Belief |
The commitment of student to the work.
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Brainstorming |
A method of generating a large number of ideas.
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Choral speaking |
A means by which literature – including poetry, chants and raps, scripts, short stories, fairy tales, fables and legends – is interpreted and communicated vocally by a group. These could be either student-written or published works.
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Commitment |
The ability to sustain belief for as long as the drama demands, and a recognition and understanding of the purpose of the work.
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Consensus
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A group decision that everyone in the group agrees to support. |
Contrasts |
Dynamic use of movement/stillness, sound/silence and light/darkness.
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Costume design |
Illustrations of the stage apparel to be worn by actors.
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Dance drama |
Expressive movement through which ideas, stories, sounds, and music can be interpreted. It can be used to express such episodes as dream sequences, flashbacks and flashforwards, and parts of celebrations.
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Drama |
An art form that is concerned with the representation of people in time and space, their actions and the consequences of their actions.
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Drama in context |
Dramas are structured to provide a context, a situation or a metaphoric framework in which students and teacher assume roles and enter into a fictional world prepared to accept and “live through” an imagined situation.
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Dramatic processes |
Includes the processes involved in creating works of dramatic art, whether they be original works by students or re-creations of scripted materials. Dramatic processes include such things as choosing a topic, researching, synthesizing, identifying the focus of the work, translating ideas into dramatic form, reflecting, refining, scripting, rehearsing and performing.
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Episodes |
Parts of the whole drama work. A series of events extend students' understanding of themes and characters.
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Flashbacks and flashforwards |
Moving back and forward in time in order to extend students' understanding of themes and characters.
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Focus |
Knowing what the drama is about and structuring each step of the work so that the students are able to explore and make new discoveries about that particular concern.
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Imaging |
A technique that allows the students to slow down and focus on an issue. The students, sitting quietly with eyes closed, allow pictures to form in their minds. These images may be motivated by bits of narration, music, sounds, smells, and other stimuli.
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Improvisation |
Any unscripted work in drama.
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Interviews |
A drama strategy in which students are involved in any kind of fictional interview situation.
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Journeys
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Can provide not only a strategy but, if focused, a context for a drama. Students can explore different kinds of journeys ranging from journeys into space, to journeys to new lands.
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Meetings |
An effective strategy by which the whole group can establish focus and begin to build belief in a fictional situation.
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Mime |
Can be a highly sophisticated silent art form in which the body is used as the instrument of communication. In drama, mime enables the students to explore and represent ideas and events through movement and gesture.
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Monologue |
A piece of oral or written literature (e.g., a story, poem, or part of a play) spoken by one person who exposes inner thoughts and provides insights into his or her character.
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Narration
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Bits of narration can be prepared or created spontaneously by the teacher or can be chosen from prose, poetry, or song lyrics. Narration is used to establish mood, bridge gaps in time, and register decisions made by the students within the drama.
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Negotiation |
A purposeful discussion aimed at leading the group to clarify ideas, summarize individual points of view, and agree upon a course of action.
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Parallel play |
A situation in which all of the students work simultaneously, but separately, in their own space.
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Reader's theatre |
A dramatic form of expression in which actors read and interpret text for an audience.
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Reflection |
Recalling, reacting to, and describing one's drama experiences, both in and out of role.
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Ritual |
A technique in which one action is repeated by many individuals to formalize or provide specific significance to a situation.
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Role |
The basic ingredient of work in drama. When the students and teacher assume roles in drama, they are acting “as if” they are someone else.
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Set design |
A visual representation of the form and arrangement of scenery and properties.
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Sidecoaching |
The individual who is sidecoaching the class provides information to the students' that guides dramatic experience.
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Spontaneous improvisation
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An improvisation which is immediate and unrehearsed.
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Storytelling |
A means of creating (or re-creating) and sharing stories. The stories may be familiar or unfamiliar, the stories of others, or the student's own. In drama, storytelling is a means of sharing and reflecting on each others' experiences and the experiences of the group.
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Story theatre |
Techniques that may be used in drama as stories are told. Either the story is told by a narrator as others act it out while speaking the dialogue or through mime, or the narration may be provided by those who are acting out the characters, animals, or inanimate objects.
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Symbol |
Something that stands for or represents something else. Broadly defined, dramas and collective creations are symbolic or metaphoric representations of human experience.
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Tableau |
A still image, a frozen moment or “a photograph.” It is created by posing still bodies and communicates a living representation of an event, an idea or a feeling.
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Tapping-in |
A means by which those individuals represented in a tableau may be prompted to express their response to that particular moment which is captured in time and space by the tableau. The teacher places a hand on the shoulder of one of the students in role in the tableau and poses questions that are designed to reveal the actor's thinking about the situation represented by the tableau.
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Teacher in role |
By taking on roles themselves, teachers are able to provide the students with a model for working in role through the use of appropriate language and apparent commitment to the process and the work. This is the most effective way for teachers to work in drama. It enables them to work with the students close to what is happening and to facilitate the shaping of the work from within.
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Tension |
The “pressure for response”, which can take the form of a challenge, a surprise, a time restraint or the suspense of not knowing. Tension is what works in drama to impel students to respond and take action and what works in a play to make the audience want to know what happens next.
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Voting |
A familiar strategy not necessarily associated with the arts. Through negotiation, the teacher and students strive toward, and will often achieve, consensus. At times, when consensus is not achieved, voting is the next best option.
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Writing in role |
Any written work done in role (e.g., monologues, family histories, letters, newspaper headlines) |