The Body Shadows Technique consists of representing a visual idea for a scenario through body shadows.

Description:

The Body Shadows Technique consists of representing a visual idea for a scenario through body shadows. It requires the setup of a white projection wall, e.g. using a blanket and spotlights to light it from behind. The children are divided into small groups. First, they are asked to draw a scenario of an interactive experience. Second, they are encouraged to enact the content of their drawing using their bodies in front of the projection wall and the audience. Children can play with different distances to the light source to increase or minimize the size of their shadows and superimpose the shadows of different body parts.

Benefits:

• Represent the ideas of drawings in a different modal resource allows the children to extend and refine them
• Possibility to experience and control subtle changes in posture
• Play with the nuances of movement changes allows the children to focus on aspects related to their felt-experience and interactions between their bodies
• Switching roles between performers and the audience, gives everyone the chance to compare different ways of performing shadows and apply this knowledge to their own enactments

Related Publications:

Schaper, M. M. (2019). Co-design strategies with children in Full-Body Interaction for situated non-formal learning experiences. (Doctoral dissertation, Universitat Pompeu Fabra). http://hdl.handle.net/10803/665482