MOVE ME
creative workshop sessions
MOVE ME #1 happened on Sunday 24th September 2023 from 3pm to 7pm at Whittington Park Community Centre , Holloway, London. Read more
MOVE ME #2 happened on Sunday 12th November 2023 at Schumacher College Dartington, Totnes, Devon. Read more
MOVE ME #3 happened on Saturday 3rd February 2024 from 11am – 3pm at De Groene Hemel, Overbrakerpad 2, Westerpark 1014 Amsterdam. Read more
MOVE ME #4 happened on Wednesday 6th November 2024 from 2.30pm – 6pm at Olive Academy, Cambridge. Read more
For the curious, the creative, the activist, searchers after story, truth, justice and the light of inspiration.
Jonathan Chadwick, always working with others, is offering creative workshop sessions based on his unique skills and experience.
What is MOVE ME?
A ‘move me’ session creates a space where people can see more clearly what is happening in their lives and the life around them. It helps people to be interconnected, empowers them and activates them. Through the use of drama and movement exercises it enables the embodiment of thoughts, feelings, desires and aspirations. By looking experimentally at images, movement and scenes it inspires hope, ecological systems-awareness and ‘species’ consciousness of humanity.
What happens?
The starting point is to gain and share a sense of being centred, of being fully present, safe and at ease. Feeling the spirit of play is crucial to this. It proceeds to engage with movement from the point of view of stillness. Honestly observing what is happening to ourselves and others is encouraged. Becoming more ‘body’ aware in ourselves flows into being aware of others and taking up an embodied relationship with others. This helps us to create images, movement and scenes, inspired from both inside and outside us. Stories and narratives may be felt and recognised but no conclusions are drawn nor interpretation given but there is a reflection on what has been experienced.
All of this can happen in a 3 hour session given good circumstances.
Who?
With years of experience as a theatre director, working in drama academies, directing courses and providing the basis for deep creative processes that release inspiration and serious play, Jonathan Chadwick is a master at working with groups to create imaginative spaces where ideas and aspirations take on embodied forms.
Rooted in dramatic theatre and performance he combines influences from the work of Augusto Boal, Paolo Freire, Philipe Gaulier and the precepts of Motokiyo Zeami and Constantin Stanislavsky. His work on activating change through drama relates to the work of Joanna Macy.
He is trained in Inner Qigong and Movement Shiatsu and has studied alongside leading Alexander Technique teachers. He has recently been influenced by Arawana Hayashi’s Social Presencing Theatre. He is a writer and a Master of Science in Ecological Economics. He has delivered creative workshop sessions in the UK and internationally in Romania, Serbia, Kosovo, Turkey, Armenia, Italy, Algeria, Palestine and China.
Who is it for?
Activists, workers, organisers, artists and people who wish to refresh and reflect upon the sense of their life’s journey. This work is suitable for all abilities and talents. The work can enhance already on-going creative processes and training.
The creative workshop sessions involve people in a series of games, exercises and improvisations designed to create a good working group and a space of enactment. But these components are difficult to describe briefly.
Examples
Examples of the success of the principles incorporated in the MOVE ME sessions.
This is a creative workshop delivered in Yerevan, Armenia to a group of Turkish and Armenian performing artists, exploring the current impacts of the genocide of Armenian people in 1915:
Here are comments by participants during the creative sessions:
If this process is about relationship between us it worked very well.
It was a great experience for me. Every movement of this experience was great. And it’s great that it is not over. I’m full of love and good ideas.
Acceptance was very strong, very deep. It’s not sentimental, it’s functional, It’s necessary, we need to love each other, to create a society.
Today was a great day, my emotion started to kill me, in a good way. When there’s emotion in a process, it’s good for everyone.
I love you, you’re very good people. Nothing to criticize really. I’m enjoying it. I feel we are like a team, I don’t want to go.
You, Jonathan, this workshop is an oasis, it’s a new world, new knowledge, new energy, my blood is boiling. I have good trust that this program will end up good.
It’s very important thing for me: very unique experience. Because during 5/6 hours, we got with each other very fast. My previous experience, we needed 3 or 4 days. Here we are already friends. Thank you maestro! I feel I’m in my place.
It was really really nice and warm today. I like this kind of atmosphere. People are relaxed, energetic and nice. I just behave what I am, what I want. I’m so happy to be here today.
Here are some photographs:
This creative methodology was used in Az Theatre’s mappa mundi project. This related human change to environmental change. You can read the blog about this project here.
Also, by the way, this short film was shot in a day after a one and a half day workshop of this type with a group of young creatives. So it will not tell about the workshop but if you are entering the development of a creative project like a film or a theatre piece the workshop may make this process more intensely creative: (password: Unforeseen2017):
