Fitness for the Muscles and the Mind

Abstract

This paper describes the incorporation of a mind-body (fitness) technique called Nia into a drama-pedagogical teaching unit of Thomas Brussig’s novel Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee. The participants were third year university students of German at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. The focus is on the description of the preparation and execution of a seven-hour weekend workshop on Brussig’s Sonnenallee. The ‘prerequisites’ for that workshop included research on life and resistance in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) as well as a summary of the book and the production of character profiles for the main characters. The description of the workshop includes the portrayal of various activities such as the building of Standbilder (frozen frames), perception exercises und improvisations and, of course, the one-hour Nia session. According to the opinions of the students and my own experience and perception, drama-pedagogical elements and the inclusion of Nia have a great impact on the students’ understanding of various texts and themes and make for a truly holistic experience. This paper describes the incorporation of a mind-body (fitness) technique called Nia into a drama-pedagogical teaching unit of Thomas Brussig’s novel Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee. The participants were third year university students of German at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. The focus is on the description of the preparation and execution of a seven-hour weekend workshop on Brussig’s Sonnenallee. The ‘prerequisites’ for that workshop included research on life and resistance in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) as well as a summary of the book and the production of character profiles for the main characters. The description of the workshop includes the portrayal of various activities such as the building of Standbilder (frozen frames), perception exercises und improvisations and, of course, the one-hour Nia session. According to the opinions of the students and my own experience and perception, drama-pedagogical elements and the inclusion of Nia have a great impact on the students’ understanding of various texts and themes and make for a truly holistic experience.