Musical Physical Gallery

1) Make sure everyone has their settings on hide-non video participants. It's best if the camera is set so that as much of their bodies as possible could be visible. When the activity starts everyone should be muted but first explain how it's going to work.

 2) You're going to share a piece of music (something upbeat is best. In the example below I used "Yé ké yé ké" by Mory Kante). When the music starts people can turn on their cameras. They could keep their cameras on for a short time or longer time. It could be any number of people on camera at the same time, ranging from a single camera to everyone together. There are no rules as to what people do as a response to the music. They could dance, show objects, mirror what others are doing, do something to complement what others are doing, show only a hand or another part of the body, just stare into the webcam - anything really. See the example below with participants in Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, UK and Ukraine.

3) When the music ends, initiate a discussion about what they remember different people doing and which bits they liked best.

Follow up

If a recording is made of the Musical Physical Gallery it could be shown in the next session and used as a way to practise language. For example a 'find someone who' activity could be created. For the video above:-

find someone who:-

1) is playing the drums

2) is wearing a hat

3) is dancing on a chair

4) is talking on the phone

5) is wearing a watch

6) is washing her hands

7) is wearing a headset

8) is holding a puppet

9) is clicking her fingers

10) is looking at her phone

Note

 This activity is a great way to raise awareness about the many varied ways in which someone can perform physically through a webcam. As well as being a useful warm up exercise, it's also good preparation for helping the students to think outside the box and include more physicality into the remote plays they create.