member of each sub-group is standing with straight body, his/her eyes closed, feet in parallel position and the arms crossed in the chest level, touching the shoulders. He/she is the “person who falls”.
  • Four people are surrounding the “person who falls” in a shape of cross (one person support the front part of the “person who falls” body, one is at the back part and two supporting right and left side). They are the “Board of Trust”
  • The “ Board of Trust” is touching with their hands the body of the person in the middle (“Falling person”) to show him/her that they are there ready to catch him/her when he/she decides to fall.
  • The “person who falls” decides the first move. He/she either falls front or back or in one of the two sides. The “Board of Trust” catches him/her and start “throwing” him/her at each other. Τhe movement of the body resembles that of the pendulum.

Note: The person who falls must keep his/her feet on the ground and his/her bostraight.

I fall… Intention: Connection. Trust with each other. Responsibility.

  • The participants are walking around the space.
  • Suddenly someone says : I fall and starts falling behind.

Note: The movement of the person who says “I fall” must have a suspension and a delay before the fall, in order to give time to the other members of the team to catch him/her. This must be a significant note before the beginning of the exercise.

  • The other members have to hold him/her and lift him/her up.
  • The same process is going on with different members every time falling behind and showing trust in their team, whose responsibility is to cooperate for not letting anyone fall down.

The Broom Dance (Based on the traditional Greek dance)
Intention: Connection.initiative.selfconfidence. attention.concentration.fan

  • All the members are divided in couples. And one more person is
  • holding the broom.
  • The music starts and the couples are dancing (like doing a valse) while the person with the broom whips the dance floor.
  • The person with the broom gives the signal (by saying “change”) and then the couples must split and find another partner.
  • The person with the broom leaves it down and tries to find a couples fast as he/she can.
  • Once the couples are formed the member who doesn’t have a couple takes the broom.
  • The game ends when all the members of the group have danced with the broom.

Helpful link demonstrating the procedure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBCSMx7piFE

Dance Captains. Duration 5-7 minutes
Intention: Exercises for building a strong initiative. Handle with being the leader, initiative, cooperation.

  • We find a spot in the room and stand there facing to the same direction others do.
  • One of the coordinators becomes the “Captain”.
  • The “captain” shows dance moves to the group.
  • The group imitates the moves.
  • The “Captain” changes his orientation/direction and that is the sign that another person who is now standing in the front line (due to change of direction) is becoming “Captain”. But who form the front line will be the “Captain”?
  • The members of each front line can take a quick look to the people next to them and take responsibility to become “Captain” if no one else does.
  • Then the “Captain” changes orientation/direction and another line is becoming the front line…another person is choosing to become “Captain”
  • This goes on and on! It’s sure that there’ll be mistakes but the laughter will be great!!

Let’s Dance. Duration 15 minutes. Intention: Taking initiative, developing the capacity of being the follower, connection, cooperation.

  • We walk in the room in pairs.
  • We show to our partner with which part of our body we are dancing now.
  • We can change the part of our body we dance with or decide we want to dance with more parts.

Note: The roles between pairs change with a clap of hands by the coordinator

The Dance of Emotions! Duration 30 minutes.
Intention: Exploring and sharing emotions. Self-expression, non-verbal communication, empathy, cooperation, insight – self-awareness =>emotional intelligence, development.

Step 1:

  • The coordinators have written emotions / emotional states down on colorful cards.
  • 3 pairs of opposite emotions / emotional states: such us: Joy–Sadness, Satisfaction–Disappointment, Interest–Boredom. Alternatives: Anger – Love, Fear – Safety, Anxiety / Stress – Calmness / Relaxation.
  • Participants are being separated into sub-groups. Sub-groups can be created randomly or according to a common characteristic / attribute of the participants, a favorite fruit, color, artist etc.
  • We put the cards in different bowls and we hand them in to the sub-groups. All emotional pairs are being given to all sub-groups.
  • Each participant picks a card, reads it and takes some time to think about the last time they felt this way. They DON’T reveal the emotion / emotional state to the other members of their sub-group.
  • A few minutes are given to each participant to prepare a short sequence of moves by using their upper body (torso, hands, head) to express that emotion / emotional state.
  • After that, participants demonstrate to the members of their sub-groups their short “choreographies” and the rest of the members try to guess which emotion / emotional state is being demonstrated.

Step 2:

  • The emotion cards have numbers on them. The numbers are also pinned on different places in the room.
  • Each participant finds their card’s number in the room and goes there. In this way, new sub-groups are created based on the emotion / emotional state that were chosen by the participants at Step 1.
  • Their mission is to share their sequences of moves and create a new choreography that includes all dancing aspects of the same emotion.
  • The target here is to set an environment in which (cooperation and exchange of views and moves will flourish!).
  • When the new choreographies are ready, the sub-groups sit down and through discussion we all together try to find the opposite emotional pairs, the antidote for each emotion/ emotional state.
  • Each pair (sub-groups) takes the stage and has an emotional dance dialogue.

Debriefing:

  1. Body Relaxation
    We relax our bodies with some yoga exercises.
    Through that, we are ready for a productive conversation for the evaluation of all this act.
  2. Consideration Time
    -We give ourselves some time to evaluate everything that happened today.
    -The coordinators suggest to everyone to lay down on the floor, close their eyes and with the entourage of chill music, to think of all the positive or perhaps the negative impressions.
  3. My shield (closing exercise)
    -We give to the participants time to reminisce about all our meetings, to remember the activities, their feelings, the sense
    on their bodies, the way they experienced the tasks, their relationships with the other members and the coordinators. How would they describe the overall experience?
    Did they gain anything?
    What things would they want to remember?
    What did they learn about themselves?
    -We provide them with sheets with printed shields and we ask them to write / draw / paint all the strengths they discovered they have thanks to the Key to Connection’s Workshops. They may keep and of course use their shield from now on!

the Key to Connection is implemeneted in the framework of Erasmus+: Youth in Action  programme – key action 2, Strategic Partnership for exchange experiences.