Creative Workshop 1

Creative Workshop 1 

Date: 2nd December 2020

Note: All secondary research gathered throughout my creative workshops will be referenced with the bibliography in the Professional Practice (Company) Portfolio.

Workshop Aims:

• Introduce my project idea to my dancers.
• Prepare a mind map on OCD from the research I gather to stimulate ideas for my project.
• Create a second mind map within the workshop through an open discussion on what my dancer's first thoughts are, when they think of OCD. 
• Set an independent creative task from the relevant quote I chose presented within the research and planning of this workshop.

Research and Planning:

To prepare for my first workshop, I created a mind map on some of the key symptoms, thoughts and behaviours of OCD.   I will be sharing this mind map to my dancers once we have created another mind map based on their thoughts on OCD. My interviews organised with individuals diagnosed with OCD were scheduled after this workshop therefore there is a still a lot of research to be uncovered on OCD.

Image One - My mind map

•   Secondary sources such as the websites, (Types of OCD. OCD - UK, 2021) and (NHS:  2019) really kick started my knowledge on OCD. 

The creative task set for this workshop will be stimulated by the the quotation: 

‘An obsession is an unwanted and unpleasant thought, image or urge that repeatedly enters your mind, causing feelings of anxiety, disgust or unease.’ (NHS: 2019)

From this quote, I will set a creative task on the idea of resisting an urge triggered by a thought. For a clear understanding of the task I will ask them to involve the use of repetition when creating to highlight an urge repeatedly entering you mind. As well as this I will suggest the idea of changing directions to show resistance as well incorporating elements of gestural movement such as flicking switches. 

Evidence and Reflecting 

The workshop began with a twenty minute warm up. After this, the dancers gathered in a circle in which I shared my initial project ideas. We then produced a mind map on their thoughts on OCD. Each dancer shared at least one word in relation to what came into their mind when they thought about OCD (see image two).

Image Two - Mind map created by dancers

This mind map is not very detailed which indicates their lack of knowledge on Obsessive - Compulsive Disorder. The topic of cleanliness and tidiness was apparent throughout our discussion which is usually considered when thinking of OCD. When I presented my mind map alongside some other discussions on the different types of OCD, my dancers seemed intrigued and slightly shocked. 

Types of OCD that were discussed:

• Symmetry and Orderliness 
• Mental Contamination / Contamination
• Rumination 
• Intrusive Thoughts - Magical Thinking
• Checking 

(These types of OCD will be key stimulating ideas within future workshops)

After the discussion, I set the dancer's to work individually on the creative task explained in the planning section. By end of the session, I had four different phrases relating to the idea of resisting an urge. 

I made the decision to use Leah's phrase and Anya's phrase because their movement emphasised the ideas I wanted to gain from this creative task. I was also interested in experimenting with their phrases as a duet in which I decided to combine Leah and Anya's phrase due to similar pathways and their emphasis on the abstract image of switching lights. I titled this as the flicking switch base phrase (see video one). 

Video One - The Flicking Switch Base Phrase 

Overall, this was a productive first workshop because I prepared a clear workshop plan supported by some secondary research. However OCD is quite broad therefore by setting the task stimulated from a quote and the idea of resisting a compulsive urge, my dancers were confused to what they were resisting. Therefore within my upcoming workshops I will focus on one type of OCD.