WHĀNAU PLAY
FAMILY FUN /ALL AGES MOVEMENT/ EVERYONE WINS
Whānau Play was born from the need for movement - for both adults and children and satisfied all ages - whilst being a space of connection and fun. It takes elements of yoga, theatre sports, contact improvisation, games and free improvisation to invite adults and children to enter into a space of physical challenge and joyful silliness. It aims to provide space and tools for children and parents to find new ways of interacting through principles of respect, loving boundaries, play as learning, listening for needs, and making room for mistakes.
What do we do in a session?
Games and Objects!
You can expect to play a range of games designed to get you moving your body in new and enjoyable ways; stretching, getting your heart rate up, challenging your balance, developing co-ordination, using and finding more strength. We use objects commonly found around the house, such as pillows/cushions, toys, balls, paper and blankets, and find different ways in which these become obstacle courses, problem solving and co-ordination challenges, spaces of transformation and creative imagining.
Movement to Activate the "Older Kids"
We offer ways into movement for adults that might allow for a more interesting experience, by adding in layers of somatic awareness, novel movement problems, 'adult challenges', and generally creating a space for adults to move in ways that feel enjoyable and meet their physical needs. Kids are hopefully always going to move in ways they want to, but we offer some guidelines for interacting that keep themselves and each other safe.
Partner Work
A large part of our sessions involves moving with each other, specifically touching, rolling, climbing, sliding, jumping and playing on and around each other's bodies. This has come from years of doing so ourselves with our own kids, but also from a solid base of dance, martial and other movement arts - including contact improvisation, contemporary dance, capoeira, and gymnastics. We will be teaching safe ways to lift each other, interact with each other's body's respectfully, and generally how to think a bit more broadly about moving in relation to another body. This is kind of like intentional and focussed rough and tumble. Kids LOVE this part.
Drawing and Mark Making
Some sessions, especially in the live ones, will also include drawing through movement tasks. This has come from a range of inspirations, but a large part has been from Segni mossi, and the work they do integrating mark making, dance, music and game formats to invite new ways of thinking about movement and drawing.
Why Whānau Play?
Being a parent at home can be a hard place to be sometimes, with a lack of sleep, lack of extended whānau, high expectations of ourselves, little or no training etc etc... You know the list! If we can find ways to get a few more of our needs met, whilst meeting the needs of our kids, then life gets just a little bit easier. A number of insightful and amazing mamas have spoken about this idea. Lucy Aitken-Read of Lulutastic talks about "Sites of Mutual Fulfillment". Katy Bowman talks about 'Stacking Needs'. Both of these ideas are fundamental to how I think about this space of moving with my kids. Katy by the way is an awesome resource for more ideas about how to think more holistically about movement in general - definitely recommend her books.
For those who have come from an active background, sports, dance, outdoor activities, being with our kids in these contexts can be challenging - not always, but often - their ideas of what's fun aren't the same as yours. If we are in a city without extended family around, just getting to a class, or time by yourself at a time when you actually have energy is sometimes impossible.
Parenting itself is also a huge learning curve, as we are not always born into a culture that respects children, the role of parents, or the needs of whānau as a whole. Whānau Play is a way into these challenges and a space of co-learning and evolution.
We don't have the answers, but we can provide a safe space to play and learn along the way.
"That was super fun Rachel, thank you! It was a great way to connect with Luka as we do tend to butt heads a bit in lockdown. I often find myself torn between trying to navigate between running a business, tending to the needs of my family (and my own needs) and keeping up with my Uni work - but this was one of those beautiful scenarios which ticked several boxes at once! Not only did I have fun (tending to my needs) but I connected with Luka (tending to his needs) AND I managed to tick off something on my homeplay list for Uni this week (attending a class). Win win!!
Thank you for reminding me how important and fun playing with kids can be. It's not only be fun but also educational, relational and developmental....amazing!!
Much aroha to you and your lovely daughter xxxxx"
Resources
Below is a collection of sites of interest, Facebook pages and articles relating to contact, dance, intergenerational movement, improvisation and parenting. The blurb has come directly from the website or page. Feel free to message me if you have anything useful!
Dance, Contact and Improvisation
Contact Improvisation History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_improvisation
"Contact Improvisation is a form of improvised dancing that has been developing internationally since 1972. It involves the exploration of one's body in relationship to others by using the fundamentals of sharing weight, touch, and movement awareness."
ContaKids: http://www.contakids.com/
"Contakids is a methodology that pushes the idea of using physical contact to develop a deeper form of communication between parents and their children, that both will find enjoyable. By working with bodily movements, the child can enhance their motor skills and self-confidence, while the parents get to develop a bond of trust with their young."
Segni mossi: www.segnimossi.net
"Segni mossi is a movement and graphic sign project for children and adults by Alessandro Lumare and Simona Lobefaro. Assuming that dance and drawing are two ways to make a mark, we thought a workshop where to experience the consequences of this insight. Not a multidisciplinary activity but rather an opportunity to rediscover together a unity between two languages which are usually considered separate. In Segni Mossi both graphical productions and dance productions are traces of processes: we are interested in living these experiences."
Auckland Contact Improvisation Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/126031930802376/
"This group page is for notifications of Contact Improvisation classes, jams & events (and related activities) in Tamaki Makaurau and around Aotearoa New Zealand. We are also interested in what is happening in C.I. communities internationally.
Community of Touch was set up as a platform to support experimental, community building and creative approaches to practicing Contact Improvisation. We seek to expand opportunities for people to engage in Contact Improvisation and continue to explore what C.I. is, and what the practice can potentially do in the world."
Saturday Dance Classes for Children: www.facebook.com/Saturday-Dance-Classes-for-Children-1819605208349102/
"Saturday Dance Classes - a non-competitive environment for children to explore and expand their interest in dance as a performance art. Creative contemporary dance and ballet classes available for children age 4-11." Taught by parent and dancer Joanne Sylvester.
Movement and Fitness
Katy Bowman: https://www.nutritiousmovement.com
"...movement between one’s own feet and fingertips isn’t the body’s full movement potential. There are some movements you can only get from certain environments—meaning both where you’re moving and who you’re moving with. That’s why, to help you move as much as you can, a full movement program needs to include nature and community.
Just like prairie grasses, wolves, birds, and mice all keep each other in check, your movement keeps someone else moving, or prevents them from moving. Your movement dictates how much stuff you consume. Your movement is part of an ecological system."
Body Mind Centering: https://www.bodymindcentering.com
"Body-Mind Centering® (BMCSM) is an integrated and embodied approach to movement, the body and consciousness. Developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, it is an experiential study based on the embodiment and application of anatomical, physiological, psychophysical and developmental principles, utilizing movement, touch, voice and mind. Its uniqueness lies in the specificity with which each of the body systems can be personally embodied and integrated, the fundamental groundwork of developmental re-patterning, and the utilization of a body-based language to describe movement and body-mind relationships.
The study of Body-Mind Centering® is a creative process in which embodiment of the material is explored in the context of self-discovery and openness. Each person is both the student and the subject matter and the underlying goal is to discover the ease that underlies transformation.
The Body-Mind Centering® approach has an almost unlimited number of areas of application. It is currently being used by people in movement, dance, yoga, bodywork, somatic studies, physical and occupational therapy, psychotherapy, child development, education, voice, music, art, meditation, athletics and other body-mind disciplines."
Parenting
Lucy AitkenRead: http://lulastic.co.uk
Parenting and lifestyle blogger, speaker and facilitator of awesomeness.