Puppetry in Singapore

Our next SE Asia Creativity and Innovation Workshop tour will launch in early March in Malaysia and Singapore. Gary Friedman and Sharon Gelber travel internationally facilitating workshops, incorporating storytelling, puppetry, movement and improvisation. The objectives are to encourage and enhance team building, innovative thinking, creative problem solving and risk taking.

This short film provides a taste of their recent work at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, working with students, faculty, administration staff and business entrepreneurs.  The predominant purpose of the workshops are to use puppetry to challenge inhibition, and establish a 'safe' environment for opening communication and unleashing untapped innovative potential.

Puppetry performance using the medium of brown paper and every-day objects provides the opportunity to explore all modes of communication, demanding teamwork of a very profound and intense nature. Story telling enhances group empathy and opens up a level of frank open connection, which is unique and liberating in academic and business circles.

Humour is used throughout to put participants at ease and open the doors of communication for the sharing of opinions, as well as ‘safe’ and constructive self-analysis and group critique.  Participants are provided with the forum to uncover their own talents, see the strength of team members, work with members of their own faculty as well as other faculties to discuss and explore issues that are significant to them in their work and personal lives.

If you are interested to read the latest NTU evaluation report on this international work, just drop me an email here!

Back in Australia from an Asian Adventure

My apologies for not keeping you all updated on our SE Asia Tour during the past six weeks. It was just a really hectic time and especially traveling with a twenty-month old and doing 'Paper and Puppetry' workshops throughout Malaysia and Singapore, followed by a two-week break in Bali, which was great, despite the fact that I fell in the rain in the last week and fractured my spine. It was a really memorable tour and I believe it opened up the Asian market to our Creativity work.

The highlight of the workshops was our two-week stint at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore (NTU). Our topic was ‘Demystifying Creativity and Moving beyond the expected, and into a space of novelty and uncharted territory in every aspect of life’.  Our brief was to carry out a pilot programme of study in the use of puppetry to break down barriers that currently exist: thus overcoming inhibition and establishing a 'safe' environment for unleashing innovative potential.

During the NTU season, we worked with Administration staff of NTU Ventures, a department which offers assistance to business start-ups in Singapore. We also had a two-day workshop with the Entrepreneurs of these start-up companies. (See the short video above!) We held a workshop for the Faculty of the university, where we worked with professors and lecturers from Engineering, Business School, Education, Humanities & Social Sciences and Arts. Even the Associate Provost of the university attended. The final workshop was the only arts-related one for stop-frame animation students. You can view a slide show of each workshop by clicking on the name links!

The evaluation outcomes of the workshops were extremely positive. One of the comments from the  faculty of education stated: "The workshop reminded me of the importance of communication and team work – critical in a big organization and in the area of education. It was also a humbling experience (there are so many creative colleagues around me!) It was a comfortable platform for me to meet people of other nationalities and from other schools within NTU. I also took comfort that creativity need not be in the form of a patent for a product which the engineers produce, but that we teacher educators are also being creative as we teach and prepare teachers for the next generation (abstract and not so measurable). My greatest take-away would be the reminder to celebrate life and humanity. I will make sure I pass this passion and compassion on to our student teachers."

We look forward to continuing our creativity work in Asia early next year. Watch this space!

One-day Puppetry Workshop in Melbourne

I am very excited to announce that  Learning-Movement consultant & OT, Sharon Gelber and I will be conducting a one day 'World of Paper' Raw Creativity Workshop in Melbourne on Saturday 16 October from 9am to 5pm.

The workshop will take movement and story telling to the most elaborate ends. Our work using paper puppetry is designed to activate the brain, tantalize the senses to enable creative thought and performance at your peak ability.  This workshop is ideal for teachers, university students, professionals, therapists, creatives and lion tamers.  Places are $150 (all inclusive) and limited so if you are keen to join us, call The Book Affair now to reserve your place: 03-9347.3542   Look forward to having you join us for a wild day!

Last chance to participate in October Creativity Workshop in Sydney

Click on the poster for all the workshop details or check out my previous post here!
Book now, only a few places left.

One-Day Paper Puppetry Workshop in Sydney

We have has so many requests to conduct our 'World of Paper' workshop in Sydney, that we've decided to do one before we leave on our SE Asia Tour in October. We are happy to offer you a workshop to catalyze your next creative breakthrough.... explode into a space of free flowing ideas and expanded vision! bring you an exhilarating experience into creativity and performance. Activate your brain and tantalize your senses to think and perform at your peak ability. 

This one-day workshop will take place on Sunday 10 October 2010 from 10am to 5pm (with a one-hour lunch break). The cost of the workshop is $150-  (including materials, tea and snacks). To book, please email me ASAP, as we have limited places available. You can see our latest workshops film here!

