Characters From a Center: Nose, Chest, Belly, or Knees

Each character walks as if one body part were pulling them along: the curious nose, the proud chest, the easygoing belly, or the jittery knees. Students build characters from the body rather than the voice.

How to play

1. Neutral walk around the space. The teacher calls a center and everyone walks as if a string were pulling that part: nose, forehead, chest, belly, knees, feet (4 min).
2. Try each center at three sizes and add a rhythm: quick and choppy, slow and heavy, light and bouncy (6 min).
3. Each person picks a center and a rhythm to create a character. When they pass others, they greet and say a single word that fits the character (6 min).
4. Groups of 4 different characters build a short scene in a drawn location (a waiting room, a grocery checkout line, a mountain hike) (6 min).
5. Each group shows 30 seconds to another. The audience guesses each character's center (3 min).

Rules

• Characters are made up: nobody imitates classmates or teachers.
• Nobody comments on anyone's real body.
• Moves are at walking pace, no running.
• Protect your back: low centers come from bending the knees, not rounding the spine all the way.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: nose, forehead, and chest centers work just as well from a wheelchair.
• Visual impairment: the teacher describes with images (“as if you smelled fresh bread”) and they work with a partner guide.
• Insecure students: they can stay at the small size and use one very short word or none.

Learning goals

• Build a character from posture and walk.
• Combine center, size, and rhythm in movement.
• Interact in a scene while staying in character.

Teacher tip

Stress that characters are invented to avoid hurtful impressions. The usual mistake is exaggerating so much that control is lost: the character should be able to walk for a minute without tiring.

More main activities for Middle School