Musical Body is one of the first cycle Polisfonia's workshop formats, developed in collaboration with the artist and educator Natalie Steinhouse. In this article you will find a summarised version of the format and some sound examples.
PURPOSE OF THE LAB
The aim of the workshop is to explore our bodies as sonic instruments, experimenting with the sounds they produce and trying to communicate through them without using words. The format is designed to be performed in public space and with voluntary, free and random participation of people, but can also be performed in more specific contexts and with more specific groups of people (such as associations, school classes, etc.).
WHY SHOULD THIS WORKSHOP EVEN TAKE PLACE?
Because we seldom explore our bodies and the sounds they can produce, and we often focus on spoken words neglecting other sounds. Because exploring the political dimension of our bodies can be hard, and it is difficult to find people to engage in this practice with. To create an opportunity for self-exploration, exchange, dialogue and fun. To experiment with an uncommon but very creative meeting practice. Because occupying a space and creating a small community, even if only for a short time, makes us active participants of a place’s life and can give us the opportunity to re-imagine or re-discuss it.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
POLITICS?
By politics we mean all those conscious and unconscious practices and processes through which we shape our coexistence in society. All the practices and relationships that allow people to live together in groups such as tribes, cities or countries are therefore political. It is a broad definition but it allows us to understand that everything we do in a social context is political.
IDEAL LOCATION
The ideal location would be an easily accessible but intimate public space chosen by following the Conditions for better (political) participation guidelines. This workshop highly benefits from a quiet and sheltered location with plenty of clear space, such as a wooden niche in a park, or an openly accessible spacious room.
DURATION
1,5 hours
NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS
~15
AGE
Any age (works best >16)
TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS
This workshop can be carried out with a group of random participants as well as involving a more specific group of people such as a school class, the residents of a given building or area, people working together, etc.
KNOWLEDGE/ SKILLS NEEDED (participants)
No previous knowledge or skill is required to join this workshop
USEFUL KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS (participants)
- Understanding and speaking the local language
- Basic motoric skills
KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS NEEDED (facilitators)
- All of the above
- Attention and empathy towards people
- Open, inclusive and non-discriminatory attitude
- Attentive listening skills
- Good rhetoric and synthesis skills
- Experience in moderating workshops
USEFUL KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS (facilitators)
- Experience in artistic bodily movement
- Experience in dancing
- Proficiency in other languages
- Knowledge of minorities' cultures
MATERIALS (checklist)
REQUIRED
- Paper sheets
- Markers and/or pens
OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED
- Towels or pillows
- Food and drinks
RUNNING THE WORKSHOP
Musical Body is a format that includes 4 main phases following an introduction:
- Bodily warm up
- Exploration of bodily sounds
- Generation of political themes
- Bodily enactment of political themes
PHASE 0 - INTRODUCTION [~10min]
The purpose of the introduction is to make participants feel comfortable, get to know each other a little better and explain the activity the workshop will consist of. The ideal introduction can vary much depending on the context and the type of participants.
Some useful aspects to consider:
- Efforts should be taken to make the setting as accessible, welcoming and comfortable as possible (the Conditions for better (political) participation guideline can be a great help in this)
- Participants should be greeted in a friendly way and efforts should be made to get to know them a little, in this context moderators might try to find out if participants have previous experience in music making
- If the workshop is enacted in a public space with open and spontaneous participation the introduction may begin with just a simple informal chat
- If people do not know each other mutual introduction should be encouraged
- If the workshop takes place in an institutional setting where participants already know each other then some warm-up exercise or icebreaker can be used to lighten up the mood
- Moderators should explain the purpose and structure of the workshop in a summarised and clear way
- In the case of open and spontaneous participation, moderators should take care to welcome participants who join mid-way and briefly introducing what is currently done and how they could join
- If participants decide to leave mid-way moderators should take care to greet and thank them
PHASE 1 - BODILY WARM UP [~10min]
The first activity in of the workshop has three purposes:
- Getting participants' bodies moving and warmed up
- Getting participants acquainted with the space where the workshop takes place
- Accentuate the awareness on one's own body movement and that of others
The moderator(s) role is very important in directing this activity. They should speak clearly so that everybody can hear well and they should take part to the activity themselves to physically demonstrate what they are talking about and to create a more horizontal relationship with the group. Participants are asked to move in the defined space as if they where dust particles floating through the air. Each person should walk at a comfortable speed in random patterns without touching others, generating a fluid and constant collective motion. While doing this each person should become more attentive to other people's movements and the currently occupied space.
After ~45 seconds, without interrupting the collective motion, the moderator(s) will give a new task to the group. The regular movement speed kept until that moment will be assigned a value of 5 on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 is no movement at all and 10 the fastest movement possible. Participants will then be asked to keep moving randomly in the space without touching each other but this time at different speeds (e.g. 7,3,4,8,2, etc.) that will be announced by the moderator(s) every 10~20 seconds.
After trying out different speeds participants will be asked to go back to speed 5, regular walking, and a new task is introduced. This time, every time somebody crosses paths facing other person, they should seek eye contact and hold it for a few seconds without interrupting the movement, thus creating multiple short connections of mutual awareness.
Once the eye contact has been practiced for ~60 seconds the two final tasks are assigned. First participants are asked to emit a constant and neutral vocal sound (e.g. the vowel 'o') while moving, then after the constant sound has been practiced they are asked to lower the volume of emitted sound when they are further away from others and higher the volume of emitted sound once they get closer to others. Once the exercise is over participants should feel warmed up and amused. Its important to keep in mind that people's movement should never stop until the last task is completed. Task times are relatively short but explaining each step requires additional time that makes the exercise last around 10 minutes.
