Created by Niki Louladaki, Kiriaki Maria Papalitsa, Sophie Papaspyropoulou. Stellalena Nalmpanti, Anastasia Lampaki, Maria Roumkou. (P.E.P.S.A.E.E , Rhodes Volunteer Community) / Greece (no2) / 2.,3.06.2020
3-4 main keywords: understanding of self, self-awareness, initiative
Intention: understanding of self
Duration: 1,5 hour per day
Target group:18 young people age 13-16 years old from Experimental Intercultural Athens High School
Approach: non- formal kinesthetic learning trough movement and dance.
After the gradual lifting of restrictive measures due to Covid -19 and the reopening of schools, we were given the opportunity to conduct the 2nd workshop of the “Research and Testing Tools” phase and work with the same group of young people who had participate in the first workshop too.
The workshop took place in the school yard on two different days (Tuesday the 2nd of June & Wednesday the 3rd of June 2020) and applying all health protocols(masks, gloves, keeping 2 meters distance etc.).
Participants were divided in two subgroups of 9 persons each and each subgroup worked on a different day. The duration of each meeting was 1,5 hour.
Due to the application of a specific health protocol that is applied in schools and prohibits any form of physical contact, all exercises in the field of “Cooperation & Trust exercises” had to be removed.
Any exercise that involved moving in pairs was adapted in an inventive way in order to respect the required distance of 2 meters.
Due to limited time and health guidelines, the exercises we chose to implement were the ones that would give us some information about the scope of the initiative and self-understanding.
Description of exercises:
Here we are…let the rhythm start.
Duration:5-7 minutes. Intention: Team building. Self- presentation. Contact.
Note! Participants were happy to meet with us again. They were more open and engaged than the first time. They participated with joy, smiles and energy! It was a bit difficult for them to take the lead in the rhythm, but they excelled in keeping it steady!
Chain of energy.
Duration: 10 minutes / Intention: Group dynamic. Focus. Speed. Contact.
Note! As the name suggests, this exercise demanded a lot of energy, alertness and readiness! Participants were fully engaged and had a lot of fun! They collaborated very well with each other and seemed to enjoy themselves. The members of the second group eventually started throwing the balls really fast and almost were separated into two rival teams. In this case they slightly altered the aim of the exercise, which was to prevent the balls from hitting the ground, into trying not to be hit by the passing balls, but they kept the fun character of the exercise. It was a great way for all of us to wake up and focus!
Walking & Connecting
Duration: 10 minutes / Intention: Contact. Self-presentation. Initiative.
Note! Participants were a bit shy and they found it a little difficult to take the initiative in the kinetic “dialogues”. Even though some of them followed each other’s moves like doing a mirror exercise, they devoted time to each “conversation”.
The Dance of Emotions!
Duration: 40 minutes / Intention: Self-expression, non-verbal communication, empathy, cooperation, insight – self-awareness =>Emotional intelligence Development.
Note ! The language barrier made it difficult for us to explain to the participants the exercise and the sequential steps. Especially to the second group, where only a few participants spoke Greek or English and we used a participant’s help to translate in Farsi.
Asking for whole choreographies expressing the emotions given turned out to be an extreme demand, so we just asked for one or two moves. The participants didn’t take much time to find ways to express the emotions with moves. Mostly, they seemed to be thinking of the moves and not exploring them with their bodies. They seemed shy and uncomfortable. However, they all participated and tried their best to make the exercise work!
It was beautiful to watch the opposite emotions’ groups moving one after the other in this dancing emotional dialogue and at most times, you could clearly recognize the emotion from the characteristic moves and the globally common way people experience and express them!
The most interesting part with both groups was that the emotion of safety was expressed with moves and behaviors that could provide protection; either with a firing gun or with threatening steps towards the other group and tight fists. All participants in this category chose very aggressive moves! As a result, we didn’t succeed in presenting two opposite emotional states in this case; it was more like an action-reaction representation (gun/threatening walking – fear reactions), which was equally interesting!
The Broom Dance. (Based on the traditional Greek dance)
Duration: 10 minutes / Intention: Connection.initiative.self-confidence.attention.concentration.fun.
Note! All participants had a lot of fun! They seemed to very much enjoy the music and they all wanted to dance with the broom! It was the perfect way to end the workshops and welcome summer!
REFLECTION
Generally, initiatives seemed to be hard to be taken by our participants. This could be related to the tender and eventful nature of adolescence combined with the anxiety of being exposed and judged by classmates. Also, we met our teenagers after a long time of quarantine, during which everyone had to follow very specific rules, which resulted in limited spontaneity and freedom of expression.
It’s also important to mention that our 18 participants were separated in two subgroups based on their name, so there was a possibility for close friends to end up in different groups and something like that might easily have affected the way they reacted with one another.
Nevertheless, this time the participants found their place and rhythm in the workshops more easily. It felt like we had gained their trust and as a result, they permitted us to guide them through this kinetic journey.
Video from the process:
…in processs
The Key to Connection is implemeneted in the framework of Erasmus+: Youth in Action programme – key action 2, Strategic Partnership for exchange experiences.
