Space Walk

Ask everyone to walk around the room, keeping the space balanced by walking towards empty space or between the doorways that open up between other bodies.  Encourage them to connect to their breath, to feel their feet on the floor, to become aware of themselves and the space.  You can prime them to look around the room with curiosity at something they haven't noticed before; they can make eye contact with each other and exchange a secret with their eyes; they can develop a soft focus on everything around them, allowing themselves to move responsively to the other bodies' movements; they can playfully get in each other's way.  It's helpful to start them in the actual space they're in and connecting to their actual body, before beginning the more imaginative part of the exercise.  

This is from Ted's Blog: 

" Let them know you’ll give instructions as they keep moving in a random pattern through the available space.From there, suggest different modes of “walking.” Walk as if the floor is covered with jello, glue, peanut butter, or sand. Walk as if they were wading through ankle-deep, knee-deep, or chest-deep water. Move as if they were on ice. Or try different types of “clothes.” Walk as if you had on boots or Mercury’s winged shoes or wheelies. Try different ages, from toddler to geezer, or different emotions, from eager or anxious to dreary or jealous. What happens if they try different ways of making contact with each other? Or if they use different statuses as they approach? What happens if they freeze and unfreeze? The possibilities are endless."

Coaching Notes:

Every now and then, go back to a neutral, “normal” walk—the contrast can prove insightful.

Encourage them to make sound once in a while.  A good prompt is to say, "take a breath in and on three release a big sigh of sound: 1, 2, 3..."

Variation: It's also fun to encourage them to become the material they're moving through.  Maybe they are stuck in molasses and can only get out by eating all of the molasses.  Once they do, they become molasses.  Their bone marrow is molasses, their blood is molasses, their organs etc., all molasses.  How does a molasses body move?  Taking on the movement dynamic of different materials is fun, and you can prompt them to then feel an emotion from that body.  How does a stainless steel body show gratitude?  How does a wooden body express sadness?  And so on.  

Resources / Variations

Spolin space walk video. See your partner, occlude them, etc.