Fluid Sculpting

• Number of Participants: any number, divided into teams of 4
• Age Level: Teen to adult
• Source: traditional theatre game
• Uses: expression through physical movement, creation of images for scenes and discussion

I have used this more advanced sculpting game in acting classes to encourage students to get out of their heads and into expressing themselves through movement and imagery, and also with counselors and educators when training them in InterPlay techniques. People really enjoy the opportunity for unbridled creativity! Let this game go on longer than you think it should, and you will find that the images that are created become more and more striking. If you know Augusto Boal's "Complete the Image" (Games for Actors and Non-Actors), this will be familiar. This game is particularly useful if you have a peer theatre ensemble that needs new ways to look at how images tell stories.

Divide everyone into groups of four and spread about the space. Each team member is given a letter, A, B, C, or D.

Team member A begins by standing in a frozen image... anything will do, even just standing there. Team member B enters and adds to A's image. C then enters and adds to the image again.

Then A steps out, and D comes in and adds to the image. B steps out, and A enters. C steps out, and B enters, etc., etc., etc. At any given time there are three people in an image. It may seem confusing at first, but soon the pattern of stepping out and reentering becomes very clear and simple.

• A in, B in, C in
• A out, D in
• B out, A in
• C out, B in
• D out, C in
• A out, D in, etc.

Team members should not think too long about how to position themselves in the images. Instead, they should be encouraged to move quickly, finding different heights, contrasting poses, mirroring poses, and whatever else seems interesting to them at the moment.

After several minutes, the facilitator should ask the groups to stop. Each team member who is outside the image should put himself in the image, creating four-person images around the room. At this point there are many things you can do with these images. Have everyone look at each other's images. Is there a story being told in each image? How are the images similar and/or different? Have the images move backwards and forwards in time... don't give the team members any time to think or talk about it; they should merely move. Does their movement tell a story? Who is the oppressed? The oppressor? Is there a scene that can be created from this image?

Discussion ideas:

• Was this easy or difficult for you? Why?
• If you were to do this with a crowd of people watching, would it change what you do?
• As time went on, did you find that it was easier or harder to think of things to do? Why?
• Did you want your body to be able to move differently?
• Is this dance? Movement? Theatre? Storytelling?