See You Later Shanti Bhavan

About three days ago four of my fellow volunteer artists and I left the magical land that is Shanti Bhavan and headed north to the city of Pune, India. It was very difficult leaving the students of SB. After eight full days of camp we had prepared a two hour show with about 120 students that showcased performances in dance, theatre, film, music and visual arts that all formed from the exploration of “Imagine your possibilities, and gift them to the world.” Needless to say, the children performed beautifully. However, it was not simply their performance skills, but more so their willingness to explore deep themes, unveil vulnerabilities, and improvise in front of their friends and family that blew us away. 

Watching the performance it was clear the students craved the artistic release. In our dance classes, Allie and I incorporated student improvisation and student choreography into both of our classes’ performances. The motivation for our younger students’ improvisation was a value or attitude with which they associated, including courage, joyful, and friendship. The students recorded their words over the instrumental music that played during their improvisation section. Thinking of their individual motivations, the students’ movement varied in dynamics and grew in creativity. Our older class actually choreographed their own four 8-count phrases that transitioned in and out of the teacher choreography and which were created from the intention of abstractly represent their names and personality through movement. In both classes, a clear trajectory of growth was evident in confidence, creativity, and dance skills throughout the week.

The students further explored their selves, and what they possessed within themselves to share with the world, in theatre, film and visual arts through theatre improvisation, student-written monologues and self-portraits to name a few.

The student reflections written after the performance solidified our understanding of how valuable this week of arts camp was for the students. The following are just a few examples:

“After this one incredible week there are many things that I have discovered about myself and will be able to carry on for the rest of my life. 

1. I have discovered that I can act;

2. I have discovered that I have more courage than I think I do;

3. I discovered that in order to achieve something, if you cooperate and work as a team you will surely succeed.”

“The second and my toughest challenge is being transparent and open to everyone. I keep things within my close friends. Now when I remember those past moments, I think I was stupid. With the help of Film and  Theatre classes, I am able to express my ideas and be more open to others. I am able to do this because of the motivation and courage given by the ASTEP volunteers to me.”

“Something that makes me unique is my creativity. Without creativity the world would be boring. Without creativity there would be nothing invented. I used to be scared to be creative, but last year while camp was going on I learned to not limit your talents but show them to the world and share it with people.”