CREATIVE COMMUNICATION (InterPlay): Adding Visual Art and Writing

WHAT IS IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO CREATE? After warming up, saying our names, talking about what brings us love, ease, and grace, and playing following and leading, my class of resettled teenage refugees sat down to draw and write. (photo art by Hallelujah Truth, aka Ruth Schowalter)

Written by Ruth Schowalter, certified InterPlay leader, MS in Applied Linguistics and ESL, InterPlay Art & Soul Creativity Coach
 
Hurray for CREATIVITY! Hurray for PLAY! Hurray for COMMUNITY--one in which we can CREATE and PLAY.

As a visual artist, lifelong educator and certified InterPlay leader, I have taken InterPlay, an improvisational system that nurtures authenticity, to the Ellis Island of the South, Clarkston, Georgia (see this blog).

On Monday afternoons, I arrive to facilitate an hour-long class "Creative Communications," with resettled refugee teenagers from countries such as Nepal, Burma, Ethiopia, and Somalia. Using InterPlay as the foundation for this after school program in the Clarkston Global Academy, I engage these teens in movement, storytelling, voice, and shape and stillness.

As a 3-decade-long English as a Second Language instructor, a goal I integrate with play and creativity is verbal and physical expansion. Inviting the teens to experiment with volume, pitch, and speed as well as gestures, I encourage them to use English (or their own language) to offer what is unique to them. In this way, voicing their names become subtle or exaggerated dances. Talking about an ordinary day at school becomes an enthusiastically expressed story. The InterPlay forms offer adventures in being oneself and connecting with others.

CREATING WITH EASY FOCUS. What can a minute of ease offer to your creativity? Playing in community is a powerful way to access what is yours to claim. What is it your body, mind, heart, and spirit want to express?  (photo by Hallelujah Truth, aka Ruth Schowalter)

Yesterday, I decided to add drawing and writing to our creative communications. "What is possible for you to create and communicate," I asked them, "when you are using easy focus?" Wheee... (Easy Focus is an InterPlay principle that gives us permission to release expectations or "hard focus" and enjoy the process of creating/being).

Students gathered around a long narrow table, selected a colored marker and were asked to draw a shape, then to repeat that shape again and again, changing direction and size. Music from Eric Chappelle, swirled around them. Two InterPlay volunteers, Carolyn Renee and Lynn Hesse, engaged in the activity too. As facilitator, I had the honor to witness.

The teens relaxed into their assignment and increased the speed with which they drew their shapes. As they filled their 8" x 11" page, I encouraged them to find another color and to use that as "spice." When everyone was slowing down, I asked them to turn their papers over and write three words or more that were coming into their minds. And then, if they wanted, to write a sentence.

The energy was just right. I observed a confidence in their actions, a certainty in what to write, what to create. Ta dah!  That is what is POSSIBLE IN PLAY in Creative Communication Class at the Clarkston Global Academy.

InterPlay activities comprised the concluding 15 minutes of class, supporting an embodied way of sharing the newly generated "visual and word art." 

SHARE YOUR IMAGE IN DANCE AND WORDS. In pairs, the teens were invited to communicate their drawing through movement, however they wanted to express their multiple shapes. Then to use words from the back of their drawings or any new words that came to them. (photo by Hallelujah Truth, aka Ruth Schowalter)

EXPRESSING IN THE LARGER COMMUNITY. How to share this newly created work with the larger community of the class? InterPlay has a form, "Walk Stop Run." With ease, the teens made their own choices of when and what to share with others. They chose to walk, stop, run, or show and speak about their work. The fun engagement was phenomenal! (photo art by Hallelujah Truth, aka Ruth Schowalter)

One of the greatest gifts I received from this hour of creative communicating was when I heard one of the young women from Nepal read her sentence aloud: "I love myself, and I am enough!"

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
Many thanks go to Jes Gordon, whose Intuitive Painting class taught me some simple ways to engage people in drawing without judgment. As I explore ways to use music with lyrics, I am grateful to Soyinka Rahim for her album "BIBO LOVE." During this class, the teens happily took turns leading and following to "BIBO Funk" with such joy and fun moves. I am so appreciative to the CPACS facilitators and the Clarkston Global Academy educational program director, Justine Okello for supporting this Creative Communication Class. Recently being joined by volunteers from the InterPlay Atlanta community has filled me with such a feeling of bounty. As always, I want to acknowledge InterPlay co-founders Phil Porter and Cynthia Winton-Henry for this community building improvisational system and all that they do to make it accessible to everyone.

