Rehearsing Choreographies for Collective Upheavals

Inspired by Rodney Diverlus’ concept of politichoreography – “movement vocabularies” where “unison gestures…agitate and harness the protester’s rage” – this workshop offers an opportunity for participants to practice flocking, swarming, or shoaling as a method of collective improvisation. Through a series of exercises, we will learn some basic skills to practice moving in sync: peripheral vision, sensing beyond sight, and sharing leadership organically. Flocking exercises are a way to explore laterally mobile and collaborative leadership strategies and practice skills that support effective collective action and shared empowerment. Participants are invited to practice the embodied art of moving as a group – like a murmuration of starlings or a shoal of fish – to feel the potential of the upheavals we can perform, together.