29/03/2020
As social distancing has become essential for our safety during the pandemic, we are no longer meeting in person. We made the move online straight away, to enable the continuation of our workshops and keep our little community together.
Today was our second online session as we gathered together to start moving the most we’d done all week (#quarantine-life). This week’s focus was on colours and the body, influenced by the notion of ‘chakras’.
The idea of chakras is common within ancient meditation practices. Each chakra represents one of your body’s energy centres which are said to bring balance to our physical, mental and emotional state and promote well-being.
Given the current circumstances, its safe to say we could all use some extra self-care, to keep ourselves balanced. In the workshop we used each of the chakras, or colours, to carry and focus our movement and to familiarise ourselves with the concept. It also allowed us to connect between them and really listen to our bodies.
Our creative writing task was modelled on the very concept of chakras. We each wrote words down that sprung to mind when we thought about and focused on each of the seven energy centres. This created the framework for writing poems, haiku and art.
‘The start’
A poem by Rayanne Kelly
And a poem/painting by another member of the group:
To help us with our diction, Elise worked with us on a collection of well devised phrases to challenge our enunciation. We elongated each syllable without breaking between words.
Our move online has been an overall success with a continuing social network of support during these harsh times and still getting creative!
Red Hat Opera Workshop 