That's InterPlay Atlanta from the perspective of Ruth Schowalter! Comment below. I invite you to answer these questions: What is possible in play for you? What is your truth that you want to share in the world?

Interplay is a Bridge for Teenage Refugees: Playful group interaction develops self-confidence

CREATIVE COMMUNICATION through INTERPLAY. Every Monday since October 2015, InterPlay Atlanta has brought the improvisational system to the Clarkston Community Center at the request of Andrea Waterstone (back row, second from the right). --photo by CPACS staff member

Written by Andrea Waterstone, Director of Art and Education at the Clarkston Community Center (CCC)

Please support InterPlayAtlanta on InterPlay Give Day, April 7^th (midnight to midnight). Your gift of money will allow us to keep Interplay in our curriculum as one of the most fun, diverse, meaningful and needed classes we can offer. Here is the link (Donate to InterPlay Atlanta). --Andrea Waterstone

WITNESSING. Half of the "Creative Communication" class witnesses or watches the other half in a shape and stillness exercise. --photo and caption by Ruth Schowalter

I was thrilled to have Ruth Schowalter, a certified InterPlay leader, join my afterschool program (Clarkston Global Academy) to teach teenage refugee students “Creative Communication,” using the improvisational tools of InterPlay. The result from the work Ruth does with the students at the Clarkston Community Center is nothing short of transformational. I have first hand noticed students who were shy, unable to make eye contact during conversation or incapable of speaking up for themselves in group interaction BLOOM into more confident, self assured, well-spoken individuals.

BLOOMING. InterPlay activities such as one hand group dances provide teens with opportunities to interact in ways that are fun and build confidence. --photo and caption by Ruth Schowalter

This Interplay class has filled a need that is often overlooked. We expect a refugee or immigrant to suddenly be able to acclimate to our world in every way once they are in the United States. However, even though a teenage refugee may be fully taking part in the day-to-day life expected of them in-and-out of the school system, the development of his/her self confidence, linguistic confidence and soft skill sets that employers require to be competitive in the American market place are often overlooked or, perhaps, never taught.  This is a disservice to these refugee students, and Interplay has become the class at the CCC to fill that need.

 

CREATING A ONE HAND DANCE AND SONG. Students were divided into groups so that each one would have an opportunity to do a one-hand dance while the others improvised a song using the form "foundation decoration." --photo and caption by Ruth Schowalter

The Interplay class, “Creative Communication,” which Ruth teaches on Mondays after the refugee students have spent a full day in high school has become the bridge that teaches the above mentioned skill sets in a safe, fun, and playful environment. Communication, movement, listening, eye contact and play all mix together in a beautiful orchestration led by Ruth’s years of effective teaching of ESL and how those concepts of appropriate communication can be transferred to the InterPlay work she is doing with teens in Clarkston Global Academy.

The Clarkston Community Center and The Center for Pan Asian Community Services together see such value in having Interplay among our diverse curriculum offered at our co-led afterschool program Clarkston Global Academy.

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES. The Clarkston Community City is an integral part of the city of Clarkston, Georgia. In November 2015, the CCC planned and facilitated "Clarkston Streets Alive." Here in this photo, Andrea Waterstone (third from the left) and Ruth Schowalter (left) met with some of the teenage refugees from the afterschool program who volunteered to assist at the event. --photo by Festival Go-er

 

Many thanks to Andrea Waterstone for writing this for InterPlay Give Day 2016! Here are links to other blog posts about the Clarkston refugees and marginalized communities that we are serving in the Atlanta Metro Area:

Clarkston Refugees

For Resettled Refugees InterPlay is about Making Connections with Parts that have been Stifled

Playing with Noticing

InterPlay at Clarkston, Georgia (Ellis Island of the South)

Creative Communication Begins at Clarkston Community Center

People living with chronic mental illness and poverty

The Art of Being Human

InterPlay at The Friendship Center: Playing in the Pews

Incarcerated women 

Claiming a Name at Lee Arrendale State Prison

Crossing the Street to the Pre-Trial Detention Center

InterPlay at the Pre-Trial Detention Center

A Glimpse of InterPlay at Lee Arrendale State Prison (2015)

