Description
Aim: How can we use various levels to present a clear and specific “tableau vivant”?
Materials
Full Lesson Plan
Prior Connection and Motivation:
1 Tableau vivant- French for a living picture. It is a frozen picture that tells part of a story. A tableau, like a photograph, captures one moment in time.
2 Levels are various positions an actor can use to change their height.
3 DO NOW: What are some examples of different levels? List them in your notebook.
Examples:
1. standing
2. sitting
3. leaning
4. bending
5. kneeling
6. laying down
7. standing on something*
• (*We will not stand on anything during class for safety purposes.)
• Mini Lesson:
1 We will discuss levels and review tableau vivant.
2 Creating a tableau vivant is a way to express ourselves with our bodies and not words.
3 Adding levels to our tableaux helps the audience to visualize the scene and interpret each character. It also will help each actor to focus on her specific role in the scene.
4 The audience should be able to answer the following questions about each tableau vivant:
1. Who are the characters?
2. Where are the characters?
3. What just happened before this scene?
4. What is going to happen next?
• Independent/Group Activity:
1 Break into groups of three
2 Create a living picture with each character at a different level.
3 Audience will interpret each tableau and answer the questions on the board.
• Wrap Up: We will answer the Aim question in our class work section of our notebooks and then share our responses with the class.
• Homework- Why did we use different levels in class? How did the different levels in a group presentation help you to understand the scene? Please refer to one specific group from our class.