Itties Bitties Are Such Wild Things
The movie opens this Friday, Oct 16
Is anyone else as excited as I am about the upcoming release of Where the Wild Things Are? There really isn’t a better storybook for kids, when you think about it. It’s simple and it’s beautiful and it’s the ultimate adventure story. It’s the same story as The Wizard of Oz, right? A kid is growing up and getting sick of the adults who care for him/her. “They just don’t understand me!” It’s time for her to strike out on her own. Explore new lands. Meet new and interesting characters. This experience forever changes him. It is a necessary experience for his development. And then, she takes all that she has learned from all of the characters she has met and goes back home…
“…to find supper waiting for him. And it is still hot.”
There really isn’t a better allegory for real life, when you think about it. And this adventure never stops. We keep going in a series of these kinds of adventures throughout our lives, taking risk after risk to venture out in the world, expand our visions, learn new ways of being, and bringing all of that home to our families, our community, ourselves. We are changed and we change the little space of world around us by our example.
Yes, we are playing games and singing songs and making up dances, but this is actually what we are teaching at Glitter & Razz. We are supporting and celebrating the spirit and the skills that it takes to make this kind of adventure. To step out from your current “known” into the scary “unknown” and allow yourself to be changed by the interesting characters you encounter there.
This week in our Itty Bitty Theater Workshops, the classes were focused around the story of Where the Wild Things Are. I am asking kids “Where is your favorite place to go on an adventure?” I have heard answers such as “Fairyland,” “Green Valley,” “My neighborhood on Halloween,” and “the ice cream shop.” Then, we are using our bodies and imagination to explore all types of adventurous locations: the desert; the beach; the snowy mountains; the jungle; the city; and the farm. This exploration will allow us to come up with a location or series of locations that will provide the foundation for the play that we are creating.
We are also reinforcing the idea of neutral bodies. One of the first skills that young performers have to learn is when to stop and when to go. They are working on how to keep their body in a focused, relaxed neutral position. A neutral position establishes that they are “ready for anything.” From neutral they are asked to run, jump, twirl, climb, move and groove (any action really) and then show that, on cue, they can come back to neutral as quickly as possible. Thus, being ready for the next thing.
Like the Wild Thing adventure, neutral is home. Young actors are learning that they can explore scary and exciting lands in safe ways if they start from a relaxed and focused place. And there is always a time to come back to this place. Where the food is always hot.
This post is one of the 37 I have challenged myself to post in one week (in celebration of my 37th birthday). Join me in the challenge.
