Summer Daze

A great time in May in Clare putting on our play The Big House with the ALFA students. Having culled their thoughts about characters and talents I set about trying to generate an appropriate story. The west of Ireland in 1913 in a big house in Galway was the inspiration. We all share very intensely inhabiting this landscape and we could all recall images of these houses and their parks. A comedy was called for, and with Shakespeare as the muse, off we set with a tale of adventure, switched identities, republican activity from the son of the house, Callum O'Donoghue and the chauffeur, Rafe McGuire, and a climactic trip to Argentina to hunt for dinosaurs. This later detail came from the students' research which revealed some of the earliest dinosaur remains were in Tierra del Fuego. I came with a few scenes roughly mapped out and because we worked for three hours every day, by the end of our first week we had a script and some great work on the themes of the house and home as a haven..

You know you have hit some significant archetypal theme when the students can't let their books alone, drawing their ideal houses and describing in detail the habitat that they want to live in. This theme of home and exile is fundamental. We wrote it collaboratively, had time for plenty of movement, drama games, speech and projection work, and journalling. Their brief was getting the script under their belts while I was away and by golly, they did. We had polkas, tango and a waltz in the play and dancing before each rehearsal brought a  animating joy into the room, loosening up even the most timid. Special effects included an explosion which we pulled off with four red candles bound with black tape, my lap top, speakers and flashing lights. Rafe and Callum quickly blackened their faces with charred wood back stage before appearing from the back of the audience having blown up the west wing. lady Violet, not recognising her nephew, dressed up as his sister who is meanwhile busy dressed up as her brother, seeking dinosaur bones in Argentina, swoons dramatically  But this is just a prelude to a madcap chase to Argentina taking the Silver Spirit Rolls Royce to Cork the boat to Spain, and a steamer to Argentina where Rodrigo de Mendes, played with fabulous Latin brio by our visiting German student , Emma,  awaits with black moustache felted from Tamarind's fur and tango moves to turn the world upside down.

Spring in the Air and a Spring in your Step.

Wonderful days despite cold winds circling around, sending celebratory pink and white blossom scudding to our feet as Tamarind and I  tread, tread, tread the pavements and parks of Dublin. New soft buds are appearing, setting up a haze of green everywhere. There is a giddier feel to life as the light grows.

First Stop: Ballytobin 

This weekend I drove to Kilkenny on sunlit roads with beautiful skies above, alternating driving fast and empty motorways and slower, wending country lanes. A Workshop in Ballytobin was my end point on Friday. A wonderful diverse group of folk came for a Breath and Movement workshop as we explored uncovering vitality and how our breath connects us inwardly and to the outer world. Knowing ourselves in the midst of it all and trusting ourselves more fully as we discover the power of our own breathing rhythm is a mighty focus.

Many reported next morning sleeping much better. Me too! I stayed over with Vlad and Douna in a wonderfully peaceful Camphill home where a harmonious hum was evident everywhere.

Kildare Steiner School

After a great morning of deepening with the breath, I set off  once more with music from Mali on my sound system, driving merrily towards Kildare en route back to Dublin.Once again, the delightful alternation of sparkling fields and rural byways and onto a practically empty but speedy motorway that blended with the sounds pulsing through the car as hills and clouds scudded by. Kildare School had a conference that day, exploring the theme of  Head, Heart and Hands in Steiner education.A very lively scene was unfolding here when I arrived with lots of good exchange happening in a beautiful spot, half an hour from the city centre of Dublin.

I had a great time leading the drama workshop with a lively crew. Most folk want to play, experiencing everything first, as the most natural way to learn. The  scope of The Twelve Phase Drama Lesson or how you can touch all the essential needs of learning in a 12 phase drama lesson was not what we could develop in the span of this time. We need a 3 day course for this!!

The Twelve Phase Drama Lesson: putting Drama at the Heart of the Lesson

This is the fruit of musing and writing and trying out over the years to see how much you can actually do with the elements of drama whether you are aiming to put on a play or not.We swim in the medium of metaphor that shapes our thinking and is the is the root of language. Metaphor guides the thematic approach. Drama can tie this all together  This Twelve Phase approach  can be taught to teachers of all ages, supporting practice and  memorised as a Whole in a mandala visual form. It offers an easy guideline of 12 elements that overlap and reverberate with each other, just as the two hemispheres of our brain do. When we are in tune with how we function and how we are made, naturally we are going to learn better.

You can see the Sevenfold spiral on the  website illustrating How to offer Artistry in Teaching in a Sevenfold Lesson. Understanding process and how much we can do in a span of time through a simple visual that offers both a gestalt and a sequence, feeds both sides of the brain. That way too we appease the Appollonian love of harmony and order while assuaging the rumbling and instinctual, creative murmurings of Dionysius. And when the gods are happy we come closer to Paradise! That's my goal anyway.

              Workshop: Saturday 20th April

               Saoirse Steiner School, Dublin

                            10am to 3.30pm.

LEARNING TO LEARN: developmental movement, verse and storytelling

A one-day workshop for primary teachers, parents and childcare providers to find inspiration in storytelling and creating your own stories and verses.
Understanding how gesture and song are the roots of language development.

Attuning to our breathing rhythm
    •       for calm and vitality in our teaching 
    •       for excellent classroom management
    •       to strengthen our voice and pacing in teaching and storytelling
    •      to discover inspiration in storytelling
    •      to deepen our understanding of movement and literacy.

The workshop is facilitated by Nell Smyth. Nell is a Steiner teacher, trainer and author. She brings a wealth of experience working with early years, in primary and secondary education and with adults, both in Ireland, and internationally.

