C2A International Workshop 3 with No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability and Culture Maru

"Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi" was the chant that kickstarted the last workshop with No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability and Culture Maru. An amalgamation of all the previously introduced themes. It was fun to see how all the performers enjoyed their warm-up session, a beautiful blend of Korean traditional dance with the smooth sailing Aussie attitude.

Tyson from No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability got everyone to yawn and show their moves at the get-go. We had some ingenious ones coming from all the performers wearing their masks. We had Haerin joining us from Seoul with her full-body stretch and cute little wiggle.

To a performer, even a yawn can be an art form and an excuse to move. Going back to a much-loved bit in the first workshop, the performers were asked to pass their claps from Adelaide to Cheongju to Seoul and back to Adelaide. Some shot their claps to the next person, some passed it on with a sly little smile but everyone put their quirky twist when it was their turn to pass on their clap.

Culture Maru kept up the hyped-up energy in all the studios by bringing back the 3,6,9 game. But our performers were up for a challenge, they threw in choreographed movements and exchanged 3,6,9 for other numbers. It was chaotic, but you could see that everyone was having a good time. Soon enough, it was time for a break.

Everyone's precious objects made a return for the second session. This time the performers were asked to use three words to describe the happy memories they associated with these objects and express them with their bodies. Instead of passing claps, it was time to pass on their emotive moves.

Haerin from Seoul showed us how incredibly happy she felt when she met the pope. From Cheongju, our barista Mingyuan demonstrated how he enjoys making his cafe latte. Gyusang did a little reenactment of how we all felt when we first met our favorite superhero. From Adelaide, we had Kobi share her book companion, Kathryn expressing how warm and comforting her blanket was and Paddy's joy when he met his favorite voice actor at an event.

With the session nearing the end, it was party time. The performers pulled out all the best moves they had developed over the two weeks to some BTS beats. It was clear to see that both studios had done an exceptional job in engaging all their performers.

Despite the challenge of the distance, they had used it to their advantage and made new connections. Reflecting on all the workshops, it was interesting to see how our Adelaide performers enjoyed the traditional Korean games and our Korean performers loved it when they built movements from simple objects.

Although this was the last workshop, it was encouraging to see how connected the studios had become and exchanged intentions to collaborate in the future. Be it offline or online, hopefully, one day we will get to see them perform on the same stage.

Written by Trena Jenifer

Marketing Officer (trena.jenifer10@gmail.com)