Spotlight

Bring the drama to life with a wave of your hand.

Spotlight enables the teacher to focus on a group of students in an improvisation or still image. Begin with the group frozen in position. Hold your hand above one or more members of the group. They bring their freeze frame to life through improvisation and keep going as long as you continue to "shine" your hand over them. When you remove your hand, they freeze into position.

How to use Spotlight

1  Large Group Tableau: If you make a freeze frame/still image with a large number of students, it may be impractical to bring the whole group to life. Instead, use spotlight to focus on a small number of students within the group. After a few seconds, move your hand to highlight other students.

2  Small Group improvisation: If the class is preparing small group improvisations, use spotlight to focus on individual groups. When it's time to show their work, ask the groups to sit or freeze in position. Explain that you will walk around the room and as you reach each group, that group should stand up and show their performance. Use your hand to shine the imaginary spotlight over them. As you move off towards the next group, the group should quietly sit down again so that they can watch the next presentation.

• Just like a real spotlight, the technique focuses the attention on one part of the class at a time and makes it clear as to which group is taking its turn.