€30/€20 students. Limited to 20 places. 

Booking information at  http://www.saoirsewaldorf.com/workshops/..

This workshop is taking place in Dublin on February 23rd 2013 and will be the first of a series we are offering. Contact training@saoirsewaldorf.com for registration or more information.

Breathing and Biting: Life and Learning

Playful learning :teeth test the world

The end of the year is looming into view and Mayan calendars are noticeably not in the shops for 2013. It has been a rich and active time with moving to Dublin and maintaining our links in the West of Ireland as well.

 A good solid year of work at ALFA (Active Learning for Adolescents) in County Clare, completing in early June, the Fetac 4 with our 15 - 17 year old graduating students. The qualifications gave us freedom to follow our own curriculum but give some outer recognition of their work as well. We got that in spades. Our drama course led to some excellent and challenging work with everyone doing brilliantly. A puppet show of Beowulf in collaboration with Judith Evans of Dandelion Puppets and two films in collaboration with the fabulous Emma Samms.

 Highlights also included mentoring teachers in play writing and play production, workshops in storytelling and the Breathing Circle work in Limerick and having one of my plays accepted in the repertoire of the National Association of Youth Drama in Ireland. Over the last 12 months the Breath and the Word work was also offered in France with a lively group of Feldenkrais practitioners, parents, and performers. We developed verses to work for our own mother tongue so that French and Spanish, the native and more familiar rhythms for this group, could really take wing in sounds and stories. Brilliantly hosted by Mexican Kindergarten teacher and Feldenkrais practitioner, Carmen Lleranas in Chatou, Paris.

 Later in the same month, in Ennis, County Clare in Ireland, the Steiner based Fetac 5 course for child carers included a Breath and the Word workshop where we uncovered our creativity, developing verses for children and in particular, those who bite. This is a real preoccupation for some parents and carers and below are outlined some thoughts on why some young children may bite with a verse that can alleviate their pent up frustration and may be help.

 I have also been working with a Transition Year group in Dublin offering language enhancement as we studied Malcolm Gladwell's essay in his book Outliers on plane crashes. He has an ethnic theory about why some airlines crash more than others which could be a hot issue but it is a fascinating study in communication, cultural difference and direct versus ambiguous or circular ways of using language. We always started with lots of movement games tied into our theme and had lively discussion using the Harkness table method of preparation and development.

  Children who Bite
 Why do some young children bite? It causes great angst to parents and carers and can get a toddler labelled and marginalised in less time than it takes to flip an egg. My intuition is that the physical body is undergoing such huge developmental changes and growth that as the child explores, responds, inquires and senses the world, the sensations that pour in can overwhelm the child who is not able to quite express themselves. When we are frustrated, our breath tightens and moves upwards as the the diaphragm, back and chest constrict. The joints: ankles, knees, hip bones and pelvic floor, shoulder, and jaw are all axes that transect the body. As we tighten in one area, tension shifts upwards and collects in the next axis, arriving, if we have insufficient release, eventually in the last axis, the jaw. That is why tense people clench their jaws or become motor mouths, contraction or release being the natural responses. However, when we breathe into the feet, wake up our feet by tapping, walking, dancing, or massaging and rubbing we bring the breath movement in our bodies downwards where it can release in the feet that way and as well create more inner space in the body. This is why gentle rhythmic walking is soothing as is foot rubbing or foot baths or simply rubbing our feet on the floor.

 A child who is pre-verbal or early in his/her verbal capacity may feel frustrated surrounded by stimuli, chatter, other children's flow, lighting, noise, take your choice. The need to release is fundamental and how do you release? It goes up or down, in or out. Down is better when expression is reactive and angry but if you can not express yourself verbally as air flows over the larynx and and sounds and words combine to open doors and make connections well...those newly sprouting teeth will make their mark! .

  Learning from the Animals 
 Watching the satisfaction dogs derive in play from BITING into things and looking at ourselves when we bite into things with instinctive relish can show us how the primal lust for life is linked with satisfaction and enjoyment. If we think about how we use language and phrases about 'getting our teeth into something', 'biting into life' these connote an appetite, a lust for life. How do we challenge this strong life force and transform it for children who are overwhelmed by this and feelings of anger and frustration?

Satisfaction: using teeth the right way

 Simple consonantal sounds give release 'b' 'p' 'g' 't' and 'd' while vowels create a sense of space and flow. If we create very simple verses with lots of repetition and consonantal emphasis maybe we can help our biting children? Perhaps research is in order here? This verse below combines some of these sounds and also encourages a downward earth emphasis.

Dig Away!
Dig, dig, dig, down on the land. 
Dig, dig, dig, with my spade in my hand. 
Two feet keeping me steady and strong.
Hands and fingers gripping all day long. 
Dig, dig, dig, to move those rocks! 
Dig dig dig move away those blocks! 

 Place the little seed in the earth.
 Watch it grow and come to birth! 

Movement, repetition, the magic of repeating three times, and gestures, all help this verse get planted too. Downward digging and engaging the limbs and hands and feet extend the breathing all the way to the periphery and release the backbone where tension can also collect. The images and strong sounds can nourish and distract a nervous system caught up in frustrated dead-ends that think biting someone's bottom is the only way out. The last two lines can become more lyrical and flowing as the breath movement expands and moves up for song and expression becoming more flowing, easier, less bulldozer-like. Good for adults and children alike!

A new Dublin Breath and the Word workshop, 10am to 1pm on October 7, 2012. At Exchange Dublin, 2 Exchange Street, Upper Dublin 2: