Case study: Teaching theatre and drama at school in Côte

Regional Meeting on Arts Education
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
June 24-30, 2001
Case Study
Teaching theatre and drama at school in Ivory Coast
Prepared by Ms Naky Sy Savane, actress and teacher
Introduction
At a time when globalisation has also come to concern art and culture, it has become
urgent to maintain the links between children and teenagers and the traditions in which they
grew up. School has a role to play.
Arts education favours the blossoming of children and helps the development and
the opening up of their creative minds and of their personalities. It is therefore crucial to pay
even more attention to arts education in the curriculum.
Drama is an important cultural art form in Africa in general and in Ivory Coast in
particular; it is therefore critical to transmit it to children and teenagers.
In Ivory Coast, theatre is taught at three different levels: superior, vocational and
school. At the superior level, the Institut National Supérieur des Arts Appliqués et de la
Culture or Insaac (National Superior Institute of Fine Arts and Culture) has education
written into its mandate. At the vocational level are theatre companies and workshops, where
most comedians are trained. At the school level, pupils may choose to patronise theatre clubs
during their extra-curricular activities.
Theatre at school is the breeding ground of the modern theatre of the Ivory Coast, an
incubator where drama and dance traditions meet modern theatre. It is the place where all
theatre genres, be they based on improvisation, entertainment, philosophical or even satirical
texts entwine and interlace.
I.
Aspects of the theatrical and choreographic drama traditions
In the hamlets of our country, drama and dance traditions have always taken several
forms. The most popular and usual forms include tales, dance, songs, games and initiatory
ceremonials.
1.
Tales represent the form of didactic tool. They remain above all special
moments, when the traditional practices and ways to behave in society are being conveyed.
First and foremost, the narration aims at providing numerous advices to the audience on a
given topic. There is no such thing such as a « behavioural code ». Therefore, tales are used
to remind all what are the rules to abide by and the practices to follow in order to create
good living conditions. Tales also bring to light what are the problems encountered by those
who do not conform to the shared social norms.
Storytellers are at the nucleus of the tale, at the centre of the show. During the
performance, they attempt to test the sensitivity of the members of the audience, they try to
make them laugh, to frighten them, to beg for their sympathy or to trigger their difference of
Teaching theatre and drama at school in Ivory Coast
opinion or their dissent. For instance, a storyteller may mime the gait of the hare, imitate the
roaring of the lion, or sing the orphan’s lament. Today’s « One man shows » are true heirs to
this form of « mono theatre » that storytellers have kept alive.
Meaning can also be revealed in the body movements of storytellers; the various
ways they move create a metalanguage.
As for the narration in itself, it takes account of an authentic pool of styles, and
during the tale, storytellers may review all the modes of expression. Sometimes poetic,
sometimes fantastic, the narration contains the essence of tales. Thus, the communication
strength of the narration sometimes becomes the very instrument used to magnify the social
function of tales. Texts encompass proverbs, enigmas, incantations, prayers and songs,
which are the sealing point of the oral tradition.
In tales, nature and the audience compose the set. It is therefore critical that
storytellers sustain empathy and communion with the audience.
Even though storytellers have to play several parts, they wear the same costume
during the whole performance. What really matters is the expertise of the speech. There is no
need for many costumes because the audience is convinced that storytellers are able to make
them travel through time.
2. Dance is the rhythm of life and can be adapted to all circumstances. There are
celebration dances, funeral dances, as well as initiatory or sacred dances. These different
forms indicate that dance has a meaning that is included in motion as well as in body
movement and rhythmic coordination.
In Ancient Times, Egyptians used to carve scenes of their daily lives in stone;
similarly, dance is a way to immortalise the throes of life through determined body
movements and mime.
When dancers move, their bodies are like blank sheets of paper, and each movement
of their limbs, of their eyes and of their mouths is like a new world that creates a whole
phraseology. Thus, dance is like a series of settings describing the mindsets, consciousness,
subconscious and beliefs of a community.
Rhythmic coordination represents the time and space in which the phraseology of
the body is set out. It conveys emotions and feelings, and describes body movements.
Besides, it is important to limit the performance with sound. When sound goes up, it means
that one is closer to the place where the action takes place; conversely, when sound goes
down, it means that one is farther away.
3. Games and initiatory ceremonials are significant moments of performance. The
stage, the actor and the audience interact. Games usually take place at night, under the
moonlight. In the Odienne region, in the Northeast of the Ivory Coast, « Sigui trôn » is a
mime game that generates social lampoon. Players begin with songs and then stop to play at
asking riddles and charades about the faults or bad nature of some of the inhabitants of the
village. In order to avoid frustration, the performance includes the participation of the
audience.
The strength of initiatory ceremonials lies in the degree of understanding of the
performance. As a matter of fact, rituals can only be understood at the second degree and the
primary function of public performances is to speak to the uninitiated.