On the Eve of Give InterPlay Day (2015)

Your financial gift will help us continue bringing the ease and grace and joy of InterPlay to people who have been marginalized. Since InterPlay Atlanta is a non-profit, you can deduct your donation from your taxes. Donate here on April 7th: Give InterPlay Day (Atlanta InterPlay)

Playing with NOTICING: Creative Communications at Clarkston Community Center, Georgia, USA

TEENAGE REFUGEES COMMUNICATING CREATIVELY. The improvisational system of InterPlay provides forms that help expand one's expressiveness while cultivating authenticity, especially if your participants are mostly teenage boys from African countries living in Georgia, USA, and communicating in their second, third, or fourth language. Here, in this photo, the class members in "Creative Communication" were invited to experiment with telling stories standing up and playing around with volume, pitch, and speed. Afterwards, we did some NOTICING....but what is noticing? Well, that is the topic of this article! So read on. (photos by Ruth Schowalter)

Written by Ruth Schowalter, Certified InterPlay Leader and InterPlay Art and Soul Creativity Coach

 “I felt free,” one of the teenage refugees said after our InterPlay warmup and “Walk Stop Run” that we did during our Creative Communication class at the Clarkston Community Center. “The stress is gone,” another student offered to our group. “It was like play,” still another commented. We were doing what we do in InterPlay--NOTICING.

NOTICING plays an important role in InterPlay. Phil Porter and Cynthia Winton-Henry, the co-founders of InterPlay, explain in their easy-going whimsical manner: “We do stuff and then notice.”

But why?  Why NOTICE the stuff we do? And what role might NOTICING play in assisting these teenage immigrants to express themselves more authentically in their new language--English--and new home here in Clarkston, Georgia, nicknamed the Ellis Island of the South? To answer these questions, I am going to delve into InterPlay training documents and see how I might extract well-written explanations on NOTICING (thanks Phil and Cynthia) and paraphrase them meaningfully to fit my particular situation with these teenage refugees. Here goes….

ANY NOTICINGS ABOUT BABBLING? Right now,  I am learning how to relate "public speaking" skills (which these students are very interested in) to the InterPlay form, "Babbling," which they are shown doing here in this photo. Basically, "Babbling" is a short telling on a given topic, during which participants are invited to "just talk" without any need to organize or stay on the given topic. Their partner "just listens," or "witnesses." NOTICING, I explain is checking in with their "Speaker Self" and seeing what they are experiencing in their body, heart, mind, and spirit. Doing this noticing, they have the opportunity to begin envisioning and owning themselves as a "speaker" with an "audience." In InterPlay, we are enthusiastic supporters of incremental steps! 30-second stories expand to 1-minute stories, which grow into big body stories and many other dynamic speaking avenues!

DOING "THE STUFF" BEFORE NOTICING
In InterPlay, we regularly create experiences for participants to have and discover certain “things” for themselves rather than lecture and tell them what we want them to know or feel. So we facilitators don’t announce that the activity, “Walk Stop Run” is going to be fun (It may well not be fun to someone.). Nor do we give people “permission” to do anything other than walk, stop, or run. Instead, we give simple directions in order to get everyone engaged, put on music, and see what happens....

Extraordinarily (or maybe it is just being human), people start lifting their arms, raising their legs, and any other movement they might feel like doing. Some start copying each other and moving together. Groups of three might skip around the room arm and arm. Others may lean together while they are stopped.

MAGIC happens! And for my group, this magic happened!

WHAT DID YOU NOTICE ABOUT WALK STOP RUN? As their InterPlay facilitator, I noticed that among the Creative Communication students during their "Walk Stop Run" that there was a strong burst of energy and certain kind of abandonment--creating movement beyond the directions of walk, stop, and run. I was "wowed." It was magical!

And what does this MAGIC have to do with NOTICING?

After “Walk Stop Run” concluded, we gathered to do some NOTICING, which these teenage participants are still learning how to do. I explain to them that each individual describe his/her own experiences (not somebody else’s) and “look for the good” although negative observations will be affirmed as well.  Someone might mention that he/she feels energized while someone else feels tired. 

This proclamation of “tired” happened in the first Creative Communication class last week with other others nodding their heads in agreement. I acknowledged all of the students’ fatigue, knowing that they had been in high school classes all day and it was then 5:00 pm. Many had at least two buses to take to get home before an evening of homework. My affirmations support their body wisdom and could lead in the future to a discussion about what choices they can make to get some needed rest.

