Actor's awakening: the three body centers

Warm-up for the expressive movement and drama unit inspired by actors' work on body centers: movement is led from the head, the chest or the pelvis. Students warm up the whole body while discovering how a character changes depending on the center that drives it.

How to play

1. Walk through the space filling the gaps, changing speed from 1 to 5 as the teacher calls it (2 min).
2. Head center: walk as if the forehead pulled the body; add greetings and eye contact when passing others (2 min).
3. Chest center: the breastbone leads the way; try jogging gently and braking from the chest (2 min).
4. Pelvis center: walk, turn and crouch led from the hips, to music with a strong beat (2 min).
5. In groups of three, each student chooses a center and the others guess which one it is and what character it suggests (2 min).

Rules

• Walk without touching anyone and look where you are going.
• Nobody laughs at someone else's work: comment on what it conveys, not on whether it looks silly.
• If anyone gets dizzy in the turns, they stop and walk slowly.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: explore the centers while seated, using the trunk and arms.
• Hearing impairment: center changes are shown with colored cards.
• Social anxiety: in the guessing game the whole group can perform at once instead of one person.

Learning goals

• Warm up the whole body gradually for the expressive movement session.
• Connect the center of movement with intention and character.
• Watch and describe classmates' work respectfully.

Equipment for a class of 25

• speaker: 1

Teacher tip

Give examples of familiar characters for each center (the intellectual, the brave one, the charmer) only if students struggle to get started. It works as a base for building characters in the main part.

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