The Fabric of Language - Words and the Spaces In-Between Workshop

The 1.5-hour workshop session on the use of devising for language acquisition focused primarily on non-verbal communication. It was to be followed by a 30-minute discussion of various possible methodologies that could be used to analyse non-verbal communication and kinesthetic learning, to examine this specific creative process and to evaluate how overt physicality affects actors/speakers, though time restrictions meant that this was not possible. The workshop itself is adapted from the work of the Taiwanese theatre company Tainan Jen (shown to me by Helen White - co-founder and a faculty member of the C.U.N.Y. Applied Theatre M.A. programme) and was created originally to examine intercultural collaborative creation. Now, it is geared more towards creating a heightened awareness of physicality in regards to language acquisition and incorporates notions of collaboration, negotiation and exploration. It has a creative improvisational and playful aspect and there various performances are produced from the workshop at the end of the session. Also explored is the related idea of the use of ‘space’ when ‘performing’ language.