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ArtLab Theater
COURSES MASTERCLASSES RESIDENCIES PRODUCTIONS
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ARTLAB FOR SCHOOLS
The proposed courses are developed on the basis of proven experiences and represent a concrete range of possible interventions, in favor of a more effective interaction between school and extracurricular activities. Starting from these proposals, always and in any case through the collaboration between teachers and our operators, it is also possible to adapt the courses and/or reformulate further and different ones, to support daily teaching activities. Moreover, in particular and increasingly widespread situations, we are constantly committed to developing and producing solutions that, based on the specific circumstances, integrate into the workshop courses both young people from different cultures and geographical backgrounds and socially weaker individuals, as well as those with disabilities and/or psychological difficulties, since we consider it even more useful in such contexts to enrich and integrate the educational offer with the techniques typical of theatre. Below, therefore—by way of example but not exhaustively—are some of the proposals that ArtLab considers useful for the above purposes, classified according to the different ages of the participants.
WORKSHOPS FOR PRESCHOOL
Theatre for early childhood, in addition to mastery of theatrical languages, requires facilitators with adequate knowledge and respect for developmental stages. The dedicated path, in fact, unlike those proposed for older children and teenagers, does not include a final performance and focuses exclusively on the playful and pedagogical role of theatre which, practiced from the earliest years of life, serves as a vehicle for growth, well-being, socialization, and the transmission of values and skills. Not a pre-packaged work, therefore, but a playful experience of research and experimentation, giving children back their innate role as explorers full of wonder and curiosity, free to approach the new game at their own pace and without rigidity. Time expansion and encouragement to listen increase attention and concentration spans and encourage the child to bring out their individuality, creativity, and spontaneity, leading to greater self-awareness and the pursuit of personal growth in relation to others. Theatrical experience, when properly conducted, helps children assemble the first fundamental pieces of good communication, developing skills that are generally considered only after the first two years of life, such as increased vocabulary and communicative and relational abilities, the expansion of linguistic skills and mimetic and vocal expressiveness, the development of creative thinking and emotional competence. Very young children are already able to recognize feelings, even when they cannot describe them in words, and theatre gives them the opportunity to contextualize them and allows them to be both spectators and protagonists, exploring a magical world through facial, bodily, and vocal expressions, costumes, characters, objects, and surreal scenes. Narrative and role play, therefore, and direct experience, allow them to recognize the effects of others' emotions on themselves and vice versa.
THEATER WORKSHOPS FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL
The project starts from the now proven and recognized belief that theater, placed within the context of school activities in primary school, has great educational and pedagogical value. In the form of an active workshop and participatory creation, theatrical activity naturally, directly, and precisely responds to all those urgent needs of children, to their inner emotional development and the consequent and future social behavior. It is useful, for example, to emphasize how beneficial it is for these purposes to address, without dramatizing, the issue of not listening and lack of concentration, to counter, without explicitly stigmatizing, the tendency to act or react in an individual and peremptory manner, often quickly and inappropriately, in any case summarily and fragmentarily. The aim is to offer children a welcoming and protected time-space, generating perception and the ability to listen and socialize. This context of well-being fosters children's creativity and expression, stimulates and increases, through group work, basic artistic, musical, and theatrical aptitude. Through two different possible variants in the concrete working method, depending on the contextual guidelines suggested by the interaction between our operators and the teachers, one can start from a children's literature text or from an invitation to collective writing. In both cases, improvisation and body language exercises, mime, vocality and exploration of emotions, musicality education, and the creation of soundscapes will create and populate a fantasy world with characters, a metaphor for the reality in which the child will develop the ability to understand themselves and others through an exchange of skills and competences with the techniques of participatory storytelling and peer learning, leading to the final presentation of a collective work.
THEATRE WORKSHOP FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL (1st and 2nd grade)
“WHO IS THE OTHER” - Inspired by the book “The King, The Sage and the Jester. The Great Tournament of Religions” by S. Keshavjee The speed at which technology and contemporary society are developing makes it increasingly complex but necessary to deepen the concepts of expression and communication, in the new and different situations that young people have to face every day. This is even more true when, more and more often, we find ourselves faced with realities where it is essential to promote integration and participation of everyone towards a common goal. “WHO IS THE OTHER” explores the theme of diversity, both through the text of the book and through shared experiences and, using theatrical techniques such as improvisation and scene writing, the journey unfolds through the composition of original scenes, leading to the final presentation of a new, original performance. Placed in the educational context, the workshop aims to create pathways that, in an important phase of personal development, allow students to explore the sphere of the individual and relationships, experimenting with the potential of the body and voice, ways of interacting with others, and the dynamics of creativity and expression, both individual and collective. The guiding principles of the entire journey are framed within the ethics of theatrical art in general and the specific ethics of ArtLab in particular, namely: Freedom and Responsibility. This ethic, on the one hand, implies respect for others and for others' thoughts, stimulates collaboration and educates the development of a sense of responsibility towards the group and oneself, while at the same time enhancing the precious specificities of each participant, according to their expressive abilities and unique emotional sensitivities. The methodology used, the skills of the operators, and the variety of tools that ArtLab employs, make it possible to adapt the duration and structure of each pathway to the specific needs of the group to which the pathway is addressed.
TRAINING SEMINARS FOR TEACHERS AND EDUCATORS
Over the years, ArtLab has developed various training modules dedicated to the communication needs of adults. Some of these are specifically aimed at those who work with young people, adolescents, and children, such as teachers and professional educators, and are also open to parents and homeschooling groups (home-schooling paths). The workshop: “HOW DO YOU TELL A STORY?” is a training course for adults, expressly dedicated to communication between teachers and students, and its specific goal is to support the presentation of a subject or specific topic, chosen by the teacher themselves. Linked to storytelling itself, in order to allow teachers to fully convey the topic they want to present to their students, the course is structured in 6 meetings of 180 minutes each to explore the dynamics of oral presentation with practical exercises, investigating possible ways of presenting and narrative variations of a topic, whether scientific, literary, or historical, through the acquisition of expressive techniques typical of theater and the construction of aids, material equipment (Kamishibai Theater, Storytelling Rolls, Pop-Up Books) useful for conveying the desired content, in the learning mode of "learning by telling" and "telling by doing." The operators conducting the course have acquired considerable experience and a substantial amount of data useful for achieving highly reliable and high-performing standards. Based on these previous experiences, in fact, we believe that the workshop provides the teacher, who is already well-prepared on the subject, with a series of tools that greatly enrich their ability to attract and maintain the interest and attention of younger students on the subject itself. Thus, starting from their own specific knowledge, these will be simply but decisively strengthened by greater and different communication skills, with evident human and professional advantages for themselves and their young students.
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