PLAYING AROUND WITH FOLLOWING AND LEADING.  What did you notice when you were a leader? What did you notice when you were a follower? The students' responses varied. Some felt comfortable and even liked leading. Others were more comfortable following.

Again, you might ask why? Why NOTICE? Because of the benefits! Let’s explore what some of these benefits of NOTICING might be:

There is something called INTERNAL AUTHORITY

In this case of expanding or bending the rules in “Walk Stop Run,” the topic of  internal authority versus external authority is elicited. Instead of the facilitator giving permission to “do anything you want”  (external authority) during the activity, participants learn for themselves (internal authority) that they have the freedom to play with movement in the company of others. NOTICING helps us explore this concept of internal authority and our experience related to it.

WE HUMANS ARE LAYERED AND COMPLEX. Noticing after a Babbling exercise, requires students to express a different layer of experience. When Babbling, a speaker is accessing and using information that they have learned from being in the world. But when noticing afterwards, the speaker is accessing and communicating personal information being felt in that moment in their body, heart, and mind. Noticing is one way intimacy is created between InterPlay participants with simple and safe parameters.

EXPERIENCES ARE LAYERED AND COMPLEX

What we experience in any one given moment is not simple. NOTICING helps us capture these complex feelings and ideas and begin the process of articulating them. And the really great concept in InterPlay? You don't have to be able to articulate an experience, "to have it."

HONORING THEIR INNER WISDOM AND EXPERIENCE

Having participants NOTICE is a way of getting them to pay attention to the validity of their experiences and what they know for themselves. As they practice NOTICING, they build up their confidence in their inner wisdom. NOTICING is an opportunity for everyone to HONOR themselves. The ability to express these NOTICINGS authentically becomes a possibility.

LEARNING FROM OTHERS

NOTICING in the community of the InterPlay play group allows everyone to learn from one another and to discover that people have similar and different experiences of the same exercise. InterPlay offers the opportunity to respect how individuals learn what they need or want from a particular activity.

As we continue learning InterPlay forms and tools in this Creative Communication class during this spring semester, I look forward to seeing what we can discover and NOTICE together. What is authentic communication and how can it be played around with?

CONCLUDING CREATIVE COMMUNICATION CLASS WITH A YES!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Thanks to Andrea Waterstone, Arts and Education Director at the Clarkston Community Center, and Stephen Young and his associates for inviting me to bring InterPlay to this special group of teenage refugees. Thanks as always go to Phil Porter and Cynthia Winton-Henry for creating such an elegant improvisational system that is respectful to the individual and fosters freedom. Most important of all, thank you to the students who engage in these activities with trust and enthusiasm.

InterPlay at Clarkston, Georgia, Ellis Island of the South: Screening of ELLIS and Panel Discussion

EMBODYING THE IMMIGRATION EXPERIENCE (all photos by Ruth Schowalter)

Written by Ruth Schowalter, Certified InterPlay Leader

On the second Tuesday night in November, InterPlay Atlanta was asked to join the  gathering at the Clarkston Community Center (CCC) to provide an experiential way to delve into the stories of being an immigrant in the past and now after the screening of the movie, ELLIS.

After arriving from traffic-filled metro-Atlanta roads to get to the CCC, those attending relaxed and chatted around a table of satisfying finger food and drink. I was pleased to meet various people from different nonprofit organizations that serve refugees and established communities that receive these new arrivals from different places in the world like Bhutan, Nepal, Somali, and Iraq.  

McKenzie Wren, CCC Director, welcomes everyone.

McKenzie Wren, CCC director, welcomed everyone and gave an introduction to the 15-minute film “ELLIS,” an artful film set in the abandoned Ellis hospital complex. Giving power to the stories of those who travelled through the Ellis facilities written by Academy Award winner Eric Roth, were the images in the art installation by the artist JR, who also directed the film. Adding even more star power to this film about people seeking refuge from persecution and poverty, was Robert DeNiro who starred in it.

Here is the trailer to ELLIS:

ELLIS - trailer from SOCIAL ANIMALS on Vimeo.

