Learning to express ourselves is an important part of growing up. It helps us to be better communicators, build connections and continue learning beyond school. Sometimes expression requires being brave, and that is what the Grade 2s are exploring in their latest Unit of Inquiry.
Using the Learner Profile, Risk-Taker, the students explored how individuals communicate ideas and connect to others through the arts with a series of theatre workshops led by Mr. Paul Moniz de Sa.
Paul is a professional actor, director and sound designer, who has worked in theatres across North America including Bard on the Beach, Touchstone Theatre, The Arts Club, The Vancouver Playhouse, Green Thumb Theatre, Manitoba Theatre Centre and The National Arts Centre.
Taking place in the Senior School Drama Studio (thank you Mr. Walker!), the Grade 2s had lots of room to explore movement, spatial awareness and expression.
The workshop began with a warmup. The students played with imaginary hula hoops that changed size and weight, threw invisible balls around the room and even pretended to chew gum to warm up their jaws.
As Paul said, “If I were a painter, my tool would be my paintbrush, my canvas and paint. But as actors, our tool is our bodies, so it’s important to warm up our bodies.”
After the students were warm and ready, Paul took them through a series of individual and group acting exercises to practice spatial awareness, moving around the room in a variety of ways, embodying different characters as they moved while also having to be aware of others.
In one such game, the Grade 2s were given a number of people and a shape to create, and moved around the room to collect their teammates and form motifs such as trees, porcupines and even teacups. They were even challenged to do a few rounds silently, encouraging them to express themselves in a variety of non-verbal ways.
The key throughline across the workshops was the importance of taking risks. “There is no ‘wrong’ in theatre,” Paul told the children. “As long as you are following the directions then whatever you come up with is great. You can try your own thing. If you have an idea, go for it! This is what we mean by risk taking.”
The students also took turns performing for each other, practicing their audience skills as well as being brave by taking the stage. With the support of Ms. Floyd, even the most nervous performers got up on stage and we’re so proud of all the Grade 2s for giving the workshop their best effort.
Thank you to Paul for inspiring these young risk takers to express their ideas and creativity in an engaging and interactive way. Perhaps we’ll see some of these young learners become stage stars in the future!
