Social Presencing Theatre - 4D Mapping
Social Presencing Theatre's 4D Mapping uses embodied role-play to explore complex systems and reveal hidden dynamics. By engaging the body, participants gain a deeper, felt understanding of interconnectedness, leading to innovative solutions and transformative change.
Use this method when you need to foster a deeper understanding of complex social or environmental issues, identify leverage points for change, and move beyond cognitive understanding to embodied sensing.
Solves: Lack of understanding of systemic relationships, inability to identify root causes of problems, difficulty generating innovative solutions to complex issues.
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Step 1: Introduction (10 mins) - Introduce Social Presencing Theatre and 4D Mapping. Share background information and case examples. Conclude with a brief somatic warm-up (e.g., silence, slow movement) to encourage presence.
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Step 2: Co-Initiating (10 mins) - Present the case to be explored. Clearly define the roles. Remind participants to embody the role as it is, not as it should be. Do a brief body-awareness exercise (sensing the back of the body and the ground beneath the feet).
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Step 3: Co-Sensing (20 mins) - Call out each role and invite volunteers. Participants choose a position in the space based on their felt sense of the role in relation to the center, edge, and other roles. Each participant speaks one sentence from their role's perspective.
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Step 4: Presencing & Crystallising (20 mins) - Invite participants to transition into movement from Sculpture 1 to Sculpture 2. Allow the movement to unfold gradually and intuitively. Once the sculpture has come to a natural stop, each player says the name of their role and one sentence that reflects their experience of this new configuration.
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Step 5: Generative Dialogue (20 mins) - Guide a group reflection on the experience of moving from Sculpture 1 to Sculpture 2 using reflective questions. Invite everyone to step out of their role consciously.
- Reassure participants that there is no right or wrong way to embody a role.
- Emphasize that this is an embodied exploration, not a performance.
- Encourage participants to follow their felt sense rather than overthinking their movements.
- Use different types of movement prompts (e.g., sound, touch) to stimulate the transition between sculptures.
- Incorporate visual aids (e.g., images, objects) to represent the roles or the system.
- Extend the generative dialogue phase to allow for deeper reflection and action planning.