A “tie-in” to the InterPlay form, “Walking, Stopping, Running” were unnerving words at the conclusion of the film that advised new arrivals to the shores of the United States to walk, walk faster, and to run as they endeavored to make a new home for themselves. Did the words suggest fleeing, exhausting work, seeking help, finding eventual success and comfort?

InterPlay’s “Walking, Stopping, Running” allows a group of people to make choices in the presence of those participating to remain still to rest and witness others moving, walk at a speed they desire, or run. Participants discover on their own that they can join others in either stopping or moving.

This form supported and held space for those present in the room who had left their countries to find a new home in the United States, for example, Luay Sami from Iraq and Daniel Valdez from Mexico. It allowed others of us in the room born in this country to feel connected in a new way to those who were not.

Satyam Barakoti, CCC Advancements Director, who invited me to offer an InterPlay activity for this event explained her reasons for the invitation: “I wanted to move the energy from the sadness of the movie, move people from a place of being stuck—hopeless to a different place. I think by giving permission to walk, run, walk alone or walk with someone, we also characterized various journeys that immigrants take.”

During the ten minutes of “Walking, Stopping, Running,” that we did between the ELLIS film and the panel discussion on the topic of immigration, “I added the “lean.” The “lean” is an opportunity if participants are willing to move into contact with one another and to feel the support through a physical connection. I observed some people choosing to stop and connect while some held hands and walked or ran around the room together.

THE LEAN of WALKING STOPPING RUNNING.

“The InterPlay experience was the perfect connector between the power of the film and the richness of the discussion,” McKenzie Wren texted me.  “It helped us to feel in our bodies what we had just witnessed on the screen. It was simple and yet profound.”

After our InterPlay experience, the audience settled down for a panel discussion moderated by an immigration lawyer Meighan Vargas with Ted Terry, the Clarkston Mayor  (who I had “leaned” with not knowing he was the Mayor!); Daniel Valdez, Regional Manager of Welcoming America, and Luay Sami, CCC Events and Facilities Manager. I learned more about the immigration experience while I sat in the CCC heard for the first time Clarkston described as the “Ellis Island to the South.”

CLARKSTON, GEORGIA, "ELLIS ISLAND of the SOUTH." (Left to right), Ted Terry, Clarkston's Mayor, Daniel Valdez of Welcoming America, and Luay Sami of the CCC, answer questions moderated by Meighan Vargas, immigration lawyer. "Ellis Island of the South" is a fitting description for one of the most diverse cities in the United States.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Thank you to Satyam Barakoti for inviting me to lead InterPlay at this event. It felt like InterPlay, an improvisational system used as a tool for building community and social change, was a great fit. McKenzie Wren thank you for such a great introduction to me and to InterPlay. As always, I'm so appreciative to Phil Porter and Cynthia Winton-Henry, co-founders of InterPlay. And, finally, gratitude to all of those people who shared their experiences as new arrivals to the United States.

Creative Comunication Class Begins at the Clarkston Community Center

CREATIVE COMMUNICATION CLASS. InterPlay Atlanta is bringing the gift of InterPlay to the Clarkston Youth Initiative in the form of a Creative Communication class. Here eight teenagers, who elected to be a part of this after school program, participate in the "I Could Talk About" InterPlay warm up as an incremental step toward developing story telling skills. (photo by Andrea Waterstone, Art and Education Director at the Clarkston Community Center.)

By Ruth Schowalter, Certified InterPlay Leader

Since June, InterPlayAtlanta has been visiting one of the most diverse cities in the United States—Clarkston, Georgia, on Saturdays once a month, bringing 30 minutes InterPlay’s improvisational community building tools to its market, where members of its refugee community and long time residents sell home made products and locally grown produce in the midst of festive activities (read these blogs, here and here ).

In October, as a result of funding raised in April 2015 on the national “Give InterPlay Day,” (Thank you everyone!) and the developing relationship with the Clarkston Community Center (CCC), InterPlay Atlanta was able to accept Andrea Waterstone’s invitation to participate in the Clarkston Youth Initiative.

 

SWINGING AT THE CCC. Part of creative communication comes from using our bodies. Embodying the language, the idea, the message you want to communicate is so important since nonverbal communication is such a large part of how we deliver our ideas. (photo by Andrea Waterstone, Art and Education Director at the Clarkston Community Center.)

