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5 Performative Solutions for Social Change

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A 2 hours workshop that translates 5 landmark scientific experiments into 5 creative exercises, accessible, practical and easy to apply in any group, including with kindergarten children. We will explore how we can build relationships based on cooperation, inclusion, respect for life in today’s world of individualism, isolation and multiple crises.

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For educators, psychologists, sociologists, students and anyone interested in social change through simple and effective practices.

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Workshop Program:

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1. Opening video: Maybe We All Have a Future
A short introduction that prepares us for what follows: free thinking, emotional courage and a touch of applied imagination.

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2. The Mirror Game and the “Togetherness” Experiment
performed by Lior Noy & Uri Alon at Weizmann Institute of Science, the Mirror Game being the basis of performing arts practices.
What happens when we move together without giving commands? We discover how synchronization emerges naturally rather than being forced and how cooperation becomes a living choreography.

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3. The “Yes, and…” Rule and the "Love Lab"
Improvisation (theatrical, musical or in life) begins with acceptance. We add a constructive “and” to any idea. This matches perfectly with the famous Love Lab of Gottman and Levenson. We will explore how small gestures and even micromovements matter enormously in all kinds of relationships.

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4. The “Separation” Experiment
of Muzafer Sherif alongside the exercise “me = you”
What if we could see ourselves in others? A simple game that dissolves the invisible boundaries between “us” and “them” and reminds us that separation is often… arbitrary.

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5. “Do Things Differently!”
Another basic element of improvisational art, combined with the experiments of Alison Gopnik.
Children think freely and creatively, often better than adults, when they are taught to think, not just to imitate.

We will explore how novelty, play and curiosity can become social superpowers.

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6. The “Just Think” Experiment
(Timothy D. Wilson, Harvard & Virginia University)
paired with the performative installation “3 Minutes of Nothing to Do”

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7. Bonus: JO HA KYU
A Japanese principle that says all things, from nature to theater, dance, music, have an organic rhythm: a slow beginning (JO), development (HA), and a climax (KYU). We will experience this rule of nature and good art through a simple exercise.

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This workshop was first presented in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Bucharest, in the context of performative research during the first edition of Building Ecostructures for Other Performance Species / Carambach Ecolaboratory of Contemporary Art (2020–2021), an award-winning project at the Cultural Management Academy Bucharest, supported by Goethe-Institut Bucharest, Colectiv A and 

Heritage Contact Zone.

In 2022, it was part of the Alternative Futures Laboratory within the contemporary art exhibition Buget Zero, curated by Liviana Dan.

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