Besides, the strong dramatic spirit of these ceremonies gives them the required holy
and ritual features. The whole ceremony is based upon body movements and motion, which
can be only understood by those initiated. That is the reason why, from the point of view of
the uninitiated, these ceremonials are similar to mimo-dramas.
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Teaching theatre and drama at school in Ivory Coast
II.
How to foster those traditions through their integration in the school
curriculum and what should be the educational approach to follow in order to
continue to convey knowledge in the current psychosocial conditions?
1.
Scheme for an educational approach
The first step to undertake, before even starting discussing on teaching theatre, is to
teach pupils where the sources of what is being taught come from and how it has evolved
through time.
Children learn the Fables of La Fontaine by heart and recite them, but they do not
have access to any type of course on myths, fables and tales of the oral tradition.
Furthermore, men could speak before they could write and read; thus, all traditions have
been oral before they ever existed in written form.
Therefore, we believe that teaching traditions could be integrated into
literature and civilisation history courses.
2. What teaching methods could be used?
Art is first and foremost a matter of expression. Therefore, we will favour practical
methods to theoretical methods. First, it is crucial to highlight that practical courses have to
take the form of workshops.
As a matter of fact, there is no formality in workshops. Those taking part in the
workshop come and go freely, and the supervisors’ role is to give them the best conditions to
enrich the debates through their views, opinions, experience and personal knowledge. Thus,
there is no teacher-student relationship, where all the knowledge is on one side and the
listening on the other. Rather, everyone is both possessor of and receptor of knowledge. In
the framework of a given topic, the aim is to have everyone give their opinion, bring out the
argument that is shared most and eventually end up with a common action that all can
appropriate.
The theoretical content of what is taught has to be linked to the theatrical and
choreographic drama traditions of the regions from which the learners originate. At the
primary school level (from grade 1 to 5), all topics shall be drawn from the children’s daily
lives, i.e. the sounds, images and cultural models they are confronted with on a daily basis
through their families, school, radio and television. In middle and high schools (from grade 6
to 12), those who take part in the workshops will be invited to draw from their original
cultural heritage the resources and additional information that are needed to develop what
has been learned during the workshops.
3. Adjusting time for arts education
Specific adjustment will be needed, depending upon the age of the pupils and the
school level.
In primary schools, in the typical curriculum, an hour is devoted every afternoon to
sports and entertainment. Therefore, we recommend that arts education be fitted in the usual
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Teaching theatre and drama at school in Ivory Coast
primary school timetable of pupils from grade 1 to 5 (Primary School), as they have less
work to do and are more susceptible to entertainment.
Adolescence begins with middle and high schools (grades 6 to 12) and it becomes
important to channel the teenagers. Those who want to take arts education are now well
aware of what they are committing themselves to. Such courses could be taught as options.
What type of educators?
There are three alternative choices one could make in this matter: specialised
instructors, schoolteachers and artists. Each of these alternatives has pros and cons, which
have to be reviewed in order to arrive at an objective selection.
1) Specialised instructors are trained at INSAAC (Institut National Supérieur des
Arts Appliqués et de la Culture). These teachers have the advantage of a strong theoretical
and educational training – music and visual arts are included in the curriculum even though
drama and dance are not.
However, the results of a survey led in schools shows that these mandatory music
and visual arts courses are taught with the greatest lack of commitment, given that the
students themselves do not give any importance to the subjects because of their low weight
in the ranking average. This situation has resulted in the “functionalisation” of these
instructors. They do not do more than meet their obligations in front of a half-empty
classroom in order to justify for their paycheques. In general, they do no take part in the
students’ extra curricular activities. Besides, the very few dance clubs or drama clubs we
have seen in schools are supervised by volunteers, by lovers of the art form, who usually are
former performers themselves.
It seems that for the time being, specialised instructors are not mentally or
practically ready to convey and share the interest and respect of the art form,
not to speak in terms of passion.
2) School teachers are trained in the CAFOPs and present the advantages of a strong
educational training and good general knowledge. As they are the only ones to teach the
children, they have to lecture in all subjects.
Even if drama and dance are not included in the curriculum, schoolteachers usually
do their best to bring children and their culture together.
In Ivory Coast schools, teachers often supervise groups of pupils in order to set up a
performance of traditional dance or a play. At the close of the school year, all performances
are presented during an end-of-year celebration.
Schoolteachers are civil servants, just like professors. Nevertheless, they often seem
to be more preoccupied with the blossoming of their pupils once they are outside of the
classroom. For instance, they supervise pupils doing gardening, playing football or handball.
However, as far as teaching art forms is concerned, our devoted schoolteachers face
limits that were set independently of them. As a matter of fact, the coercive nature of the
relationships they develop with their pupils makes it difficult for them to make children
develop their creativity. In their defense, we have observed that this situation is not caused
by the schoolteachers but by the children. Children usually think their schoolteacher is a
severe and strict person. They have difficulties figuring out that the very same person, about
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Teaching theatre and drama at school in Ivory Coast
whom they feel fear rather than respect, could play the fool or act like a clown. This brutal
change in roles disturbs children and makes them withdraw into their shells.