Here all the steps again in a summarised form:
- Regular random walking (~45s)
- Walking at different speeds (~10s per speed)
- Focussing on eye contact (~60s)
- Emitting a constant sound (~30s)
- Modulating the volume with distance (~30)
In case of the presence of participants with motor disabilities, moderator(s) should take care to speak with them before the workshop begins and understand if they would feel comfortable taking part to the warm up in such a form. If not, then the warm up should be adapted accordingly (more on this later).
PHASE 2 - EXPLORATION OF BODILY SOUNDS [~20min]
During the second phase participants will explore different possible sounds that their bodies can produce and will use them to enter in a non verbal dialogue with others. The guiding prompt at this stage is: 'Imagine that your body would be a musical instrument. Try to find out as many diverse ways to play it as you can.'
Participants are asked to find a space for themselves where they feel comfortable and try to produce as many and diverse sounds they can come up with using their body. The moderator(s) can give a few example as inspiration (e.g. emitting different vocal sounds, whistling, hitting or scratching different body parts in different ways, interacting with the ground, etc.) and should encourage to think creatively and playfully.
After ~3/5 minutes on individual experimentation, participants are grouped into random couples (if the number of total participants is uneven a group of three can be created) and a new task is given. They should now try to use the sounds they discovered to interact with another person, entering in a non verbal sonic dialogue with them. This can be done by sitting and/or standing. Every ~45/60 seconds groups are switched and the exercise is repeated for a total of 3 iterations. Switching the groups allows to experience different approaches to non verbal sonic dialogue and gain more confidence into practicing it.
After the exercise is concluded the moderator(s) should take some time to ask how people feel and ask them to share their thoughts on the experience. Some important aspects to touch upon at this point might include:
- Which aspects of non verbal sonic dialogue the participants found particularly interesting
- Which difficulties they found in communicating this way
- Which strategies they adopted to ease communication
- Which differences they noted in communicating with different people
To conclude this phase a session of non verbal sonic dialogues as a whole group is enacted, trying to be attentive to the aspects emerged during the dialogue for ~45/60 seconds. Here all the steps again in a summarised form:
- Individual bodily sonic exploration (~3/5min)
- Non-verbal sonic dialogue in couples (~45/60s per iteration for 3 times)
- Feedback session
- Collective non-verbal sonic dialogue (~45/60s)
PHASE 3 -GENERATION OF POLITICAL THEMES [~5min]
The purpose of the third phase is to collect a set of political themes to work with during the last phase of the workshop. The moderator(s) ask(s) participants to take a few minutes to think about the political themes and/or issues that are particularly present in their lives. The guiding question is: 'Which political themes and/or issues are particularly relevant in your life at the moment?'
When participants have come up with a theme they should communicate it to the moderator(s) which will take notes on a sheet of paper. Themes can be single words or sentences as long as their meaning is clear. If a theme is not understandable the moderator(s) should clarify it and formulate it in such a manner that it can be easily understood. The collection process should be relatively quick and light as there will be time later on to engage in further dialogue.
PHASE 4 - BODILY ENACTMENT OF POLITICAL THEMES [~20min]
The last phase of the workshop aims at making use of the practiced forms of non-verbal sonic communication to enact a dialogue on the political themes generated by participants. The moderator(s) chose(s) a random political theme among those listed, and the group as a whole starts a non-verbal sonic dialogue on that theme for ~45 seconds. Then another theme is introduced and a new dialogue enacted. It will be immediately clear how each theme will elicit different behaviours and sonic expressions in the group.
After a few iterations a new exercise is introduced. One person is randomly chosen within the group and is asked to take some distance and observe the group from afar. The moderator(s) will then communicate a political theme to the rest of the group silently, without it being heard by the distanced person. Finally the group will enact a non-verbal sonic dialogue on the chosen theme for ~45 seconds and the distanced person will have to guess what the theme is. This step is then repeated a few more times.
The workshop is concluded with an open dialogue about the last phase. Some of the aspects that should be addressed include:
- Overall thoughts and feelings about the experience
- Interesting and/or unexpected aspects that caught participants' eye (or ear)
- If and how non-verbal sonic communication worked
- If and how the exercise helped to provide a different perspective on the chosen political themes
- Overall thoughts on the political dimension of bodies and their sounds
POSSIBLE VARIATIONS
Involving people with motor disabilities
This workshop is heavily focused on body movement. If people with motor disabilities are taking part, the moderator(s) should carefully assess what kind of and how much movement they could comfortably engage in adapting the workshop accordingly. If participants with motor disabilities are used and able to move autonomously and comfortably with the support of tools, such as a wheelchair or crutches for instance, the format can be enacted almost exactly the same way. In this case however, the 'speed variation' task in phase 1 should be limited to manageable speeds or completely excluded. If participants with motor disabilities cannot move autonomously and/or feel uncomfortable moving, the first phase can be varied by having half the group standing still in a scattered fashion and half the group moving through them. The same principle can be applied also to other phases too if required, although they require much less movement than the first one.
Physicality of sound
Sound is not only heard, it can also be felt through the sense of touch. The activities of this workshop can be carried out focussing on the physical dimension of the emitted sounds. This would imply greater physical contact between participants or the amplification through microphones and speakers of the emitted sounds. But exercises could also be modified more drastically to allow for a better perception of the physicality of sound. This variation is much more accessible for people with severe hearing impairment.