Emotion-based Movement

Teaching Artist Residency | NOV 2022 - JUNE 2023

Sixth grade students were introduced to the topic of rasa, emotion detailed in Bharatanatyam as the tools for storytelling and movement. Students followed a Rasaboxes workshop, derived from Richard Schechner who originally developed the process in the 1980’s.

Students began first by writing words of association for each of the eight rasas in boxes. After initial notation, students were asked to follow a procession of static poses and dynamic movements that were inspired by each emotion. A paired student was tasked with drawing the movement as an experiment of what translation could look like as a process.