Boal in the Bronx: Theater of the Oppressed with Neurodiverse Elementary Students in the Bronx
By Donnie Welch
📷 by The Bronx Museum of the Arts Education Department.
Editor’s Note: This case study was written before the world changed with institutional closures due to COVID-19 and intensified assessments of institutional racism in United States culture. However, at “Incite/Insight,” we think this piece still has relevance in its ability to inspire interrogation of the relevance of Augusto Boal, teaching artist opportunities, and museum educational activities.
Photo Courtesy of The Bronx Museum of the Arts Education Department
The Bronx Museum of the Arts partners with public schools in the Highbridge area and beyond, providing arts enrichment tied to the exhibits of contemporary artists to elementary, middle, and high school students.
As an educator with the Bronx Museum of the Arts, I facilitate art workshops with three elementary special education classes. The sessions are an hour and a half in length and tied to the current exhibit of a contemporary artist. As part of the museum’s commitment to social justice, Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed is used by teaching artists when they plan and facilitate warm-ups and ice-breakers with new groups of students.
My work centers on students who have difficulties with executive functioning and emotional regulation, therefore the multi-step elements of Boal’s practice are precarious to execute. My challenge is to adapt activities while staying true to the intent of Boal. My work focuses on voice, self-determination, and self-advocacy so I pull out these themes in games and activities. The importance of self-advocacy in Boal’s work is summed up quite nicely by Susie MacDonald and Daniel Rachel from a conference by the U.K.’s Theatre in Prison and Probation Centre (TIPP) in 1995:
“A Forum performance involves the replacement of the Protagonist by those watching, who are not spectators, but Spect-Actors, in common with the performers of the piece. The piece, which can be of any length, is played once through and then repeated from the beginning. Spect-Actors who believe
that they can offer alternatives to the actions of the Protagonist are encouraged to shout “Stop”, halt the action, and take over the role and try out another solution. Anyone who wants to can have a go. The protagonist is usually the only role replaced, but there are a few rules governing whether and when other characters can be substituted.”
The activity I most frequently work with is “Tangles and Knots” broken down in the museum’s educator guide as:
Theatrical Activity: Tangles & Knots
• The team stands in a circle. Each actor must remember who is standing on their left and their right.
• The Joker then asks the team to spread out around the room and begin to walk freely about.
• The Joker will then call out instructions
- “Walk with those with the same colored hair as you.”
- “Walk with those with the same colored shoes, or the same colored eyes.”
• Then, the Joker will give more instructions:
- “Create 3 circles, or 4 squares, or 2 triangles, or one star, and individuals must form themselves into teams to make this happen.”
• The Joker will then ask everyone to freeze where they stand; to locate the person who originally stood to their right and to their left, and then point at them both, without moving.
In looking at these directions, I keep the core elements such as the circular structure, partners on the left and right, and unrestrained movement. While the leadership role of the “Joker” is a powerful one and central to the game, the demand to share attention and have only one leader for the entire duration of the game is often too much. In answer to that, I have a faster transition between leader and follower. That means that each student has an equal share of time providing direction in the “Joker” role, and the game moves at a steady enough pace so as to not tax the patience and perspective-taking stamina of any of the participants.
In beginning a session, students enter and are asked to put their stuff down. Whether they are coming to the museum on field trips or meeting with me between classes in school, I like to ensure that the area is clear so that the focus can be on each other and the game.
I let the participants sit for a few minutes while we say good morning, and I ask a few simple questions to generate excitement. They are questions like, “What’s the number one rule when we’re in museums?”, “Who remembers the name of the artist we’re learning about?” or, especially with my youngest groups, “Has anyone been to a museum before?” While there is certainly a temptation to get up and start moving right away, it is important to slow down the process a bit and give students an opportunity to orient themselves to the space and my presence before expectations are set.
Starting the game, I’ll ask both students and staff (and chaperones if present) to join together in a big circle, leaving plenty of space to move in and out of the center space. The inclusion of staff is important in terms of equity. It’s a signal that in this game we all have an equal chance to lead, an equal responsibility to participate, and an equal opportunity to be heard.
