Warming up for the Stage (Body Edition)

For those of you who are new to our Homeschool Shakespeare Camp, we generally begin each day with a set of exercises that get us warmed up for the day. We all circle up, and we loosen up our bodies, faces, and voices. Here's just a couple of the exercises we'll we walking through. Maybe you should try some of them out yourself when you're preparing for Shakespeare Camp!!

Yes... you will look quite silly while you exercise.

To begin, relax your body. Hunch over, letting your limbs dangle as you arch your back. As slowly as you can, begin stretching upwards with your arms high in the air, pulling yourself as tall as you can possibly get. With your arms still relaxed, begin moving your body back and forth, flailing your arms to the left and right with the movement. You want to get everything as loose as possible.

Now shake each of your limbs individually, starting with your right arm. Shake it eight times, then move on to your left arm. Shake both your legs. Repeat this again and again, each time halving the amount you shake each limb, slowly getting faster and faster. Eight, four, two, one, and your done.

Move your waist in small circles, gradually making larger and larger circles. When they've gotten as big as you can possibly make them, reverse direction and slowly make them smaller and smaller.

These are as absurd to read as they are to do, but I hope they help you as much as they make you look like an absolute fool. Unlike athletics, where the exercises are meant to strain your body muscles, theater exercises are meant to relax your body and loosen your muscles.