ESC: Volunteering in the center Spazio Luce for theater support

B-Side Association was born with the aim to promote wellness, artistic research and personal development through art, culture, physical and psych-pedagogical activities. For this purpose, it has created a location, Spazio Luce, to give place to various projects to improve creativity and social inclusion. Another important sector of B-Side, which works in strict cooperation with Spazio Luce, is the Centro Amamente, which is a psychological and logopaedic space targeting children and families’ wellness and which focus specifically on their mental health and development. B-Side Association considers culture as a democratic tool, that should be accessible to everyone, for personal growth and development. For this reasons the activities that the Association carries out do not discriminate on the basis of age, experience, social status or geographical origins of the beneficiaries. This applies to the volunteers it would like to host. Spazio Luce, specifically, offers workshops, courses and cultural events open to the community, with the aim of promoting artistic expression in all its forms, with a particular focus on physical expression (theater, dance, joga etc.). Through those, the staff invites the participants to work together, experiencing creativity and psychophysical wellness. B-Side, and Spazio Luce in particular, aim to be a shared, common place whose users are asked to take care of collectively. It is an open lab, whose purpose is to collect different points of view and develop new ideas for workshops oriented to the personal wellness of people. The approach is based on body experience and non-formal learning, through methodologies such as gesture spontaneity, improvisation and dynamic contact between oneself and the others, within an holistic approach. The idea behind it, is infact, that psychological expression can’t be separated by the body and vice versa. Different courses are developed: - “Body Paths of research”: courses and workshops in the field of dance, theater and dance-theater. Some educational paths are open for all the people who want to experience different disciplines about body and art practices, as a place for a place for socialization, psychophysical wellness, training and personal development. Others, are addressed only to professionals, in cooperation with Italian and international teachers and artists. - “Wellness paths”: Holistic practices oriented to the psychophysical wellness. Spazio Luce hosts these courses: Pilates, Feldenkrais, Yoga, Meditation, Bioenergetics all along the year and are open for all the people that want to approach, practice or deepen the knowledge of these disciplines. - “Inclusion path”: workshops and events on dances from all around the world. The aim is to meet different cultures and integrate them in the society. Main courses are Indian dance-theater, Sabar African dance, African drums, oriental dances, Southern-Italian dances, Flamenco. - “Theater and Education Project” the target are children and their families. The project is based on the idea that theater can be a precious educational tool for psych-pedagogic purposes. It is not the classical theater course since the main objective is to provide different and multiple stimuluses to mature a progressive knowledge of oneself and of the others and to make the participants experience their own resources, potentials and limits, in a path towards self-discovery. The workshops are held weekly at Spazio Luce, but the same activities are developed in various primary and secondary schools of Milan, too, thanks to the collaboration with the ‘Psychological Center for Childhood and Family Amamente’. - Cultural activities for the neighborhood: music concerts, ballroom dancing afternoons, neighborhood festivals, small charity markets... - Artistic Residences for external artists: it’s a way to give artists free spaces to do researches, have a dialogue with local community, share experiences and good practices. Through residences and various events organized until now, the association has built collaborations with different organisations, such us Centro psicologico per l'infanzia e la famiglia, Regula Contra Regulam, Gruppo Meraviglia, Cooltour, Canto Antico, Compagnia Coperte Strette and Compagnia Linea D’Aria. Besides that, the Association has strong collaboration with the following Schools in Milan: Istituto comprensivo Casa del Sole, Istituto paritario Cor Jesu, Istituto comprensivo Italo Calvino.