Children learn in a variety of ways. What is crucial is, the experiences being meaningful to their reality. Innovative teaching comprises sensitive approaches through multiple media in reaching out to children. Music, dance and drama are effective tools to capture children’s attention. This article describes some useful dimensions of movement and drama in relation to children and the changes that have been natural to the growth of the art forms in their relation to children.
Children and movement or movement and children are both cosmic creations enmeshed in each other. Movement in rhythmic forms essentially set to music is dance. With a personal passion for all three it’s difficult to make a choice whether:
a) the brilliance of music and dance facilitates the sense of search for children; or b) a young child’s natural disposition is best nurtured through music and dance.
Whichever option it may be, movement and music captivate children nurturing their growth and developing their interest in the environment. All cultures have a repertoire of jingles and songs pertaining to age appropriate needs and tasks of infants and children. This is a folk tradition present in all regions and the jingles though in different languages using context specific symbols express sentiments evoking similar reactions. The lyrics and rhythm are such that they generate rocking, cuddling or swaying along with use of nonsense sounds. The descriptions also stress the primacy of kinship bonds.
The orientation and appeal of our young to rhythm and movement is perhaps related to life sustaining physiological rhythms of pulse and heart. The incessant cry of an infant is most often soothed by the gentle rocking and the reassuring cooing of the adult. It is not without thought that children’s toys and care objects have a built in rocking motion .A chaotic class may come to reasonable order to the sound of claps or beats of the tambourine or even the rap of the duster. It’s a pleasure to put music and watch children’s responses. In the early years music and movement provide sheer joy. The gentle tone of music and the rhythm of patting, rocking and swaying create a sense of trust giving a secure experience of the vastness of space and time.
Sensitive teachers of music and dance go beyond the traditional rigour of the classical forms realizing children’s natural flair for experimenting with body and sound .They incorporate meaningful digressions like swaying like a tree or running like a deer or imitate mother when she is angry along with the learning of the hasta-mudras. Similarly along with comprehending the musical scales and learning the notes children can and enjoy singing simple songs as long as not pushed for expertise bereft of joy. The children’s choir at the Gandharva Maha Vidyalaya has over the years taught several children to learn music with enjoyment. Bal Bhavan also has attemted to provide fun in learning to sing as also experiment with instruments . These two instances happen to be Delhi based however they are not difficult to replicate.
There exist innumerable children’s songs in all Indian languages some of which have loads of fun value. There are songs which teach alphabets. My favourite is the example of a Maithali chant with a accompanying rocking motion to repeat the Matras. Its incredible how some children have been able to benefit by memorizing this melody. Our schools do not gain from the richness of existing folk methods as their training is based on modern educational theory.
We need to pride in using local people based teaching learning methods judiciously. We can teach old Indian rhymes with as much ease as we want to teach Jack and Jill. I feel strange in such a statement however the love for English Rhymes is still a popular fad. Believe me when in workshops with teachers you ask for songs you heard in childhood it’s a pleasure to collect their leaves of memory . On an insistence on linguistic loyalty they wonder about my motives and skills . I know no other language except Hindi I confess and my purpose is to base the classroom interaction in tune with their reality. The recognition for creative opportunity along with sensitive caring adults is essential for energizing the world of children. This has proved most rewarding in vitalizing theatre experiences for children. Fifteen years ago when I put my son in a summer theatre workshop I dreamed of him playing a clown or being a energetic cub prowling on fours or a street child wanting a ride in the cars that whiz by. He came home with a long script of a play dealing with corruption in society. I held my head in dismay.
The child did not complain but silently often chose the tennis tournaments on TV. The emphasis on the product took away the fun of experiencing a process. My six year old was the watchman despite being the youngest and Jagte Raho were the two words that he had to say in the one hour production. "Child is the father of man."….".It is the child who guards destiny", philosophized the father to the irate disappointed mother in me .Of course we as a family had a lot of fun in repeating "Jagte Raho" as "Jag Jao" when having to rise to catch the school bus .
Fortunately the theatre world for children revolutionized what almost seemed overnight with pioneering works of several theatre enthusiasts and a love for children. In- fact the major shift from product based theatre to process oriented workshops was initiated at the National School of Drama. With the formation of the Theatre In Education Company the NSD opened the world of theatre to schools along with relevant drama for children. This company set the trend for innovative theatre for children in the leadership of Barry John who had been doing independent work with some small groups with special attention to the specific needs of mentally challenged children. Barry is one of the early theatre persons with training in educational drama and its use in schools. Work in children’s drama was also pioneered by Rekha Jain, Feisal Alkazi and others who were trained by them. Currently there are innumerable groups doing fun theatre for children .In the last four five years it’s a pleasure to see fun in theatre in several cities. It would only be fair to recognize the role of NSD graduates in spreading the method of meaningful theatre. Regional theatre persons and experts have also initiated interesting drama for young children. In Madras it was exciting to work with Velu Saravanan who made a group of teachers crawl on fours. On being asked what he was trying he simply said you are children carrying school bags. The educative potential of theatre is undisputed.