Here is some of the feedback we've had from our workshops:
"It was just astonishing! It was good to feel that we were in a safe environment that we could trust each other and explore and create... Magical... Absolutely worth the day!"
"I think we all need a chance to relax and to release things, and to explore possibilities with people .... The workshops were extremely valuable not only in their ability to stimulate us creatively, but bring us to a different level of understanding about ourselves and about how we interact with each other."
"It provided an opportunity to tell stories and share parts of ourselves that we never get the opportunity to. All sorts of stereotypes were cracked wide open."

Puppetry Workshops for SE Asia

Let's talk about innovation and the role it plays in our lives!  Is it true that our reliance on technology dampens our creativity and thinking outside the box?

We have been invited to run some pilot paper puppetry workshops at a university in Singapore in October-November this year. The challenge that this particular university is facing, is the lack of innovation in the mindset of the Singaporean culture and the discomfort in students posing questions or speaking up for themselves at university and in the society in general.

During the 80's and 90's the University of Singapore was responsible for creating thousands of engineers, with little latitude for creative risk-taking. They have developed a 'safe' attitude that seems stuck in their "fear of failing or embarrassing themselves". Upper management would like to see this fear overcome, with risk taking, especially in the communication between students themselves and when dealing with faculty. Hopefully this will become part of a healthy learning system.

The development of soft skills in communication is now seen to be paramount, with the country moving away from pure financial services and IT, towards a society rich in nurturing knowledge content. In a generation and a half, Singapore has been successful in surpassing even the USA in it's gross domestic income per capita. In order to remain relevant and economically vibrant, the country is now spending more on research as opposed to training.

We are currently developing a pilot programme, in the use of puppetry to break down the barriers that currently exist;  thus overcoming inhibition and establishing a 'safe' environment for unleashing innovative potential. Stay tuned for more information as the project develops.

As Edward de Bono states, "We need tools of creativity to enable us to change ideas".

AIS Puppetry Workshop in Vienna

This 'World of Puppetry' workshop was filmed last month at the American International School in Vienna, Austria, run by Sharon Gelber and myself. It demonstrates the extraordinary puppetry improvisation skills of the students with spontaneous character creation in ten minutes.

In another short film, you can watch here - I'm having fun demonstrating some puppetry improvisation skills for the workshop participants in Vienna. This is part of our European Workshop Tour 2010. Keep tuned for more...

International Workshop Tour 2010

A workshop to catalyze your next creative breakthrough & explode into a space of free flowing ideas and expanded vision!

Our Short Workshops (Three hours to two-days)

From April to June 2010, Brain Gym® specialist, and Occupational Therapist, Sharon Gelber will once again join forces with master-puppeteer, Gary Friedman, in an international workshop tour of creative performance and play for high schools, universities and the creative public throughout Europe, North America and the Middle East.

In each of the following workshops, Brain Gym® exercises will activate the brain and senses to prime the body for creative processing:

1. A World of Paper Workshop
The workshop takes a practical hands-on and experiential format, where participants express themselves and communicate through the medium of paper. The students are provided with themes to develop improvisational performance pieces in-which the paper becomes the co-performer. We cater for student, adult and corporate groups.

In a full-day workshop, participants have the opportunity to tell stories from their own life experiences which then get 'played-back' to them by their fellow performers using the paper characters. This is based on the genre of "playback theatre".

2. Object Improvisation Workshop
The participants work in groups to explore the hidden possibilities of every day objects. Different suggested themes and topics allow the objects to be brought to life, as they become ‘living - breathing’ characters on the stage.

3. Hand and Ball Exercises – Basic Puppet Manipulation
The naked hand forms the basis of the puppet. This soon becomes a basic hand or glove puppet, when a plain white ball is added. The hand and ball exercises are later developed into short scenarios and performed by the participants, both individually, then in groups.
For dates, schedules and more information, stay posted or send us an email here!

World of Paper Workshop in Sydney

Our final one-day 'World of Paper' Workshop will be held in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs on Sunday 2 December. This is a final opportunity this year for Australian participants to experience a unique hands-on experience with Brain Gym Instructor, Sharon Gelber and Master Puppeteer, Gary Friedman, featuring a combination of storytelling, puppetry, object theatre and healing techniques all combined into an intense day of creativity! This workshop has been conducted throughout South Africa, Europe and Canada this year.
You can see a short ad for the workshop here or view a two-minute piece here!
If you'd like more information or make a booking, contact me here!

2007 International Workshop Videos launched

Just launched are our 2007 World of Paper Workshop tour videos. These short pieces encompassing workshops for both Corporate and High Schools took place throughout Europe and Canada. Our workshops combine storytelling, performance with paper and creativity skills. This year I was joined by occupational therapist, Sharon Gelber to bring sustainable science into the mix - leaving participants with specific tools and techniques that are being used in both the classroom and corporate environment, in keeping participants focussed, organised, de-stressed and in a most creative space.

You can watch these short films now (Corporate Promo and film and High School Promo and film) in the new video player on the right of this website. Enjoy!

We are now available for Australian bookings - both Corporate, as well as High School and Universities and international bookings for 2008. If you are interested in organising one of these workshops, or only in more information, you can contact me here!