The workshop starts with a video demonstration of an existing performance in body percussion, to raise interest in the audience. After a body warm-up, the visual signs representing different body sounds to be used as rhythm are presented. The students start with very basic steps, with Lorene gradually building up to where the group can go. In a second session, the class breaks out into smaller groups that will have to create and showcase their own polyrhythmic beat.
Body percussion develops spatial and body awareness, coordination, the consciousness of sound, and polyrhythm. It is a fun way to give the body we live in every day a new purpose. The workshop level can be adapted to any grade.
| Grade Suitability | K-12 |
| Maximum Class Size | 28 |
| Time Required | 45 minutes/15 minutes prep |
| Material Required | none |
| Language of Instruction | English, French |
| Communities | All |
Lorène Charmetant started to play music as a child, attending both piano and choir lessons. Always passionate by sound and voice, she quickly grew a strong interest in a wide variety of music. As a teenager, she got involved in jazz music, discovering a whole world of improvisation at the Conservatoire de Lyon, in France. There, she studied vocal jazz, improvisation, ear-training, musical theory.
She completed her education at the University of Sherbrooke in Québec, where she experimented for the first time with sharing music outside her French culture. This experience sparked her interest in education and how to transmit music in a fun and compassionate way.