Bombay Mix!
We regularly work with teachers and group leaders/community workers to tailor make exciting projects to achieve specific outcomes for key stage objectives. These can be one day sessions or long term projects that are delivered throughout a term.
Please have a look below at the kind of workshops that we could do and contact us to discuss any ideas that you have!
Visual Arts
The Indian subcontinent is rich and diverse in its arts and crafts. Each of the 29 states of India has its own specialist styles, be it textile work, embroidery, paper mache, clay work, batik or painting. Our team of visual arts are made up of specialist practitioners who use authentic and high quality materials directly from India to give your art sessions a unique and special touch. All the schools we have worked with have commented on our passion, drive and ability to involve the whole community.
Yoga
The yoga sessions incorporate physical movements to improve the mental and physical well-being of a person The sessions focuses on the connection between the mind and the body to promote health and well-being. Physically, these sessions can provide exercise, improve mobility, flexibility and muscle coordination, and reduce muscle tension. Through specific movements, people can identify and express their innermost emotions, bringing those feelings to the surface and therefore at an emotional level, the sessions improve self-awareness and self-confidence and is an outlet for communicating feelings.
Creative Movement
Our creative movement workshops explore a vocabulary of non-verbal forms of expressive gestures and precise movement patterns as well as verbal forms of communication to express different feelings and emotions. Each workshop utilizes the body through movement as an innovative tool to inspire, enquire and acquire. The art form itself can serve multiple of purposes; to communicate (expressive movement), to heal (therapeutic movement), to become fit (aerobic movement), to entertain (creative movement). As an educational tool, participants learn many concepts such as balance, coordination, rhythm and it is also an important tool for developing self-esteem and body awareness. The workshops explore how children can develop and enhance their cognitive, artistic, social and kinaesthetic development. The intention is to integrate aesthetic and kinaesthetic learning so that a child learns movement techniques as an alternative language with which he or she can communicate. The workshops also act as a creative outlet through which experiences and feelings can be expressed through poems and word-play. The project aims to build confidence in participants and help them to have a colourful and healthy life by practising and enhancing creative ways to communicate and express themselves verbally and non-verbally. This type of a workshop can be comfortably mould to every age group and is also greatly beneficial for those participants with physical and mental disabilities.
Dance / Classical / Bollywood / Folk
Dance is the life/blood of India and has many styles from the pure classical styles of Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Odissi, etc. and the joyful folk styles of Ras Garba to Bhangra and the ever popular Bollywood style that is a fusion of all the styles including world styles. Our dancers are full of energy and enthusiasm who are able to provide an exciting, vibrant mix of these styles as part of world cultural weeks or simple dance days for schools that include the young people as well as the staff.
Dance / Drama / Storytelling
As well as the physical element of dance, it is also integral to traditional storytelling and drama dating back to the earliest centuries. These dance/storytelling and drama workshops are lively, dramatic presentations contextualised through the literary and poetic wealth of India. Our stories are rooted in ancient stories full of myths and legends, Gods vs Demons, Heros vs Monsters, tales of wisdom and fables full of wit and morals. These stories can be adapted for any level and experience of the students. Our younger participants enjoy the live performances of our artists in which they learn dance with hand gestures and take part in animal stories full of fun and frolic. The older students are encouraged to actively take part in the dramatising and storytelling aspects of the workshops to fully comprehend the meanings expressed within the stories. This way of working has often lead on to creative writing and drama and theatrical techniques used in India.
Music and Rhythm
At Manasamitra, we believe that music is a direct link into creativity and all our music and rhythm workshops are imaginative, creative and interesting. Our music workshops include Indian instruments like the Veena, Santoor, Tabla, Sitar, Violin, Mridangam, Flute and vocals. Rhythm workshops also include teaching basic rhythms to the participants on different varieties of the drums and many interesting and innovative activities within the workshops. Within these workshops, we will teach the building blocks of Indian music, the structures, the patterns in comparison to the Western music and how to improvise using instruments already available in the school.
