The exercises listed below can be adapted to distance and online learning opportunities. Students work individually (rather than with partners or in groups).
Written work can be submitted electronically via email or uploading to Google Drive or similar.
Performances can be done live via video conferencing programs, or filmed on a smartphone or digital camera and uploaded to a service such as YouTube or Vimeo (privacy settings can be adjusted to accommodate your school’s internet safety policies).
Vocal exercises can be done together via video conferencing programs (such as Skype, Zoom, or Google Hangouts), or filmed on a smartphone and submitted to the teacher.
2. Can You Hear Me Now? A Peer-Led Volume Exercise
Students should focus not only on volume, but also diction and enunciation
5. 5 Tongue-Twister Exercises for Ensemble Building
For a written project, have students write their own tongue twisters. Have them answer the question: “How does using tongue twisters help them to become actors?”
Physical Performance Exercises
Students can practice physical exercises from their own homes using a video conferencing program and following along with the teacher’s prompts, while teachers can observe students’ participation on their own screen.
3. Create a Commedia Dell’Arte Character
Focus on “The Lazzi of the Sandwich”
4. Creating Your Own Commedia Lazzi
Focus on “The Lazzi of Surprise”
6. Exploring Different Voices Using Puppets, Masks, and Props
“Props” is the easiest of the exercises to complete via distance learning. However, students could create puppets at home using socks or paper bags, and masks could also be made at home using paper.
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