Should schoolteachers train children in art forms, they should be come from a
school that is not the one in which they teach. Eventually, the availability issue
will rise because schoolteachers all have the same work schedules.
3) Numerous artists are trained in theatre companies and workshops. They have a
genuine creative determination. In Ivory Coast, renowned academics, artists, or famous
directors usually manage theatre companies and workshops. They all have in common
practical rather than theoretical training. Moreover, these artists have acquired a multifaceted
experience, widened by the various trips they have made. It allows them to encounter other
civilisations and other forms of artistic expression. We are here facing the generation of
artists who are currently shaping our cultural environment.
Artists have the profiles that correspond best to the need that has been
unveiled: taking care of performing art education in primary and middle
schools (Grade 1 to 9). Artists could be helped and supervised by literature
teachers or by the schoolteachers who are responsible for the classes where the
artists are engaged.
III.
Administrative, educational and financial conditions necessary to the setting
up of an Education for All programme
From an administrative standpoint, making artists responsible for performing arts
education involves a political desire in favour of arts education in general and of the
improvement of the artists’ status in particular. This desire shall be implemented by official
legislation dealing with the popularisation of arts education through the Education for All
programme.
The texts shall define the content of arts education, the curriculum for each grade as
well as the time allotment upon which it has been agreed. An efficient policy regarding the
means and ways to appeal to artists has also to be set up.
As a matter of fact, the role of artists is often limited to its superficial aspect entertaining. One often tends to underestimate their social roles as enlighteners of
conscience, as critics and denouncers.
Artists could be selected after a series of tests on general knowledge, arts and
psychology. Once the artists are selected, they could be invited to take part in a
seminar concerning educational training. At last, the issue of their
remuneration has to be thought through and integrated in a draft agreement on
the provision of services.
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Teaching theatre and drama at school in Ivory Coast
Appendix 1
Draft of an Initiation Programme to the Performing Arts
1. Draft for primary schools (Grades 1 to 5)
This programme shall be progressive and adapted to the usual division of primary school
education, i.e.
- Grade 1 (classe préparatoire)
- Grade 2 and 3 (cours élémentaires)
- Grade 4 and 5 (cours moyens)
Level
CP
Grade 1
CE
Grades 2 &
3
CM
Grades 4 &
5
-
Programme
Discovery of one’s body
Motion
Singing
Games
Mobility exercises
Reading
Singing
Faster gymnastic motion
Memorising and reciting texts
Body moves
Intensified body moves
Faster texts reciting
Mime
Body motion coordination
-
Evaluation
Does the pupil know the various parts of
his/her body?
Is he/she physically able, or does he/she
have mobility deficiency?
-
Is the child quick-minded?
Can he/she give life to his/her moves and
spoken words?
-
Is the child gifted for theatre or dance?
Does
he/she
perform
aesthetic
movements?
Does he/she have a great presence when
expressing himself/herself?
-
2. Draft for middle schools (Grades 6 to 9)
This programme shall be progressive and adapted to the usual division of middle school
education, i.e.
- Grade 6 (6ème)
- Grade 7 (5ème)
- Grade 8 (4ème)
- Grade 9 (3ème)
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Teaching theatre and drama at school in Ivory Coast
Level
6ème
Grade
6
5ème
Grade
7
4ème
Grade
8
3ème
Grade
9
-
Programme
Speech production exercises
Body exercises
Rhythm
Reading texts
Notion of space during rhythmic
exercises
Notion of space on stage
-
-
Rhythmic exercises
Games and exercises based on theatrical lines
Synthesis of the various types of exercises
-
Evaluation
Performing steps and body exercises
Situational exercises and improvisation
on texts
Can the pupil coordinate his/her rhythmic
moves in the space he should play?
Can he/she have a sense of orientation
while on stage?
Rhythmic exercises practice
Theatrical exercises practice
Synthetic topic on general knowledge in
dance and drama
Drama performance
Dance performance
3. Draft for high schools (Grade 10 to 12)
This programme shall be progressive and adapted to the usual division of high school
education, i.e.
- Grade 10 (2nde)
- Grade 11 (1ère)
- Grade 12 (Terminale)
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Teaching theatre and drama at school in Ivory Coast
Level
2nde
Grade 10
-
1ère
Grade 11
-
Terminale
Grade 12
-
Programme
Practice of simple rhythmic
exercises
Practice of simple vocal exercises
Practice of simple dramatic
exercises
Practice of complex rhythmic
exercises
Complex vocal exercises
Practice of complex dramatic
exercises
Synthesis of rhythmic practices
Synthesis of vocal exercises
Synthesis of dramatic practices
-
-
Evaluation
Performance of simple steps and rhythms
Performance of simple vocal themes
Performance of simple dramatic themes
Performance of complex steps and
rhythms
Performance of complex vocal themes
Performance of complex dramatic
themes
Practical synthetic topics on steps and
dance
Practical synthetic topics on vocal
harmony
Practical synthetic topics on drama
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