Drama activity

DRAMA activity

Using Drama games and mimes in psychomotricity is common. This body expression is
beneficial for the individual and is an activity that can suit any age.
The main goal is to improve the quality of relationships and the interaction between one and
other in a group; may they come together and bond throughout the drama activity. This type
of group creates a secure envelop enabling the members to feel confident, to feel good and
free to let go. Drama games leads to fun and to complicity between the participants. It
develops social interactions and human bonding.
Moreover setting an acting game is an excellent cognitive stimulation on many levels. It
stimulates creativity, imagination, mental representation and the memory. The acting game also
develops the ability to pretend, to play a role, to do “as if” and to analyze a character’s profile in
order to imitate him or her.
To play a scene, it is required to observe your partners, be focused on their gestures and moves
and listen to them. The game pushes the participants to open up to each other.
Other essential goals are to develop self confidence and self assertion in front of the other
participants and the audience which reinforces one’s body image. Througout this activity, the idea is to enable the participants to outgo their ability to take initiatives, their ability to invest
themselves psychologically and physically and their ability to have fun.
Theatrical expression is corporal expression. It releases the accumulated tensions and
feelings. It enables to reconnect to memories and to touch one’s emotions. The goal is that the
participants share their emotions through body language which is triggered by the body in
movement ( facial expressions, gestures, posture, tonus…). Sympathetic nervous responses, such as facial blushing, sweating, stuttering,etc... are crucial signs on the participant’s state of mine.
In addition, drama games and mime involve concepts such as body scheme and
notions such as space. Indeed, the body movments of one’s own body takes place in a
delimited space – the set scene. Through movement we stimulate the kinesthetic sensitivity
which benefits the corporal segments perception in space and their position between each
other. Role play enables movements, posture changes, facial expression changes and game
scenes, which contributes to enriching selfawareness and the body scheme.
Temporal notions are also used in drama games. For example during logical sequence of actions, events and scenario acts. Or throughout rythem of dialogues and dialogue exchanges.
Drama teaches on one hand how to deal with one’s emotions, to control oneself and on the other
hand how « to let go » when playing a role. We let the body express itself and we give it elements in order to always surpass it’s capacities, to go further in it’s discoveries and experiments. The goal is not to identify ourselves to the character but to be inspired by the character in order to free feelings and emotions of our own that flow in our own body.