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Stand in a circle. After explaining the concept of concentration to the students, tell them this is a simple game that will test their concentration as a group.
Explain that you will point to the center of the circle and whisper “There!” They should try to point and say “There!” at exactly the same time as you do–so if someone were to walk into the room, they wouldn’t even know who was leading. Then lead the group in a series of points, varying the time interval between the points.
When they have mastered this simple mirror exercise, tell them: “Now any one of you can do what I just did–point to the center and whisper ‘There!’ and we’ll all point with you. Don’t try to fool the group. Try to get them to point with you. And once you’ve had a turn, don’t point again. Also–let plenty of time pass between points, so the group has a chance to settle back to stillness before the next point.” Continue the exercise with the students leading.
Encourage the students to concentrate and use their side-vision to take in the whole circle at once. And again, stress that the object is to be so together as a group that an outsider wouldn’t be able to tell who was leading.
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Curtains Up Curriculum by Friends of the Groom Theater Co. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Curtains Up is a training program designed for young actors sponsored by Friends of the Groom Theater Company.
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