Performance. The answer to everything.

I am having trouble uploading this image so I will do it later. It is a picture of one of the most amazing performances I have attended in my life. In Adelaide, over the river torrens, an Italian performance group realised their ideas over the actual river. It's too hard to explain without the photo! Dancers attatched to glowing balloons finished the show. They flew over the 10,000 audience members along the river bank, dipping and touching all those they could reach. They became a part of the audience and did what they had to to reach as many of the spectators as possible. It was magical. I remember standing up and reaching out my hands to the sky to be touched by one of the performers.

In regards to how thi relates to inclusive practice in teaching, do I really need to explain? As an actor, I don't believe it is effective to get up on stage and say the lines and be consumed with your own emotions while pretending the audience isn't there (believe me, this is a style studied by at least 50% of actors. They create that fourth wall). My belief is that every second on stage I have the opportunity to engage with so many people intimately. I need to continually check that they are involved, that they are understanding the comedy or the drama, that my performance on that night is addressing THAT audience, as every night the audience is different. If Im losing them, I need to work harder. Does the person in the back row hear my every word? Am I making that guy in the front row with his arms folded in digust, think a little bit differently, just for the night? You cannot ignore any single audience member. You must make them as much as part of the performance as possible because they are there for a reason and deserve to learn change and grow. This is why I like performance pieces that include the audience in such a blatant manner. I love when actors move in to the audeince, begin talking with them, touching them, asking them direct questions. This is inclusive practice.