S168 - 31/05/07 - 11:30 - Learning through emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?

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S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Carlo Bellamio, Le Nuvole - Naples - Italy -
www.lenuvole.com
Science on stage Applause
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CO_scienze
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• Bringing together and artistically contaminating
  the scientific and the theatrical language.

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CO_scienze 1997/2007
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• The project was first conceived in 1997 and has
  been continually enriched until evolving into its
  present form.
• By reflecting on the widespread disinterest
  towards the technical-scientific world that many
  people have experienced since their early school
  days.
• Through the request for teacher training
  programmes from teachers themselves.
• From a desire to succeed in communicating the
  technical- scientific world in a clear, playful,
  accessible and enjoyable way.
• With the desire of promoting fascinating topics
  that are often neglected due to the groundless
  prejudice concerning their difficulty.
• By research into the experimentation of new
  didactic models and the success of theatrical
  guided tours of both individual exhibits and
  scientific exhibitions realized with Città della
  Scienza of Naples in various Italian science
  museums. The use of poetic language in the
  promotion of scientific culture that is capable
  of attracting and fascinating.

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The structure of CO_scienze
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• Co_scienze is made up of various sections aimed
  at the realization of training programs and the
  promotion of scientific knowledge utilising the
  language of artistic and scientific tradition.
• This is because the union of theatre, art,
  science and literature has created new
  dramaturgic forms that, although inspired by
  tradition, have overlapped, in a complementary
  way, into other fields of knowledge.

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The structure of CO_scienze
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com
The sections of the project are- A permanent
school for the theatrical communication of
science- A scientific drama award- A theatre
festival- A conference
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Permanent school for the theatrical communication
of science
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• The purpose of the school is to train the
  professional figure of the scientific
  communicator - an expert promoter who is also
  passionate about science and theatre.
• To this section of the project also belong
• La scienza in viaggio (Science on the move) a
  travelling training project that includes a
  program of exchange between operators active in
  the various structures with the objective of
  promoting scientific culture.
• Intensive training programs and advanced courses
  on specific communication forms led by drama
  experts.

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CO_scienze - A scientific drama award
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• A scientific drama award aimed at stimulating
  the writing and popularisation of new scientific
  work.
• The participants, either singularly or in
  groups, are invited to write a script on an
  argument on any scientific theme. The play should
  include one or more of the following performance
  techniques actor- theatre, dance-mime,
  figure-theatre and theatre of narration.
• Particular attention will be paid to school
  productions. Project teachers will receive the
  assistance from a scientific-artistic
  observatory.
• Theatre scripts will be read by an
  artistic-scientific jury and the chosen winner
  will be staged and performed on the Italian
  theatre circuit.

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CO_scienze - Conference- networks
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• An annual exchange of ideas between the world of
  
• theatre
• scientific communication
• museums
• schools
• With the aim of establishing systematic
  relationships and constructive contamination and
  cross pollination between the language of
  science and theatre and methods and modes of
  informally transmitting scientific knowledge.

Themes include the role of theatre in the
communication of science and the training of
science communicators, exhibition structures and
guided tours.
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CO_scienze - Theatre Festival
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• A festival of youth theatre with performances
  hosted in Le Nuvole theatre. Schools will be
  given the opportunity to develop scientific
  themes from the past, the present and the
  hypothetical future.

• The program will be enriched by performances
  conceived for non-conventional theatre spaces,
  such as science centres and festivals.

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Scientific theatre
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• Why does a theatre for the new generations
  decided to pass through the scientific
  communication?

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I Galilei
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• The project began life in 1997 in co-production
  with Città della Scienza of I Galilei, drawn
  from the Vita di Galileo (Galileos Life) by
  Bertold Brecht
• The project comprised
• an exhibition
• a book
• a show with 20 actors and live music

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Guided Tours
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• This lucky encounter between a museum that was
  beginning to distinguish itself amongst the
  national scientific and educational community (in
  2001 Città della Scienza became the first
  Italian Science Centre) and Le Nuvole - who
  were called in to manage the guided tours and
  didactic activities, as well as the production of
  animated events- evolved into a prolific project
  of contamination between scientific and
  theatrical languages.