Andrea, the Art and Education Director at the CCC, built the Clarkston Youth Initiative, which is a nine-week after school program for teenagers who voluntarily elect to attend courses three afternoons a week from Monday to Wednesday, 3:00 to 6:00 PM. In addition to the InterPlay course developed by me, “Creative Communication,” participants take a variety of other courses: computer technology, bicycle maintenance and safety, art and yoga, and gardening.

WALK STOP RUN. Art and Education Director at the CCC Andrea Waterstone joins the Creative Communication InterPlay class for the activity, "Walk Stop Run." This InterPlay form offers participants individual choices while still being a part of the wider class  community. Any time during this activity, a person can choose to move and how fast they move or still while observing others move. (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

What might a nine-week InterPlay course entitle “Creative Communication” look like?  Here is a partial description I crafted to explain what we would be doing:

Creative Comunication: Playing Around with What You Have to Say

In this class, you will have fun playing around with expressing what you have to say or not say while working in pairs, small or large groups, or alone. Using the improvisational system of InterPlay, you are invited to speak without preparation and to make things up. In addition to expanding your story telling abilities, you will learn other ways to communicate using movement, voice, and stillness. Whether you are shy or outgoing, you can learn how to succeed at getting your message across more effectively and enjoy the process!

BABBLING. Another incremental step towards telling longer stories, is the InterPlay form, "Babbling." Here the teenage participants take turns talking about a topic for 30 seconds while the other "witnesses" or just listens. (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

I’m so excited to be exploring the possibilities of “creative communication” with these teenagers from countries such as Bhutan, Nepal, Haiti, and Thailand. After meeting with the on two consecutive Monday evenings, I have already seen a shift in attendance. Enrollment in the Clarkston Youth Initiative went down from eight participants to four. The teenagers have the challenge of transporting themselves from the Clarkston high school to the Clarkston Community Center by themselves. Some are walking. It is no easy task to continue taking classes after being in school all day. The teenagers, who are showing up, want to learn and expand their skills. I’m experiencing them as very special young people with focused energy! What a privilege to engage them in the fun and sneaky deep activities of InterPlay!

In the upcoming weeks, I will be sharing photos of our “Creative Communication” class and what we are learning as we play together.

COMMUNICYCLE AND INTERPLAY at the CCC

COMMUNICYCLE and INTERPLAY ATLANTA. (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

written by Ruth Schowalter, Certified InterPlay Leader and InterPlay Art & Soul Creativity Coach

InterPlay Atlanta certified leaders, Ruth Schowalter and Jennifer Denning, are dedicated to bringing a free "taste" of InterPlay to the Clarkston Community Center (CCC) the first Saturday of every month from June to November, when the Clarkston Community Market vendors gather bringing organic and nutritiously prepared foods and artisan wares. 

One of the most diverse neighborhoods in the United States, the Clarkston community is comprised of long-time Americans and newly arrived refugees. What a surprise Jennifer and I had on Saturday, September 5th, when we arrived and discovered the market had been cancelled because of expected inclement weather!

CANCELLED CLARKSTON COMMUNITY MARKET! (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

Yet! There was a lot of activity going on one side of the space where market tents and tables are usually set up. What was it? Who was there?

COMMUNICYCLE WORKSHOP. (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

COMMUNICYCLE!
Communicycle is a CCC program that welcomes community members to use tools and supplies in their bicycle repair shop. People who need bikes can make small donations and also earn a bike through work in the shop.

Instead of leaving, I asked Justin Okello, one of the Clarkston Community Center employees working at the Communicycle shop if the children there would like to InterPlay with Jennifer, her daughter Elise, and me. Justin, who was familiar with me from previous months of bringing InterPlay to the market, smiled and said that the children would be receiving their bikes and safety tips and then might play with us after that!

KEEP CALM AND BIKE IN. The sign on the bike expresses an aspect of safety. I was soon to discover, however, the Communicycle program did not have funds at this time to issue the children bike helmets with their bikes. (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

For close to 30 minutes, we had so much fun engaging with youths from Congo and Rwanda and other African countries, who had just received their bikes. Jennifer facilitated a fun imaginative InterPlay warmup after which I led an energetic following-leading session.

WARMUP WITH JENNIFER DENNING. (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

The Georgia sun and humid air caused us to burst out in beaded sweat, so we finished in the shade at the picnic tables with this photo.

POST INTERPLAY AT THE CCC. (photo by Communicycle participant)

 Who knows what the future holds for InterPlay Atlanta at the Clarkston Community Market? Who will we play withus next month in October? Stay tuned!

