Aimed at nurseries, schools and community groups who encounter difficulties with integration. This is a series of multi-sensory and cognitive workshops around the theme of flight. The sessions encourage inclusion and self-confidence and use the unique skills and performance methods of Scarabeus to provide a truly original and highly successful education programme. The sessions include:

Teachers Session
The aim of the first workshop is to offer the teachers and their assistants first hand experience of some of the topics to be developed with the children. Games and exercises focus on rediscovering the pleasure of playing, on developing the ability to trust and be trusted, on opening up. Involving suspensions work, it is a chance to experience the excitement and exhilaration of being suspended on harness, and working with movement in the air. This workshop will help any development or follow-up work the teachers wish to carry out in class.

Chrysalis Session
This workshop focuses on developing games and imaginative play using a large parachute or cloth. Through games and exercises we focus on themes of change and transformation, insiders and outsiders. For part of the session we will also be working in the semi-dark, projecting images of various landscapes, faces etc to create a full immersion experience. The session leads to inventing and role-playing stories.

Bats and Spiders in the Woods Session
The aim of this outdoor workshop is to introduce the children to a different environment that promotes calm and concentration. The focus is on climbing gigantic constructed spiderwebs and trees. Climbing develops coordination of the body and the mind; it is also about achieving a goal without giving up. This workshop encourages problem solving and gives a great sense of achievement.

Flights of Fancy Session
Looking at Carnival as the great upside-down, where there is a space for everyone’s free expression is the theme of this workshop. It celebrates diversity – in culture, size, appearance, customs, music, etc by looking at costumes, masks and masquerades. This workshop involves creating costumes and masks and creating micro performances that deal with flight and lightness.

Suspensions (from chrysalis to flying butterfly) Session
Suspensions work brings a state of non-gravity similar to water that awakens deeply rooted memories and promotes freedom of action. The absence of gravity and sense of flying brings lots of excitement and serenity at the same time, together with a sense of well-being. This workshop is a total immersion experience and it generates so much fun! The suspensions sessions will be recorded with micro video cameras attached to the body of the children. In the past the adults have filmed these sessions. We feel though, that it will be more exciting if they were filmed by the children/flyers, from their own point of view. Children will also be encouraged to do their own editing of the video material guided by the video artist.

The Flying Machine Session
The final workshop in the series creates a space in each school devoted to the simulation of flight. The structure has an aerodynamic design. Made with light colours fabrics can be projected with the images recorded by the children throughout the programme. It is alive with a soundscape, smells, tastes and textures conveying the experience and exhilaration of flight. It is a space for developing stories and collecting memories. This is the culmination of the experiences of the children and adults together throughout this journey.

Following the series of workshops the participants will retain both the carnival costumes and masks and the flying machine installation containing the images captured throughout the course. A possible extension to the project would be to set up an on line conference to share images and experiences between children of different schools that have been part of the same project.

The programme is available in various multiples of these individual sessions. For more information please contact us by emailing info@scarabeus.co.uk or call us on 020 7281 7493