{"id":15082,"date":"2024-12-19T22:11:39","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T21:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/explore-dance.de\/?p=15082"},"modified":"2024-12-19T23:14:37","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T22:14:37","slug":"it-was-mainly-about-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explore-dance.de\/en\/journal-en\/it-was-mainly-about-the-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"“It was mainly about the heart”"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” css=”.vc_custom_1614879841390{padding-top: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”15412″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1734364944127{margin-right: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

“It was mainly about the heart”<\/h1>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]An interview about the pop-up KOSMOK\u00d6RPER by Brazilian choreographer Elisabete Finger<\/strong><\/p>\n

The theatre pedagogue and teacher at the AWO primary school in Potsdam, Chica Schmidt, accompanied the creative process of the KOSMOK\u00d6RPER pop-up with her primary school class as an explore dance project partner. In this interview, she explains why projects like this one provide children with new creative freedom and spaces for movement \u2013 and how creative workshops, rhythmic heartbeat movements and drawing the outlines of their own bodies inspired the young participants.<\/p>\n

By Astrid Priebs-Tr\u00f6ger | 19. Dezember 2024[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

When was your first encounter with explore dance? How did you become a partner of KOSMOK\u00d6RPER?<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]We had already been in contact with the fabrik Potsdam, had several pop-up pieces as guest performances at our school and were therefore asked to be a project partner for KOSMOK\u00d6RPER. This was in autumn 2023, and in summer 2024 I went to a workshop at the fabrik with Year 1 and 2 pupils. It was really well received and the children had fun. Especially the movements they tried out there and the painting on wallpaper panels.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”15373″ img_size=”medium” style=”vc_box_circle_2″ css=”.vc_custom_1734359185405{padding-top: 40px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text css=””]It was very much about the heartbeat \u2013 babum babum babum \u2013 which the pupils also revisited themselves afterwards. In some cases, their teaching assistant did too, because it is something easily incorporated into a morning circle. It was mainly about the heart and then the children drew their own life-sized outlines on rolls of wallpaper. One child lay down on the floor on the paper, the other traced around their body with a pencil. The children then filled in the outlines of their own bodies and coloured them in:\u00a0 What organs are inside you? What did you have for breakfast today? Where is your heart? The piece was still in its early stages and the choreographer’s idea was to capture the children’s thoughts and incorporate them into the development of the piece. It was mainly about movement ideas, but also about seeing how the children generally reacted to the subject matter.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1729494360131{margin-left: -25px !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”15376″ img_size=”full” css=””][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”15380″ img_size=”full” css=””][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”15378″ img_size=”full” css=””][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”90px”][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

What happened apart from this workshop, what material was available for preparation and follow-up?<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]There were two workshops \u2013 one at the fabrik, one at the school \u2013 and a first rehearsal performance at the school, in which the children saw an excerpt of the piece a week and a half before the premiere and then gave feedback to the artists. The children’s response to the performance was that the play wasn\u2019t too long. And also that they saw and recognised a lot. Even at this age, they already handle abstraction well.<\/p>\n

During the first workshop, it was also clear that some pupils already know a lot about their bodies, its processes and operations. They were however amazed at the step \u2013 taken from the workshop, when the team was still researching \u2013 to the rehearsal performance, in which the actual piece was already clearly visible in images, projections and choreographic elements. They reflected that they recognised the exercises and games from the workshops in the choreography of the piece.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][vc_single_image image=”15383″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1734624710424{margin-top: -85px !important;border-bottom-width: px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

As the name suggests, KOSMOK\u00d6RPER by Elisabete Finger establishes a connection between the body and the cosmos.<\/h3>\n

They permeate each other and overlap.<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

How do you introduce primary school children to such a complex topic?<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Well, mainly with lots of movement. (laughs) The choreographer and the two performers offered a lot of movement. One very impressive example was a circle that everyone formed together. It arose out of a very lively situation and then this heartbeat rhythm was passed on and received in silence by tapping each other. Always with one\u2019s own hands on the other person’s back. It was very touching. The first workshop focussed on the participants’ own bodies. Which organs, which sounds do you recognise? How does the heart beat? Our pupils then saw the other level \u2013 projections of the cosmos \u2013 in the rehearsal performance.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”15386″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1734629929882{margin-left: -10px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”15388″ img_size=”full” css=”.vc_custom_1734634316865{margin-right: -10px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

How was the communication with the director and the two English-speaking performers?<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Communication was pretty straightforward. Johanna Simon from fabrik Potsam translated in the workshops and our children also learn English at school. They could also ask questions themselves and these were then translated. The children found this exciting because it gave them an example of why they are learning English. They listened intently, also to find out whether they already understood something by themselves.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”16px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”15390″ img_size=”full” css=””][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

How did you approach the topic yourself, how did you specifically guide the children?<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]There was extensive preparatory and follow-up material, including practical exercises and additional information about the piece and its contents, sent out in advance. It included perception exercises on the subject of the body. I didn’t explicitly prepare for this myself because the topic comes up all the time in my theatre pedagogical practice. I took the children to the fabrik and let myself be surprised. We then took it up again in the follow-up to the workshop.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

