Abstracts
Workshops
Vittoria Corallo, performer and drama facilitator (En/It)
Within the choral body: the inner communication between bodies and space, at the roots of relational intelligence
This workshop aims to allow participants to explore the possibilities of non-verbal communication through an awareness that emerges within the group, as if it were a single body.
Sometimes words come easily; sometimes they do not. Yet we still manage to speak them. Words can create what we see, and even manipulate it, we are so capable of expressing ourselves verbally that we may often do so without thinking.
How can we remain connected to the roots of communication before we even pronounce a word?
To restore that inner bond between thought and word, and to be truly present in the meanings we wish to create, we will use theatre practices that encourage deep listening: listening to the self within the group, and to the group as an organism.
It is almost as if, before reaching the word, we should listen to all the signs of a deeper communication — one that resides in the relationship with ourselves, with the space and time in which we exist, and with others.
Fiona Dalziel, Università di Padova (En/It)
The Quilt: embodying local belonging(s)
“Like many of my contemporaries I have yearned to find my place in this world, to have a sense of homecoming, a sense of being wedded to a place” (bell hooks 2009: 2).
The workshop will explore how storytelling and embodiment can be used with language learners to reflect on the connection between cultural artefacts and sense of place. It draws inspiration from Piller’s view of culture “as something people do, which they perform” (Piller 2017: 10) and Taiye Selasi’s memorable Ted Talk Don’t ask where I’m from, ask me where I’m a local. Participants will reflect on how performative approaches to language and intercultural learning can be seen to fit with Piller’s (2017) view of culture as a process, and Selasi’s (2014) “language of locality”, which “suggests overlapping experiences, layers that merge together”. In this workshop, the patchwork quilt has been chosen as the starting point for a series of activities because it is at the same time “art and artifice” (bell hooks 2009: 161): it can be connected to both care and creativity, as an object providing warmth and an artform. But what if those colourful connected squares were also encoding a hidden message?
hooks, bell (2009). Belonging: A culture of place. Routledge.
Piller, Ingrid (2017). Intercultural Communication: A Critical Introduction, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Selasi, Taiye (2014). Don’t ask where I’m from, ask me where I’m a local.
Filippo Fonio, Université Grenoble Alpes-Università di Perugia and Anna Taglietti, Université Grenoble Alpes (En/It)
Approcci didattico-performativi alla memoria femminile translingue. Identità, disempowerment, re-empowerment
Il laboratorio propone un percorso didattico-performativo incentrato su documenti di taglio autobiografico relativi alla memoria translingue delle italiane. A partire da questi materiali, vengono esplorate le categorie di identità, empowerment e disempowerment, con particolare attenzione alle dinamiche di potere e dominazione che attraversano le esperienze documentarie. L’obiettivo è offrire ai/alle partecipanti strumenti e approcci non convenzionali per avvicinarsi a tali tematiche attraverso pratiche di embodiment e autocoscienza, favorendo un’elaborazione attiva e corporea di testi e temi. Il workshop si configura come uno spazio di sperimentazione in cui la dimensione performativa diventa chiave d’accesso alle complessità dell’identità linguistica e culturale femminile.
Erika Piazzoli, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland (En/It)
Negotiating Creativity, Courage and Care in Process Drama: The Legend of the Brave Snails
How can we, as teachers, encourage our students to be creative and brave while also maintaining a sense of care and responsibility that ensures psychological safety?
In this workshop, we will reflect on the ongoing balancing act between creativity, courage and care within process drama for second language teaching. Rather than shying away from complex emotions, process drama invites language learners to engage with challenging topics through a creative lens. For such engagement to be both meaningful and ethically grounded, strategies of distancing are essential.
The session unfolds in three parts. First, I introduce aesthetic distance as a key construct in drama pedagogy. Second, I facilitate a process drama inspired by the children’s book Superworm by Julia Donaldson, revisiting the tail from the three snails’ point of view. Third, we reflect on creativity, courage and care, considering distancing as a strategy that binds creativity, bravery, and care in second language learning contexts. The workshop concludes with a reflective discussion, inviting participants to share their responses and consider how these strategies might inform their own practice.