Once everyone is in the circle, I ask them to look to their left and right, as in Boal’s instructions. I’ll often do this using a fun, bright tone to my voice and exaggerated movements of my neck to heighten engagement. The interaction might sound like:
“Look right! Say hello to who’s there!”
“Hold it…hold it… okay nooooowww, look left!”
“Remember who is on each side of you. Those are your partners if we need to come back to the circle.”
I take the original “Tangles and Knots” instructions to form into shapes and add the idea of “freezing”, and I then guide students to reform the original circle between movements rather than simply freeze in place. Breaking apart and coming back together adds an organizing element and gives the activity more structure to keep students engaged and regulated. It also a chance to practice listening and re-organizing through play before we enter the gallery space where these skills are needed.
Furthermore, as a teaching artist, I only see these classes three times a semester, so I’m always looking for opportunities to form a community with the students. This “breaking apart” and “coming back together” is instructional on the surface level, but it also works on group identity and builds a classroom atmosphere in the small amount of time we have together.
With partners clearly established, I’ll explain the rules of the game:
- Everyone is going to have a turn to step into the center of the circle and be our leader (Joker).
- The leader (Joker) shows us all a movement.
- We all follow or copy the leader’s (Joker) movement.
After the leader goes, the person next in the circle (either direction is fine) is the leader, and the process repeats. It continues in this manner all the way around, thus adapting the five-step, multifaceted instructions of Boal into a direct, three-step activity which still honors the voice and intention of each participant.
I’ll often go first to model what is expected in our first session, but in the second and third class students are usually ready to lead.
Walking into the circle I might say,
“My name is Donnie, and this is my movement,”
Then,I perform a movement and ensure that everyone is following.
Next, we will go-round with each member of the circle stepping in to introduce themselves and teach a movement to the group. The movements range from static shoulder shrugs and neck rolls to energetic actions like Fortnite’s “ Take the L dance,” and “ Running Man.” When the energetic movements break the group apart, I’ll stay stationary and hold out my arms to signal it’s time to remake the circle while using my affect to countdown:
“Threeeee!”
“Twwwooooo!”
“Find your partner, find your partner, quick!”
“One!”
It’s important to remain stationary and be an anchor for the activity. Moving too much yourself or yelling will only add to the energy of the room and keep it busy. If I hope to reorganize the group, I know I will need to meet the chaotic fun with a calm control.
As the game progresses, it can adapt to the needs of the students. For example, if students suggest a high energy choice like running in a circle, I might say, “that’s hard for me, I might get too dizzy, I wonder if we could just spin one time.” Or, if students are shy then they can be encouraged to participate from the circle itself, with those static movements like shoulder shrugs or neck rolls.
At the end of the activity, after doing so much coordinated group movement, I’ll ask the classes to simply sit on the floor and engage with them in a read-aloud before we head into the exhibit or start the art activity.
My work as an inclusive teaching artist is a kind of focused flexibility. I have to adapt to the needs of the students and the demands of my schedule while keeping Boal’s intent in mind. I have every confidence that these students would master the steps of “Tangles and Knots” if I had more than three sessions a semester with them. However, my time is limited and the goal of the game is, “activating and connecting the five senses and engendering an atmosphere of fun and creativity” (MacDonald and Rachel 1995) before we start our projects. My focus is on delivering the intention of the activity rather than dogmatically adhering to its directions. In approaching similar challenges, whether tight schedules, limited sessions, or juggling new hybrid learning requirements, I urge you to first seek the heart of your lesson, its emotional truth, and let the structure fall into place around it.
Donnie Welch is a poet, children’s author, and teaching artist living in New York City. He’s worked with the Bronx Museum of the Arts, The New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, the Rebecca School, and other schools and cultural organizations in the five boroughs. For more on him and his work visit DonnieWelchPoetry.com.
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