How were the inside-outside levels of the piece addressed?<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

How did the children react to it, what effect did it have on them?<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]It\u2019s a very complex topic and if we were to do the project again, I would suggest Year 5 or 6 for it. First and second graders are still very young and their attention span is shorter than that of older children.<\/p>\n

The inside and outside were already offered when colouring, but I’m not quite sure whether this really got through to everyone. There was one exception: one boy was able to explain very vividly what goes on in his body when he eats breakfast, where the food he eats goes and how the processes in the body take place. He described himself with the words \u201cI’m a little doctor\u201d to the amazement of the group.<\/p>\n

Of course, the other children also took something away with them and collected ideas, and they experienced a form of theatre that they would not experience in this way outside of school.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=”15393″ img_size=”medium” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][vc_single_image image=”15395″ img_size=”medium” css=”.vc_custom_1734627189502{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”70px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”15469″ img_size=”medium” css=””][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”15471″ img_size=”medium” css=””][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

What was important in the workshops?<\/h3>\n

What were the challenges? What were the highlights?<\/h3>\n

What did the students enjoy the most?<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Even the journey there is a challenge for younger children. Travelling together by bus and train, the unfamiliar space in the fabrik. New, unfamiliar people. What the children enjoyed most were the different movement activities, which they also took back to school afterwards.<\/p>\n

The highlight of the whole process was the performance that took place in the school at the end. There were great \u201caha\u201d moments with the finished choreography – including the arc from the inside to the outside when looking at the projections, own associations to plants that looked like body parts. \u201cIs that a breast? Or a cactus?\u201d, Are they really eating the gloves?<\/p>\n

Feelings were experienced intensely, both as irritation and fascination. And the encounters with the two performers. Overall, it was clear to see how open the children were to the artistic team after the multiple encounters, how mutual trust developed.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Were the children’s ideas that emerged in the workshops incorporated into the performance?<\/h3>\n

If so, which ones?<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]The subject of digestion was already a topic in our first conversation: What did you eat this morning? But other associations of theirs also flowed into the piece, particularly visually into the projections \u2013 such as rivers inside and around us. Or the topic of rubbish.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”15405″ img_size=”medium” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

How did the children react during the performance and in the conversations afterwards?<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]The performance took place in the school’s theatre hall. In front of a total of 50 children, including some who had not been involved in the creative process.<\/p>\n

The children reacted in different ways. Many were enthusiastic, fascinated by what they saw and some even asked and answered questions afterwards: What did you see? What did you feel? Did something irritate you? There were also lots of technical questions: Where did the smoke come from? Was it all under the white coat?<\/p>\n

There were also children who found what they saw very strange. That’s completely okay \u2013 and that’s exactly how the questions are organised in the follow-up conversation \u2013 that’s what these conversations are for. For many children, it’s the first time they’ve seen this kind of dance.[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1734622318717{margin-left: -10px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”15366″ img_size=”full” css=””][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”15368″ img_size=”full” css=””][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”15370″ img_size=”full” css=””][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

What do dance projects like these do in co-operation with the children involved, with the teachers? Was the project integrated into regular lessons?<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]Yes, the project was integrated into lessons, there was the collection of topics and the preparation and follow-up work. We spoke to the children again \u2013 we do this after every visit to the theatre \u2013 and it’s great when the pupils can move together with dance professionals. These are different, unusual encounters for everyone, an exchange at eye level and a way of being and learning together. And the dancers are always asked the same question: Is this your profession?[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”15293″ img_size=”medium” style=”vc_box_circle_2″ css=”.vc_custom_1734362903339{margin-top: -60px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Your personal conclusion at the end?<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]It was and is a great project. Because I think that in our current society, children lack creative freedom and spaces for movement. I hope that many more schools will be able to take part in this project.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”50px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Chica Schmidt<\/strong> is a theatre pedagogue and works at the Potsdam AWO primary school \u201cMarie Juchacz\u201d, which has a theatre pedagogy profile and celebrates its tenth year in 2025. Chica Schmidt works with all learning groups, including across year groups and always on a project basis.<\/p>\n

Johanna Simon<\/strong> works as artistic director of explore dance at the fabrik Potsdam.<\/p>\n

The interview was conducted by Astrid Priebs-Tr\u00f6ger<\/strong>, who lives and works as a freelance cultural journalist in Potsdam.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elisabete Finger: KOSMOK\u00d6RPER | 19. Dezember 2024 […]<\/p>\n

Read More… from “It was mainly about the heart”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":15412,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[137,437,138,140,436,425,143,144],"class_list":["post-15082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journal-en","tag-choreographie-en","tag-elisabete-finger","tag-explore-dance-en","tag-junges-publikum-en","tag-kosmokoerper-en","tag-pop-up-en","tag-potsdam-en","tag-tanz-en","ort-potsdam-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore-dance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore-dance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore-dance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore-dance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore-dance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15082"}],"version-history":[{"count":60,"href":"https:\/\/explore-dance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15503,"href":"https:\/\/explore-dance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15082\/revisions\/15503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore-dance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/explore-dance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore-dance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/explore-dance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}