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From guided tours to theatre-visits
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• The first step was to imagine that conducted
  tours could be made theatrical. This is how
  theatre-visits, that are still valid
  experimental models of scientific communication,
  were born.
• The unique and distinctive characteristic of the
  theatre-visits is that they are performed not
  by actors but biology, mathematics, physics and
  engineering experts who have undergone training
  with school of theatral science communication.
• The script that is performed is a product of the
  reserch of scientific experts who are helped in
  the staging of the show by professional theatre
  directors.
• The end product is neither a theatrical show,
  nor a simple conducted tour. Special attention is
  drawn to the communicators gestures, words,
  mime, narrative and animation style with the aim
  of catching the attention and stimulating the
  curiousity of the public.

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theatre-visits
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• Luna e laltra
• (The Moon and the Other)
• Percorso Galileiano
• (Galileian Way)
• In viaggio con Darwin
• (Travelling with Darwin)
• Napoli scopriamo la Città
• (Discovering Naples)
• Were conceived to be performed in museums, and
  therefore require a very simple set and a text
  that draws its inspiration from the place they
  have been invented for.

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Tournée of theatre-visits
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• Nevertheless the in-depth study involved in the
  preparation of the script, the simple logistics
  and the possibility of staging the performance
  in a non-conventional space have led to these
  shows being very much appreciated.
• Indeed performances are often requested by other
  museums and science festivals throughout Italy.

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Parallel convergences
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• The didactic performances continue travelling
  along one track while on the other track travel
  micro-dramas with scientific themes.
• This is the case of Lotteria Nucleare (Nuclear
  Lottery) a show that was staged with the script
  that won the very first competition of scientific
  dramaturgy- and Le Nanometamorfosi, a show
  produced for the occasion of the Nanodialogue
  exhibition that was part of the Festival of
  Science held in Genoa in 2006.

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S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• Ten years on from taking this path we find
  ourselves in a new point of departure. This is a
  result of the daily questions and of the doubts
  that make us reflect on what we mean by
  communication methods.

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Selecting the operator
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• The first question to ask is Who to select?
• Shoud we select an actor to transmit the
  requisite scientific knowledge? An actor by
  virtue of his or her training and out of artisitc
  necessity, is accustomed to breaking set moulds
  and patterns of thoughts.
• Or should we choose a scientist who uses
  schematic thinking as one of the instruments of
  his daily analitic work and whom we could train
  to break up his methodological communication
  habits?

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Scientific communicators - knowledge
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• The key to the selection process is in the
  definition of knowledge that is not only
  concepts, but also background, recollections,
  images and emotions.
• Concepts belong to scientists, not to actors.
• Life experiences, recollections, images and
  emotions belong to everybody.

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Scientific Emotions
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• The audience doesnt learn science during a show
  or a conducted-tour, nor during a moment of
  animation or a technical demonstration, but in
  both cases it relies on the images and emotions
  to remember what it has seen and heard, as these
  strike an accord with the heart, and not the
  head.
• So, why not exploit
• life experiences,
• background,
• images and emotions?

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Communicating science in a theatrical and
effective way involves acting on learners
emotions in order to transfer concepts.
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com
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The amount of time spent to prepare an actor
scientifically is greater than that spent on the
theatrical training of a communicator.
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com
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Training- diverse intensity
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• If we consider that the choice of a scientific
  communicator is simpler and more profitable, we
  have to create a training program that teaches
  about the emotional component of knowledge.
• The training system experimented, foresees three
  levels of training
• start-up
• study in depth
• specification

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Scientific communicators trainingstart-up
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• This is the phase in which the communicator,
  whilst still undergoing training and after having
  received explanatory material about the permanent
  exhibitions of the museum and any temporary
  shows, accompanies the expert communicator on a
  guided tour, in order to steal in the field
  tried and tested ways and techniques of science
  communication.
• Moreover the expert communicator supports the
  trainee communicator when the latter has to face
  the test of demonstrating an exhibit or
  explaining an experiment.
• In this way the more expert communicator acts as
  an informal teacher for the new communicator and,
  at the same time, the new communicator evaluates,
  according to his level of expertise, the work of
  the expert who is subjected to examination.

