This is a lovely game to get the group connected together and supporting each other. It also teaches giving up control on stage and finding offers from what’s happening around you.
A group of around 5 improvisers enter the stage and take a formation as if they are a professional dance outfit about to compete in the final of Britain’s Got Talent. The music starts but uh oh….it wasn’t the music they were expecting! No problem, they are so good at synchronised dancing that they style it out and do a dance routine there and then to the song they have just heard.
The music is played by the teacher.
Teaching Purpose
- Agreement.
- Support.
- Incorporating mistakes.
- Supporting the first thing that happens on stage.
- Play.
- Giving up control.
Top Tips
- Start by keeping it simple, everyone unite behind the first thing that happens on stage.
- Then experiment with different patterns and movements on stage.
- Dance with the group and connected to the group, it’s not a solo dance competition.
- If you think someone is getting it wrong just do what they are doing, and then they haven’t got it wrong they have found a new pattern.
Origin
We first learnt this from Charna Halpern at iO Theatre Chicago, and also from Susan Messing from Annoyance Theatre and Mick Barnfather in London.