Give and Take

Define an open space as the “stage” with space in front for the “audience.” Invite a portion of the students (5-10 is best) to play first. Ask them to evenly position themselves throughout the stage space, with space to move between them.  Everyone is frozen, except for one player who uses a repetitive sound and movement to travel through space and “give” their sound/movement energy to another player, who makes a new repetitive sound and movement. Players can use literal or abstract movements. For example, player A stomps their feet and says “Boing, Boing, Boing” as he travels across the playing space to player B who is frozen; A  makes a loud final “Boing” in the direction of player B. Then A freezes and B jumps up and grabs her toe saying “Ow, Ow, Ow” as she hops one foot saying “Ow” to C and then freezes. C shoots her arms out, saying “Ohwah, Ohwah,” and so on. After the group has played for a while, swap groups and begin again. Introduce themes to inspire movement/sound like: School; or Fame; or The Ocean. Once “give” is mastered, introduce “take.” In “take” players repeat the same pattern, but instead of waiting for a player to “give” the energy, players “take” it. When the energy is taken, the player it was taken from freezes. After the group understands the rules for “give” and “take,” players can use both; so, C may “take” from B, and then B can “give” to player A, and so on.