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Scientific communicators trainingIn depth study
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• The training programme of the school of
  theatrical communication of science in
  partnership with Città della Scienza and
  Fondazione Idis consists of
• 1 - Definition of the communicator (5 of course
  time)
• National and international survey
• Role
• Specific training
• 2 Theatrical training of the communicator (40
  of the course)
• use of body and gesture in the integration of
  verbal communication
• Use of voice and narration techniques
• space and movement awareness
• 3 Museums, exhibitions and scientific
  communication (15 of the course)
• Communicating in museums and scientific festivals
  
• Exhibitions and their interpretation
• Exhibits and their communicative use
• 4 Communication of science many micro dramas
  (40 of the course)
• Reserch and in depth study of the chosen text
• The dramatization of scientific communication

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Scientific communicators trainingspecification
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• Workshops specifically aimed at the production of
  theatrical performances with a scientific theme.
• The communicators who have already attended the
  school of theatrical communication of science and
  who have been selected according to their
  previous talents and communication skills work
  together with a dramatist and a director on
  researching and writing a theatrical script and
  in the staging of scientific performances to be
  performed in science festivals and museums.

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Scientific communicators training Instruments
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• Training therefore intervenes
• on the body as a tool
• on the gesture as a language
• on the space as the place of the divulgation

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Scientific communicators trainingAims
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• communicating science through the employment of
  exhibits as symbolic elements around which one
  can move and tell stories.
• dramatizing an event of discovery or of
  historical-scientific research, from which the
  visitor becomes a participative witness, above
  all thanks to the emotions and associations that
  the communicator is able to generate

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Scientific communicatorsThe science of the actor
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• We also need to value the recovery of a
  storytelling naturalness, which over the years is
  falling into disuse due to the habit of
  conventional training centres to restrict, or
  even annihilate the natural storyteller that is
  in everyone.
• The science of the actor, after all, is the
  constant verification, that he himself carries
  out on the words, sounds and gestures in order to
  convey his message in the most incisive way.

A pedagogic and maieutic-instructive procedure
that requires the actor to search within himself
for the capacity of recalling and structuring
his own scientific ideas in the form of a story.
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Learning through emotionscomunicators role
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• Can the communicator transfer scientific concepts
  through emotions?
• Theatre can manage a learning process?
• The theatrical communication of science makes
  science more readily comprehensible and
  understandable.

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Learning through emotions
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• Today not only European society is living a
  climate of constant political, social, cultural
  and technological change. In order to make
  informed choices concerning our careers and
  lifestyles we need to understand these changes
  and to consider their impact on our present and
  future existence.
• Democracy Many people fear or distrust science.
  Even if European culture is based on technology,
  many peolple feel excluded from its processes. In
  order to make informed decisions it is absolutely
  necessary to be able to distinguish truth from
  falsehood and to be able to weigh up the
  advantages and risks.
• Competitiveness the people who make political
  and industrial decisions are convinced that a
  scientifically qualified labour force is of prime
  importance for a competitive economy.
• Employment Job opportunities in the high
  technology sector are increasing dramatically.
  But the research doctorate posts in Universities
  are often vacant because graduates prefer
  financial or business careers. Students should
  approach science before they decide on a career,
  this means that science should be made more
  interesting and attractive.

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Learning through emotionsnew job opportunities
for communicators
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• More and more scientists understand that if they
  manage to involve a non-elitist audience they
  will be much more supported in their work.
• It therefore follows that the request for the
  theatrical communication of science is growing
  and has a great potential to grow opening up new
  job opportunities to communicators, whether they
  be actors or scientists.

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Learning through emotionsA journey of
exploration
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• In this way science transforms into a journey of
  exploration through a multidimensional space
  where multidisciplinary knowledge and language
  contamination co-exist and feed off each other.

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Learning through emotionsThe informal way
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• The most innovative aspect of the theatrical
  communication of science formula is to give a
  science lesson in a non-conventional space and
  in an informal way.
• Its essential to involve the audience.
• Scientists can consider that theatrical language
  and techniques can be the means to communicate
  complex scentific ideas to an audience an
  efficienct way to raise interest in people who
  would otherwise have said Its too complicated
  for me.

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Learning through emotions
S168 - 31/05/07 - 1130 - Learning through
emotions - May theatre lead a learning process?
Science on stage ApplauseCarlo Bellamio, Le
Nuvole - Naples - Italy - www.lenuvole.com

• When one asks scientists what motivates them in
  their research work many of them simply answer
  curiosity.
• And it is this curiosity that we must awaken in
  our audience so that they become conscious of and
  participate in the failures and successes that
  make up the important work of scientists.