- INTRODUCTION TO EMOTIONS:
Explain the Concept: Emphasise how emotions change our movement, posture, and interaction and guide them to explore how different emotions influence body language and expression, with and without
dialogue.
The aim is to help students physically experience different emotions and understand emotional shifts, triggers, and reactions. - SET UP THE EMOTION ROOM:
Place two chairs at each end of the room to represent doors. Space the chairs far enough apart so the students can pretend they are walking through the room, entering and exiting through these “doors.”
Explain that whenever they enter or leave the room, they must open and close the door behind them, as this simulates entering and exiting a new emotional space. - EMOTION EXPLORATION:
Before individuals go through the Emotion Room, gather the group and lead a discussion listing out different emotions (e.g., happiness, sadness, fear, anger, excitement). Show the group how to slowly walk through the room from one door to the other, entering with one emotion and keeping that emotion all the way through. Make sure they take their time and don’t rush. - THE EMOTION ROOM – ONE EMOTION, NO SPEAKING:
Have each student individually walk through the room embodying one assigned emotion (e.g., sadness, joy, anger). Remind them to open and close the door at each end of the room.
Encourage them to move slowly through the room, fully embodying the emotion in their body language and facial expressions.
After each student walks through, the rest of the class will guess which emotion they portrayed. If the
emotion isn’t clear or can be improved, provide feedback and let the student try again.
This time repeat the same individual walk through with the same emotion (or change it if you wish) but give them a reason as to why they are feeling it.
Discuss with the group: what are the differences between the first and the second walk through, how were they different and why? - THE EMOTION ROOM – WITH SPEAKING:
Now, repeat the exercise, but this time allow students to speak while moving through the Emotion Room. Their lines should match the emotion they are portraying (e.g., if they are portraying anger, they might grumble or shout something). If they can’t think of something to say then give them a phrase to repeat.
Ask students to imagine how they feel about the space around them. For example, are they annoyed by the furniture, excited about what they see, or indifferent? This might also help them come up with what to say.
After each student has a go, the class can give feedback on how well the emotion was communicated
through both body language and speech, and how speaking and reacting to the environment influenced that portrayal (only positive feedback coming from the class!) - EMOTIONAL SHIFTS:
Now, each student will enter the room with one emotion and shift to another halfway through. For example, they might start happy and then become sad.
Find a Trigger: Ask each student to decide on something that causes the emotional change, or you can give it to them. It could be something in the room, a memory, an object or an event (e.g., they remember a sad moment, or they find something exciting).
Have the students perform the emotional shift as they walk through the room, showing a clear reason for the transition.
After each performance, ask the class to identify both emotions and discuss how clearly the transition was shown. Offer tips for smoother or more dramatic shifts if needed.