Introduction to Ensemble
Exercises
* Blue Ball, Yellow Ball, Red Ball 10 Mins
Aims: Focus, physicalising an idea, ensemble work, recovering from mistakes, helping each other
- Stand in a circle.
- Tell the group you have some sports balls here that are invisible. We have to remember their colour, size and how we use them.
- Teacher stars by saying the colour of the ball and explaining its size and how we pass it. Choose one to begin with.
- The person starting says the colour and then passes to someone, making sure that person is looking back at them to receive it. This is important as the balls are invisible, so the person you pass to must know you’ve passed to them.
- The person receiving it then says the colour of the ball when they receive it.
Example:
Person A: “Purple ball!” Mimes rolling it across circle.
Person B: “Purple ball!” Mimes receiving it.
Person B makes eye contact with someone else (Person C).
Person B: “Purple ball!” Mimes rolling it across circle.
Person C: “Purple ball” Mimes receiving it.
Continue until every has had a turn. Remind them they say “purple ball” twice.
Once when they receive it and again when they send it to someone new. When they are confident with one ball, you can introduce a second one.
Example Colours, Sizes and Uses
Purple: Very big like a yoga ball. We role this across the floor.
Blue: Like a netball. Two hands chest pass across the circle.
Red: Like a tennis ball. We bat across the circle.
Yellow: This is a ping pong ball that we use one hand to blow across the circle.
Green: Like a football. We gently kick it across the circle.
Troubleshooting:
Inevitably, one of the balls will go missing. If this happens, you can reintroduce it into the game yourself. See if there is a pattern as to when it goes missing – it could be one of the students sends it to the incorrect person each time. If they struggle, then stop and practice that sequence by itself. Reset. If you think your group will struggle, or if you have a lot of
students, you can even write down the patterns on paper to refer back to.
* Together 10 Mins
Aims: Listening to instructions, focusing, working as an ensemble, spatial awareness
- Ask the group to move around the space. You can put on some music.
- Teacher will shout out “Stop” and the group must freeze.
- Explain one person will move around the room at a time.
- A volunteer will walk around the space. They will choose when to come to a stop.
- When they stop, another person must start to walk.
- If two or more people walk at the same time, they must stop again.
- They must not talk or communicate with each other through hand signals. It is up to them to sense when it is their time to move.
- Continue until the group get more comfortable with this.
Scale Up: Ask the group to walk around the space. Now, the aim is for them to come to a complete stop at the same time as a group. This must not be led by one particular student and they cannot give each other verbal instructions or gestures. Once they have managed this, they then need to start walking again at the same time. As an ensemble they move around the room, come to a stop, pause and start again. Repeat. This will take patience and time.
Troubleshooting:
Encourage them to think about their pace, how they can slow down together, taking their time before coming to a complete stop.