Action!

Two months after our Global with puppets and masks photo session, Nassim took to the streets with his camera to document his own work in the urban environment. See also the first outcome of the original session in the post below.

 

Us 2009/10

 

End-of-school-year show

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is on Monday, 15 June, 7.30pm, in the yard of Arsenal Gallery.

The cast:
Mateusz Acewicz
Michał Andruszkiewicz
Marta Baczewska
Andżelika Chodnicka
Wiktoria Franczak
Zuzanna Gil
Gabriela Karczewska
Paulina Kordiukiewicz
Jan Kowalski
Michał Lewandowski
Rafał Onoszko
Marta Orzełek
Daniel Taranta
Mateusz Wasielica

The Late Lover

I opened The History of Philosophy by Władysław Tatarkiewicz and paged the book to read about Abelard. I learned that Pierre Abelard’s career as a thinker flourished and he was distinguished figure at his own time, but he was not a typical philosopher-theologian of the Middle Ages. His short but intensive life was filled with enthusiastically received lectures, persecution, ecstatic love and drama. Never had Abelard assumed that he would make the history as a lover – not thinker.
Who was she?
Heloise was much younger than him. Was it her face, her voice, or the beauty of her mind that turned Abelard into a passionate lover? As a professor of logic, Abelard could explain lots of things; he could even blend faith and reason together. Alas, he was helpless in the face of emotions. It is surprising how a man of reason could have developed such an intense feeling.
When I read the letters the lovers wrote to each other I am perplexed. I become an intruding witness of their romance. Why am I doing this? Why were the letters published? It is not literature only (I recall Werter’s letters – how boring). Their history is a real drama. They had a child and then secretly married. They both were severely punished for the sins of the flesh. Abelard was mutilated. He couldn’t bear the dishonour and that’s why he became a monk. Heloise became a nun. Abelard died at the age of 37. Heloise died about twenty years later and was buried beside him.
In one of his letters Abelard wrote:
I live in a barbarous country, the language of which I don’t understand; I have no conversation but with the rudest people. My walks are on the inaccessible shore of a sea which is always stormy.
The first word that comes to my mind is alienation. Why do some love stories have to end with a misfortune? Why are some lovers to remain lonely and unfulfilled?
Is it their illustrious romance, the history of two beautiful minds that once became one flesh to be humiliated and parted for ages that makes the story captivating? Or is it us, who are just unfulfilled as they were?
(sylwia_t)

Wednesdays, 1.30 pm

What do we do every other Wednesday at 1.30 in GV?
We learn how to talk and listen. A group of teachers meets Jacek, a psychologist and psychotherapist, in order to spend together 1.5 hours sharing our professional experiences, opinions and comments on situations that happened to us while teaching.
Why do we do that?
To learn the demanding art of paying full attention to the other person, to listen and talk in a non-judgmental way.
Do we really need that?
Everybody needs that! I believe that most of the problems in this world are caused by our inability to communicate. Not listening, constant judging, approaching a situation in a schematic way, reacting and not responding can only lead to misunderstanding.
How is a session organized?
The Balint Group, a group method of training doctors and specialists which emphasizes the importance of the use of the emotions and personal understanding in the doctor’s work, serves us as a model. One person reports spontaneously a case from their professional experience that poses a problem. Then, members of the group help the presenter, by means of associations, questions, and interpretations, to elucidate the difficulties in the presenter’s relation with the patient. Of course we discuss our students and classroom situations.
Is it easy to talk like that?
Actually, it’s quite difficult. As teachers we are in the habit of doing things according to a certain set of rules, but here we have to stop all that and think differently. I heard that a teacher should be a controller, an organiser, an assessor, a prompter, a participant, a resource, a tutor, an observer, an explainer, an enabler, an involver, a helper … How about a teacher who is a human being, sometimes confused, disoriented, stuck? The language teacher teaches how to communicate. But what to do when communication fails?
What are the benefits?
Jacek encourages us to appreciate silence, to come up with more than one answer, to be slightly embarrassed. Let’s try and evaluate cautiously, avoid oversimplification, imagine ourselves in other person’s shoes. Let’s realise we are in a role, but we are not the role. Let’s not look for a quick fix. The effect can be uplifting, inspiring, even enlightening, but sometimes the answer can’t be found. However, we stay curious with more open, spacious mind and relaxed attitude, willing to know others (and ourselves) better.
(justyna_t)

West Side Story by Boal

So called because of its resemblance to various dance routines in the film of that name.

Two teams are formed, standing in two lines facing each other, with a leader a few paces in front of the middle of each team.

The first leader must make a rhythmic movement forward, accompanied by a rhythmic sound, six times in succession. He thus makes six forward movements.

After the first or second repetition, his team-mates will have grasped the rhythms of his movement and his sound, and must join in, moving forwards in their line behind him.

As he advances, the opposing gang must retreat the same distance.

At the end of the sixth repetition, the leader leaves the central position and joins on the end of the line. Another leader takes his place, and faces the opposing leader, who gets through the same process – six times, advancing, he repeats his own rhythmic sound and movement, which is copied by his team-mates, who also start advancing, while the first team repeats at the same rate.

And so on, until alternating advance and repeat, until every member of both teams has been a leader.

There can be a tendency towards repetitive aggressive sounds and actions – it is important to side–coach the actors also to make soft sounds, sometimes to use low voices, and to try to make rich and complex movements, not just ‘poum, poum, poum!’

(from Games for Actors and Non-Actors by Augusto Boal)

Variation:
The participants must use a particular designated part of their bodies to make the rhythmical movement.

Variation for GV:
To link this exercise with a series of lessons based on West Side Story, students work together and make a list of non-verbal ways of showing hatred and hostility using only hands, arms and faces. Such a warm-up can be done in pairs, before students join in the two opposing teams. Consider a use of simple percussion instrument (a rattle), to make a rhythmical syncopated sound.

west_side_diagram

the seasonal haiku

Charms of the night sky

A healthy, prosperous and resorceful New Year to all of us!

2009

What shall we put on next year?

Who could have expected that enthusiastic response to Romeo and Juliet show we took to the streets last month?! Now nobody wants to stop, they all want more. To start a new chapter and give a preview of what’s to come we document the event on a special page – gv_plays

go and visit

Pilgrims summer*

The teacher training season has begun and, invariably, we are bound for Pilgrims, Canterbury. Why do we bother? Why do we keep returning to Kent? Why do we climb that hill time and again?

Because it’s the place to unlock the abundant treasure of wonderful talents we possess.
Because our intellect is the greatest power enabling us to grasp the meaning of what we see.
Because as soon as we become masters of one thing, we become students of something new.
Because the sail, not the wind, determines our course.
Because perseverance is all.

* michał_t has just left for Creative Writing and Neuro-Linguistic Programming courses at Pilgrims, 6–19 July
basia_t joins Teaching Through Music and Visual Arts course there, 20 July–2 August
albs_t follows them to Skills of Teacher Training course, 3–16 August

Canterbury, a taste of pastoral England

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