Abandon Societal Expectations: A Play Workshop

Have you ever witnessed a child engrossed in their play? There's nothing quite like it. Sometimes we think that play is something only for the young child, but truly, play is for everyone and it is good...healthy for us. As a part of our attention Mental Health this season, St. Luke's is pleased to present a Play Workshop led by our very own Carmen Kingsley.

Why Play?

Constructing spaces where we can abandon societal expectations and pressures allows us to change perspective. Play spaces encourage us to shed some of our adherence to social constructs in order to experiment with how we perceive ourselves and how we interact with others.In this workshop the facilitator will draw on tools from clowning and cooperative games to create a safe space for interaction and play.This workshop will take place on Sunday, October 7th and Sunday, October 14th from 12:00-1:30 p.m.

Who will be facilitating this fun?

Carmen Kingsley first moved to Chicago to participate in the Mennonite Voluntary Service program.  Her two year service assignment with Play for Peace and Adventure Education in the Chicago Public Schools certainly colored the rest of her adult life.  Later she traveled to France with Brethren Volunteer Service and earned a scholarship to study theology at ISEDET in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Upon arriving in Argentina, Carmen began to explore circus arts, from trapeze to clowning and dancing.  She began to experience her spirituality through awareness of her body.  Her masters thesis examined dance in the Old Testament and metaphorical movement.  A family emergency brought Carmen back to the United States.  She found a full time circus training program in Chicago so she moved to Chicago for the program and stayed to teach circus classes.  Carmen also does clowning with Operamatic, a community arts organization and teaches Pilates at Pilates Artistry.