The NSD workshops blend children with varying social class, diverse social backgrounds and mixed intellectual competencies. Experiencing differing social and contextual realities sensitizes children to individual variations infusing tolerance and acceptance deeper than discussions on the virtues of being secular. In fact the first venture at the NSD when the workshop for children took a shift from being product oriented to being a process based one, the end was not a play but a Celebration of Childhood titled JASHNE BACHPAN. The process of planning the event enthused an excitement bringing memories of our own childhood. That year in the summer of 1990 the month long workshop was to culminate in this event where children could paint, design toys, write stories, tell stories, laugh together, debate or argue on issues , go for elephant rides, watch a magic show or enact a skit . This was the grand finale after they had been through month long sessions in discussions learning to explore themes, write dialogues, enact out stories, play games or sometimes sit a corner and just watch. They also learnt to paint, make masks or just have fun with group games.
In subsequent years many more groups use process rich methods to evolve plays. There is effort to help children create their own stories which helps children to think, express and create appropriate dialogues. In these groups children benefit as there is vertical grouping and children close encounters with mixed ages therefore mixed skills. There is experience of bonding with different ages giving children a context to be caregivers or be protected by older group mates situations not so common with small family norm and diminishing extended family gatherings in the fast pace of the urban setting. Another feature is the small adult child ratio as in all our observations of children’s theatre its is one adult to fifteen children. This gives the adult the needed time to reach the child ‘s special self. These drama teachers have sensitive details to share. " Over the years", remarks Barry ," children have become more skilled more imaginative and more distracted." There is a tremendous amount of freedom to make choices and decisions, time for discussion, reflection and exploration of
ideas. It is mostly girls who make thoughtful leaders and are also more imaginative. The drawings of children where they are encouraged to break from the House –Tree –Flag model of art lessons, the body images seem to get lost in the vastness of the sheet of paper. Perhaps these are important aspects of the hidden nondescript facets of the mass efforts in the spread of literacy. Drama, music, movement and rhythm need not only be part of vacation exercises. In their present form they are essential and good intellectual and emotional supplements to learning in groups to which our children have to adapt. The performance media can very easily be part of the school learning process. Drama in its more innovative form can enrich classroom interactions. Exercises in movement channelize the child’s need to gain mastery over his limbs, instill a sense of confidence, enhance attention span through physical senses rather than only working with the mind. Role play, discussions help in the exchange of ideas and sensitize children to social and cultural diversity.
In conclusion I would like to highlight the role of multiple modes of communication in the training of adults in working with children. There needs to be a large degree of sensitizing to the growing and changing needs of childhood. Theatre is extended form of drama interspersed with games which are based on cooperation and learning to trust and work together. This creative structured form helps adults to review their perceptions and attitudes towards
children and childhood through simulated situations. These situations are designed to evoke questions regarding children’s reality and influences on their behaviour and reactions. The enacted situations tend to be disguised interventions as they mirror the prevalent nature of adult child exchanges. The role play scripts represent adult reality as there is a presentation of what generally happens. The externalization process diffuses the reality of we ourselves being the actors in the commonplace occurrences. In the ensuing drama we do tend to identify the cultural stereotypes that bind our values to an intellectual lethargy. The contention is that innovative processes are needed for the classrooms as much as they are required for sensitizing those of us who are going to be in close interactive settings with children.
The comprising elements of the NATYA SHASTRA are in tune to the growing needs of children. It is heartening to be able to state that there are positive endeavours in the creative use of music, movement, rhythm and drama for the all round development of children. The numbers that reap rewards may be small however the efforts are easy to replicate.The exuberance of the three dimensional artistic expression enable young minds to make associations and learn at their own pace. Often the rigidity of rule bound teaching needs to be alternated with flexibility in methods.
Dance is a translation of three dimensional figurative images through gestures which sharpens observation. A competence in movements enables children to look and feel the detail.
Rhythm sensitizes to sound and gestures in sequences enhancing concentration.
Drama gives opportunity to create and express with movement and with words. This provides facility for cognitive and linguistic coordination enriching verbal proficiency and language competence.
Asha Singh
Lady Irwin College, New Delhi.
Conversations with participants
:Dance to me is a companion, it gives me a sense of identity different from others. I feel I am developing an expertise, experiencing a tradition intensely.
a 15 year old.
I made my son learn dance as when he was a baby I often found his movements very expressive and communicative, which could blossom with the grammar of dance. a mother.
I like meeting lots of children and have fun doing what I want to do. The teachers don’t tell you things are wrong .Like the line "chand,kya tum mujh se khelo ge" (moon will you play with me) we were asked to say it aloud with actions . We could say it in any style, no one was told that yours is the best. I like it. a nine year old in the theatre workshop.
I like the Workshop because I can talk to the leader with ease . I like to discuss many things I soon have to decide what I have to do. The leaders here are able to give me time and listen to how I feel .
a child from SOS village.