Drama walk

Description

 

“Drama walk” is a theatre activity to help establishing the group’s feelings.

Target group

Younger participants or adults.

Number of participants

Min number of participants: 10
Max number of participants: 25
Number of facilitators: 1

Environment

Big Empty room (without objects on the floor, tables, chairs etc..)

Time needed

1 hour

Materials

A drum of any kind.

Objective/aim

During this activity the participants learn how to feel the group energy and be a leader for the wellbeing of the team.

Step by step instructions

Step 1.
The trainer invites the participants to walk around the room, not too fast not too slow, while he is making a rhythm with the drum. The trainer will call this “Medium rhythm”. It is important that the whole group walks at the same speed.
Step 2.
The trainer plays a fast rhythm with the drum, then he invites the participants to walk faster. The trainer will call this “Fast rhythm”.
Step 3.
The trainer plays a slow rhythm with the drum, then he invites the participants to walk slower. The trainer will call this “Slow rhythm”.
Step 4.
The trainer mixes the different rhythms, middle, fast and slow, and the participants follow the rhythms walking in the three different ways.
Step 5.
The trainer continues to mix the rhythms and introduces the “Stop” with a loud blow on the drum. Then the participants stop the movement and fix the position.
This activity continues until the group follows correctly the rhythms and stops.
Step 6.
One of the participants becomes “the leader” of the group. The leader starts walking in the three different ways – medium, fast, slow - and makes the stops. The group tries to follow the leader. When the leader feels that all the participants follow the rhythms and stops, he touches the shoulder of one of the participants, so he/she becomes the new leader.
This activity continues for a few minutes (depending on the number of participants). It is not necessary that all the participants become leaders.
Step 7.
The same activity (Step 6) continues without a chosen leader. Anyone in the group can be a leader at any moment. The aim is that the group walks at the same speed and stops at the same time.
This activity continues for a few minutes.

Tips for the trainer

The duration of each step depends on the number of participants and time the group needs to master the activity.

Any other comment

It is useful to do this activity at the beginning and the end of a training path.