Theatre Arts Class Is Dangerous

My theatre class has now met twice. I have a group of typically smart Korean students ranging from eight to ten years of age. I think we have the potential to do some amazing work together, if we don't all get killed in the process.

Why, you might ask, is teaching kids acting skills dangerous? Is it the lethality of accent from the Korean-British kid? Is it the hazardous chirping of one student's pet crickets? Is is the poisonous miasma of recently turned on heater air? No, although the kid with the Korean-British accent is dangerously awesome to listen to. What is going to get us all killed is Dire Straits.

A challenge in teaching acting to kids is getting them comfortable taking risks in front of their peers. It's intimidating to speak in front of a group, let alone emote. We did a movement exercise intended to help the students break from their (and find new) comfort zones. I played different sorts of music and we explored the space, responding to the tracks.

To Beck's "Devil's Haircut" we sauntered around throwing cool-guy looks at one another.

To The White Stripes' "Icky Thump" they took turns marching toward me with anger.

To Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet" we played with physical dynamics, going from a sober waltz to a leaping blitzkrieg.

Then I played Dire Straits' "Walk of Life". We were walking in a big circle, taking turns being the leader and leading the feeling of the walk. I don't know if it's the cheesy synth line or the "do-see-do" hayride feeling of the melody but the kids went ballistic. They responded more violently to "Walk of Life" than to "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin, which is like saying that Gene Autry could better raze a village than Eric the Red. Gene Autry with a neon headband! And yet...

No one was seriously hurt, but I was definitely prompted to give a lecture on maintaining control. Especially since our next lesson is gonna be on stage combat! (cue malicious laughter)

Also, everything I wrote in this post is true.