Saturday February 4th Of The Legacy of Fingerless Gloves and Improvisation

It was time for Butoh with the afternoon group. Overall they are slightly less experienced than the earlier group so we had decided to give them an extra week to bond before this exercise. It's fascinating to see how the new group is developing their own personality and how it differs from the morning group.

The morning group are larger, overall a lot more experienced, and it feels like you're working with friends. Some of the group have been together now for years and it makes such a difference to the feeling in the room. This sense of camaraderie was typified when our eldest student, Elliott, applauded one of the youngest and least confident members simply for getting up and having a go at performing. Elliott is a boy who has struggled at times in the group but this year has truly thrived and lead from the front. He sets a great example for the younger members and is really learning to relax in his own performance.

The afternoon group are smaller and therefore, it is somewhat easier for them to be more reflective in their work. Quite a few new students have brought more diversity and a different energy to the room. There is a sense of excitement and newness about the work we're doing. Having said this, experienced members like Anna Simmonds and Sam Salvage have grown in responsibility and supported the newbies with professionalism and character. Similarly, Ellen Boucher who wrote the poem that I published last week and sisters, Isabelle and Freya have really come out of their shell in this smaller group.

And so we look forward to the next stage of 'The Legacy of Fingerless Gloves'. Tanushka and I love to get our ideas from the work that the kids do but often when you give them a few rules within an improvisation they then go off and produce something which is rough at the edges, to say the least. It was truly groundbreaking this week as every group in the morning, without fail, produced simple, effective and dramatic scenes of which I could take numerous ideas for the writing of the next play. In my 10 years of working with kids in a drama I have literally never experienced this. Occasionally you'll get one or two nice ideas but today was astounding.

I can't wait to get back to it on February 25th!