10. Body alphabet

After the last art class where kids were working with 3D letters on paper, we decided to create an alphabet with our own bodies. The kids were inspired by the ‘Dance Writer’ app (created by Peter Bilak) and got creative their own way. At the end we were watching some inspiring dance choreographies (by J. Kylian and L.Timulak).

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9. 3D letters study

Children from our group seemed to be naturally interested in drawing 3D letter shapes so we went on to study how they are constructed. Lego blocks served us well for building a few real letter models. We emphasised that the process and sketches are more important than the final result. At the end kids became T-shirt designers, creating their favourite T-shirt to wear.

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8. Dance in Art / Art in Dance

Following the previous art classes we became inspired by shapes: we let our body experience round and smooth movements (Kandinsky) and then more linear and stiff lines (Picasso). Then we took inspiration from Matisse’s artwork Dance. We observed the painting and tried to recreate the movement and connection between five people. We also came up with new compositions while attached to each other. At the end we recreated a movement that was registered on paper: we observed beautiful aquarelle sketches by Bernie Autsema and then moved our bodies in order to match some of the positions.

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Art+Movement workshop 1

Autumn holidays special workshop where children were free to express themselves through both drawing and movement. During all exercises music played an important role, influencing the rhythm and mood of the children in their creative process. We would like to thank this fantastic group of children (5–11y) for joining Kids Atelier on our fun and expressive ride and we hope to see you again soon in one of our workshops or weekly classes.

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7. Butterflies

The butterfly theme gave us the freedom to spread our arms and draw with both hands big symmetrical wings on a large piece of paper while listening to rhythmical music. This warm-up exercise aimed at encouraging drawing and employing the entire surface of the paper. Then we moved onto making a collage from our previously painted circular patterns (inspired by Kandinsky). We discussed and valued individual expression, and despite the same process, obtained highly unique artworks. The butterfly’s wings didn’t have to be perfectly symmetrical but rather based on feelings and fantasy. Children could choose to work with black ink, oil pastel or gouache paint to finish the collage; some of them wrote short stories to express their ideas.

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3. Figure study

Inspired by the previous dance class, we took the children’s favourite dance pose and drew that particular ballet pose on a large-format paper using charcoal. Special attention was paid to observing body proportions. We then moved onto exploring complementary colours, and painted a free figurative composition with gouache. It was a great learning lesson but also fun for the kids, who worked in a concentrated way, demonstrated by the wonderful results. Time flew by so fast that suddenly it was the end of the class and we hadn’t even realised that we hadn’t taken a break.

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2. Choreography

We’ve started to move freely in the space to get to know each other, getting out of our comfort zone and trying movements that feel different than what we are used to. There were a lot of breathing, postural exercises and playful rolling on the ground. We were reacting to different music. We learnt a small piece of choreography and the kids asked, ‘what is choreography?’ It was a great start with inspiring moments: I am looking forward to the next class!

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