Framed Performance: Goals and Bleachers as a Stage

Groups use the fixed features of the sports field (goals, hoops, bleachers, court lines) as stage frames and create a piece that only makes sense from one specific viewpoint. Students reflect on how framing changes the way a movement is read.

How to play

1. Demo: two students move inside a goal while the rest watch from midfield and then from the sideline, and the differences are discussed (3 min).
2. Groups of five choose a frame (goal, hoop, section of bleachers, center circle) and place a cone at the exact audience spot (3 min).
3. Compose a 45-second piece that uses the frame: entering and leaving it, spilling past its edges, being partly hidden (10 min).
4. Showing tour: the class moves from cone to cone as the audience; one member of each group films its piece from that spot (6 min).
5. Quickly compare two videos to see whether the framing works on screen as well as live (3 min).

Rules

• No climbing on goals, hoops or bleacher railings.
• Before starting, check that the goals are anchored to the ground.
• On the bleachers, walk; never jump from one row to another.
• The audience stays behind its cone during each showing.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the group chooses a ground-level frame, such as the center circle or a court line.
• Visual impairment: a classmate describes the frame and its edges, and cones are used as tactile references.
• Autism: is given the role of designing the audience viewpoint and filming, with specific instructions.

Learning goals

• Use features of the school grounds as staging tools.
• Understand how viewpoint changes the way movement is read.
• Cooperate to compose a piece with a defined frame.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 6
• tablets or phones: 6

Teacher tip

Run this session when the field is free of other classes. Unanchored portable goals are ruled out as frames.

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