A local exercise routine made with a theatre company
In July 2014, the making of the "Minna no Uen Exercise" began at Minna no Uen Kitakagaya. We created it with Kodomo Kyojin, an Osaka-based theatre company that has staged "adventure plays" set in the streets of the city. We worked on it as an art program in collaboration with the Osaka Sozo Chishima Foundation.
In the first session, we loosened up with radio calisthenics outside, then returned to the salon and broke the ice with a game of copying the previous person's movements. Members who were a little shy at first gradually moved more broadly, and their faces relaxed.
Field movements and memories become choreography
The main task was to gather material for the exercise. We split into two teams and wrote down on paper what we had grown on the farm so far, what was fun or hard about the work, and how our bodies felt at the time. As we wrote, memory after memory came back, and before we knew it the paper was full.
Using these farm events and memories as hints, we created the choreography and the music. Together with farm members and local people, we completed a "local exercise" unique to Kitakagaya. We released it in April 2015. It is designed to properly loosen the parts of the body that take the most strain in field work.
A warm-up that becomes part of the culture of the place
It is a little difficult, which is its one flaw, but we decided to use this exercise as a warm-up before field work.
Field work is surprisingly physical, with squatting, lifting and digging. When a warm-up to prevent injury is an exercise full of our own memories, the time spent moving becomes enjoyable in itself. An exercise habit you can keep up is the foundation of staying healthy. Through the power of art, one new habit joined the farm's daily life.