Wings is the only Academy to regularly hold theatre classes for children throughout the year since its inception in the year 2012. Students in the age group of 8 years to 17 years are divided into several batches with curriculums divided according to its suitability for every age group. Every session has two phases that last nine and three months. In the first nine months, the emphasis is on the holistic development of a child’s personality by exploring the techniques of drama and acting. During this time, we work on voice, speech, facial muscles, muscles of the eyes, expression through the body, stimulating creativity through theatre games, improvisations and exercises.
A free space is provided where a child explores all these aspects, without getting into overtly structured and rigid lesson plans and yet moving in the desired direction. The last three months are dedicated to a production, in which every child participates and performs. Not only the children, but even their parents are encouraged to contribute backstage with costumes design, make-up, props etc. The Academy has staged beautiful productions like The Tinderbox, Oliver Twist, The Blue Umbrella, Children Of Heaven, Wizard of Oz over the years.
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Curriculum
The Junior batches at Wings Theatre Academy have students between 8 and 17 years of age, divided into several groups. Each group is assigned curriculum and lesson plans suitable to the age bracket. However, over all, the focus of the classes is to create a space and atmosphere where children can explore their talents, find expressions to their ideas, emotions, thoughts, creative juices, a space where they can move freely with the rhythms of their minds and bodies, where they can express themselves fearlessly. The curriculum is designed to provide tools that the students can use not only on stage but in their day to day lives as well. The constant work on voice, facial muscles, body language, concentration, creativity reflects in the student’s over all personality.
Voice
Students are taught the basic physiology of speech. Good speech begins with good breathing, hence the voice work starts with the breathing exercises, followed by exercises to develop control of the diaphragm. With various exercises, students are enabled to build awareness of the speech resonators like mouth, nose, chest, throat, the head. The awareness is also developed around the speech muscles like jaw, mouth, lips, tongue and the soft palate.
Once the students understand the basic physiology of speech, we move on to working towards voice projection, clarity, the use of pitch, pace, pauses, emphasis etc
Facial Muscles and Expressions
There are 42 muscles on the face. A performer strives to activate as many as possible to express a range of emotions. The students are taught; how to slowly develop control over all the facial muscles and then use them in facial and vocal expressions.
The arrangement of all the facial muscles during different emotions are studied and then exercises are done to enable the students to make those arrangements effortlessly.
Eyes and Gaze
An Actor’s/Speaker’s thoughts, emotions, feelings and intentions become conspicuous through the eyes. In any act of communication, the listener focuses on the speaker’s eyes to gather more information than just the spoken words. Therefore developing control over the muscles around the eyes is highly beneficial.
Several eyes and gaze exercises are done with the students to work on the muscles around the eyes and to make the gaze more expressive and energetic. Such work helps not only in Acting but in communication in general.
Expression through the Body
A number of movement and body awareness exercises are done to make students move freely in space and express themselves through their bodies. This involves expression through various gestures, postures and movements.
An understanding of rhythm is developed, which enables students to express freely through the body on stage and even in real life conversations
Concentration, Imagination and Visualisation
Training in theatre involves working on the mind and body simultaneously. A well trained voice, facial muscles, gaze and body are of no use unless students get an equally arduous training in developing sharp concentration, imagination and visualisation.
A lot of meditative techniques are used for the same.
Awareness of the five senses
An elevated awareness and memory of the five senses helps in going through different experiences more mindfully. which in turn helps in recreating those experiences while acting on stage, writing stories or while sketching or painting.
Every artist is either blessed with a sharp awareness and memory of the sensorial experiences or develops it with training. Wings has developed a lot of elaborate exercises for the same.
Theatre Games, Exercises and Improvisations
With Children, there is hardly any direct teaching of the techniques of theatre. Most of the lessons are adapted into theatre games, exercises and improvisations, to make learning a lot of fun. During the course of working with children, for a decade and a half now, Wings has developed some very interesting theatre games and exercises, that facilitate the teaching of the basics of Drama, Performance and Communication. The games and exercises also keep the children excited about the classes.