What is an artist workshop?

We love helping young people explore the arts and creative careers. That's why we're hosting short and simple Artist Workshops here on Voice. In this series, you'll be able to learn more about innovative artists in the creative industries and take a deep-dive into different art forms.

In this workshop, we're joined by Annete Sagal, a collage artist, art therapist, art curator and founder of Kyiv Collage Collective. Below is a short video where you can find out more about her creative career journey. You can then participate in a straightforward 5-step guide to creating your own style identity.

We hope you enjoy!

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Q&A with Christopher Radford: how can I get into dance?

Check out the video below to find out about Christopher's creative career. We asked:

• What’s your artform and when did you first get interested in it?
• What steps did you take to turn your interest/hobby into an arts career?
• What has been the most challenging part?
• What part have you found unexpectedly enjoyable?
• What advice would you give to someone who wants to pursue a similar arts career?

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Make a creative movement: five simple steps

1. Find an object

The first step is finding an object that you wish to use as your inspiration. This will inspire the type of movement you create. 

Example: I will use a cactus which I have on my window.

2. Identify four characteristics of your object

Take a moment to look in detail at the object. What is it made from? What is its shape? Think about what common adjectives might be used to describe it.

Example (cactus): spiky, round, fat, pointy.

3. Create a still position for each of your four characteristics

In this step, you are translating the adjective into a movement. 

Example (cactus):

Spiky could be an extreme use of arms and legs

Round could be a shape with my arms

Fat could be a full body sumo style shape

Pointy could be a literal action with my fingers.

4. Now we will try and make the static stance into a move

In this step, you want to be thinking about how to transform your static pose into something that is lyrical and active. Be aware of the different parts of you body as they move.

Example (cactus):

The spiky arms and legs can change positions

I could spin around while making the round shape

The fat sumo could try and walk

Pointed fingers could happen in multiple directions and repeat.

5. Add this to music

Put on a song that you enjoy listening to. Try to make each of the movements last between 4 to 8 counts. Make sure your movements happen on the beat of the music. Link all the movements together so they run in one continuous sequence. You can repeat as many times as you like.

Now that you have this small movement phrase as your base inspiration, you can modify the movement in any way you like to fit the music better (or to fit the feeling of the music better). You can also repeat this with many different objects to create longer dance phrases.