For now, it would be awesome to get bicycle helmets for these boys who just got their bikes. Helmets and money can be brought to the Clarkston Community Center at 3701 College Avenue, Clarkston, Gerogia, 30021. Write checks to Clarkston Community Center. Please make a note that it is for "Communicycle." On your envelopes, please address it to:

Clarkston Community Center 

Attn: Justin Okello/Communicycle 

3701 College Avenue Clarkston, GA 30021

A Taste of Free InterPlay: InterPlay Atlanta goes to the Clarkston Community Market

by Ruth Schowalter, Certified InterPlay Leader and InterPlay Art & Soul Creativity Coach

A TASTE OF INTERPLAY.  InterPlay Atlanta is bringing 30 minutes of free InterPlay to the Clarkston Community Market on the first Saturday of every month. This August Saturday was hot and attendance was sparse, but we still played around with walking, running, and stopping, and dancing on behalf of someone who brings us grace and on behalf of our communities. It was especially fun to have two children, Gabrielle and Isiah, join us. They gave a new meaning to running, especially on such a hot day! (Photo by Aja)

In June 2015, InterPlay Atlanta began a connection with a special community in the metro Atlanta area! We went to the Clarkston Community Market in Clarkston, Georgia, one of America’s most diverse communities, comprised of both long-time Americans and newly arriving refugees to offer a “taste” of InterPlay for free!

CLARKSTON COMMUNITY MARKET, JUNE 2015. (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

CONTACT DANCING. In June 2015, we finished the first taste of InterPlay at the Clarkston Community Market with a contact dance during which we separated from our partners and found new partners. This InterPlay form is wonderful for connecting in surprising ways with people you've just met or people you are familiar with. (photo by Tony Martin)

COLLABORATORS. As the organizer for this free taste of InterPlay at the Clarkston Community Center Market, I am happy to collaborate with Jennifer Denning, who brings such a wealth of experience to any of the communities she visits as an InterPlay facilitator. Here, my husband, Tony Martin, captured us doing an Irish jig together in the "contact dance." (photo by Tony Martin)

Rained out on July 4^th, InterPlay Atlanta returned to Clarkston Community Market the first Saturday of August and invites everyone to join us the first Saturday of each month through November 2015.  

 

ORGANIZER OF THE CLARKSTON COMMUNITY MARKET.

Aliyah Frazier (right), Healthy Living Director at the Clarkston Community Center, greets everyone entering the market with such a gracious smile. At her table, filled with flyers, are also fresh produce to buy from the community center's gardens. InterPlay Atlanta is so fortunate to be invited to be a part of this diverse community. Thank you Aliyah! (photo by Tony Martin)

So plan on playing outdoors with us among the vendors and market goers from 1:00 to 1:30 pm on September 5^th  (Time may vary from month to month, so be sure to check at the Facebook InterPlay Atlanta events page). All ages are welcome to participate with us in movement, voice, story, and stillness and then to peruse and buy arts and crafts and prepared and locally-grown, nutritious foods from the vendors.

SAMOSA QUEEN. Yum Yum! The Samosa Queen was at both the June and August Clarkston Community Market, selling both vegetarian and meat samosas, recipes from Somali! (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

KRUSH BY JAI. Jai holds Isiah, who participated in InterPlay with us along with his brother Gabrielle. They hang out in the dinosaur tent behind their mother while she sells the soft scented shea butter that she makes in the mixer that you can see there on her table. I purchased some patchouli scented shea butter that I'm enjoying very much. Gabrielle, when asked during an InterPlay exercise who brought him peace and grace, answered that his brother Isiah did because he shares. Intergenerational InterPlay is awesome. (photo by Ruth Schowalter)

I am so happy to organize this wonderful opportunity to play with Clarkston Community members while engaging a moving, roving diverse audience. I'm grateful  to have Jennifer Denning co-facilitate with me. How exciting that InterPlay Atlanta is one of several activities at the Clarkston Community Market, including drumming, zumba and Tai Chi.

Let’s see what we will discover together at the Clarkston Community Market in the upcoming months. It is so exciting to be bringing the fun of InterPlay to the Clarkston Community Center! It’s market is open from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm on the Activity Field, 3701 College Avenue, Clarkston, Georgia 30021