Arts and culture: drama-the warm-up

Arts and culture

Grade 6

Creative, interpreting and performing

Module 13

Drama: the warm-up

Before we can start being creative in our drama class, you have to warm up properly to prepare your body and voice for performance.

Activity 1:

To perform relaxation, breathing, resonance, pitch and articulation exercises: the warm-up

[lo 1.4]

• Enjoy the following fun exercises that will help you to prepare your ‘instruments’.

Relaxation:

Relaxation is fundamental to the efficient use of the body, not only in drama, but in carrying out our daily routines with maximum efficiency.

Relaxation Exercise:

Shoulders

• Stretch the arms upward as far as you can reach.
• Look upward.
• Let the arms fall.
• Repeat four times.

• Shrug your shoulders.
• Raise them as high as you can.
• Hold for a moment.
• Drop them.
• Repeat four times.
• Roll your head around gently, four times – clockwise and then anti-clockwise.
• Imagine a strong elastic cord running down from the top of your head, through your spine, and attached to the last vertebra of your back.
• Imagine the cord is tugged and it gently lifts your head and straightens your spine.
• Let your head and spine bounce very gently to the easy upward pull.
• Let your head ‘float’ up without any help from the shoulders.

Face

• Make the most hilarious and horrible faces you can.
• Stretch and purse your lips.
• Inflate your cheeks.
• Screw up your eyes, then open them wide.
• Frown fiercely and release.
• Waggle your jaw.
• Shake your head.

Arms and hands

• Swing your arms like a windmill.
• Slowly and flexibly flap them like a bird.
• Raise your arms and let them fall as though through water.
• Shake your hands till your fingers flap.
• Play the piano with your fingers.
• Rotate your hands from your wrists, clockwise and then anti-clockwise.

Upper body

• Inhale through your nose.
• Exhale through your mouth.
• Rotate your hips to the left and then to the right.
• Stand with your feet apart and take a deep breath.
• Stretch up and as you breathe out, let the top half of your body fall forward from the hips, first the hands, then arms, head, shoulders and chest.
• Let your spine curl forward.
• Hang your head down for a moment.
• Inhale and uncurl.
• Reach up with a catlike stretch.
• Repeat four times.

Ankles and feet

• Shake each leg in turn.
• Clench each foot and release.
• Swing each leg like a pendulum.
• Run lightly on the spot on the ball of your foot.
• Stand on one leg – lift the other leg a little – rotate the foot from the ankle.
• Change legs.
• Kick with each leg (like a footballer).
• Bounce lightly on the balls of your feet.
• Change your weight from foot to foot.
• Stretch up and inhale.
• Stand still – breathe comfortably.

Breathing

Good breathing is a fundamental requirement for voice production.

Breathing exercise:

• Stand easy and erect with feet apart.
• Rest the backs of the hands on the lower side of the ribs.
• Make sure your shoulders are loose and not raised.
• Inhale, noiselessly, to a mental count of one-two-three.
• Feel the outward swing of the lower ribs pushing the hands out.
• Release the breath gently to a mental count of one-two-three.
• Repeat six times.

Resonance

Resonance is the sound produced by a body.