Music game - Wobble

Not a 'back to school' game - you'll have to wait for September's Game of the Month for that - more of a holiday relaxation.

Duration: 10 minutes
Age: Consenting adults
Players: Any number of pairs

By focussing their attention elsewhere this activity relaxes the participants' throats and so warms up their vocal cords without straining them. The exercise came from a butoh workshop and is intended both to ground and centre the members of the group.

The 'consenting adults' suggestion is because the players have to touch each other's legs, albeit through clothes. Adults are not immune to self-consciousness but they are usually capable of getting over it. Of course if your players are used to physical contact you'll have no problem in that regard.

· Divide into pairs. If your group is new, or unused to physical touch, you may like to pair men with men and women with women. At the very least be sensitive to people's attitudes to being touched by someone of the opposite sex, especially where cultural taboos exist. If in doubt check you have even numbers of both genders before initiating the game.

· In each pair one person, the receiver, puts their weight almost fully into one leg and presents the other one to their partner, keeping that foot on the ground and using to retain stability. Both knees should be unlocked.

· Their partner, the giver, kneels in front of them and, starting at the upper thigh, uses both hands to wobble the flesh of the leg. They work slowly down the receiver's leg towards the ankle and when they reach the foot they press firmly on the upper surface as if trying to push the foot into the ground. While they wobble the leg they sing into the flesh in any manner they feel appropriate. Their voice may wobble too or it may be a constant tone. The pitch and timbre may or may not vary. There is no right or wrong. The receiver joins in with the singing, either in mimicry or response.

· Do this twice more on that leg and then the receiver shifts their weight into the leg that has been worked on and presents their other leg. The giver wobbles the second leg in the same manner three times. Then the partners swap roles and the giver becomes the receiver.

Tips: This activity is best done in loose, comfortable clothing such as track-suit trousers. It is easier to work a clothed leg than a bare one.
Join in yourself and, vocal-wise, lead from the front.