The creativity of the adolescent manifested in the theater workshop

La creatividad del adolescente manifestada en el taller de teatro

The high school student is in a stage of physical, psychological and social transition; therefore, it is necessary that adolescents find a point of connection between those aspects that interest them, facilitates and those that they consider fundamental for the construction of a positive self-perception that allows them to integrate and contribute constructively in the society to which they belong. Therefore, the question arises: What are the benefits that high school students can obtain through the theater workshop?

The objective of this research is to use the theater workshop to influence the formation and strengthening of the adolescent's self-perception as an individual, student, artist and social subject. It is hypothesized that if adolescents consider the theater workshop environment as an environment in which they can learn and, above all, have a space to express what they have learned in a creative and innovative way, then learning in an artistic environment provides tools that serve to form and strengthen their self-perception as an individual, student, artist and social subject. This research seeks to contribute, from an artistic activity, to the development of the students, through the internalization of behavioral norms, rules of interaction, establishing their interests, tastes, skills, attitudes; since all these factors are determining elements for the improvement of their creative capacity.

We start from the consideration of theater as a space that allows students to express their creative capacity, allowing it to materialize in the staging, since it involves from the creation of the dialogue for the play, the creation of the characters, the construction of the scenery and the objects that must appear in each scene.

Describing the context in which the present work is situated, the theater workshop is considered as an extracurricular activity within the San Juan del Río campus of the Escuela de Bachilleres of the UAQ, whose implementation is located in the year 2010 until the end of 2019. Considering that the participating population are the students of the same campus ranging in age from 14 to 18 years old.

It should be noted that the students are the ones who make the decision, on a voluntary basis, to join any of the extracurricular workshops, which may be sports, cultural and/or artistic. The students make the choice of the workshop during their high school studies, taking into account that it is mandatory to be present in the workshop for a minimum of two semesters (one year); however, since it is a voluntary choice, the students remain in the chosen workshop during their entire stay in the high school (three years).

We propose theater as a space that allows the elaboration of self-realization processes in the adolescent, given that aspects such as thinking, analyzing, reflecting and creating are involved, providing just the right conditions for the construction of a new conscience and in turn, a new identity for the full development of their potential, both in their individual and social character.

For this purpose, we take up authors such as Dolores Brito-Orta & Espinosa-Tanguma (2015) who mentioned that creativity within art is inherent to the individual and how it transcends to spheres of science and technology. And to Campillo-Serrano et al. (2013) with their perception of creativity as an inherent characteristic of the human being, since the latter implements it in all the activities he/she performs. In such a way that the students can visualize the diverse fields of application of the knowledge that is generated in the artistic space, that is to say, to contemplate it as a multidisciplinary environment.

In the development of self-perception, the individual's ability to not only respond to extrinsic demands, but to address intrinsic aspects of the individual, to generate artistic products within the theater workshop and that these have an impact on both instances of the students, is rescued. (Gavilanes Sagñay et al., 2019) affirmed that:

The starting point is to show interest, to want to know, and even to want to experience what happens when that inspiring moment arises. Whose meaning responds to the needs of each subject, in such a way that they can create a space where they can express themselves, where they can show the range of skills and abilities they bring with them. A space that allows him to express his own understanding of the world. (p. 282)

And precisely, the understanding of the adolescent's world and his or her different ways of making themselves known in order to achieve this unique expression, which are: affinities, skills, abilities and interests, and their areas of opportunity; recognized as subjective elements, involving in turn, habits, customs, attitudes and personality of himself or herself, which they put into action for the development of a staging within the theater.

Adding to the above statement, (Chilingaryan & Zvereva, 2017) noted that:

Creativity as a creative agent of art [...] creativity is an inherent characteristic of the human being since it is manifested in all the activities he performs, either to provide a faster solution or to generate a more efficient alternative, it must be understood that art is not arbitrary, but subject to an internal need. (p. 27)

Hence, the interests, skills and abilities are born from how the objects are for the students in the theater workshop, how they are perceiving them, what they make them feel, what they mean to them and from this, they can build and identify themselves with their creation in the staging. As he mentioned (Vargas, 2009) "the indissoluble aspect of creativity to the human being can be considered as a factor present in the artistic elaboration" (p. 26).

For the methodological development of the work, the identification of the theater workshop was established and a link is generated between the students who are part of it, and to a certain extent, it educates them both in their tastes and about themselves, as well as in what they can potentiate. From their own abilities and skills that we put into practice, so that they are using creative thinking. As Ana Avalos mentions in relation to the assignment of the characters, where students depending on their abilities and skills were designated certain roles that their character had to fulfill within the staging in such a way, or, the student feeling identified by the traits of the character to interpret opted to apply for it. (kamlot, 2017, p. 345)

Thus, agreeing with Muñoz & Díaz (2014)art is the human act par excellence: it makes the potential possible and allows us to externalize it. It rescues us from a disenchanted world and restores our desire and vitality" (p. 18). We worked on a qualitative methodology that focused on artistic creation, which encouraged the individual to emanate the best possible version of him or herself. By stating that within the theater workshop an integration of its members was generated, in which individualities were not favored, but as part of a collective, where the characters of the play were assigned to the student who was considered the most suitable to represent it.

Thus, agreeing with Kolachi & Wajidi (2011), by stating that "art is the human act par excellence: it makes the potential possible and allows us to externalize it. It rescues us from a disenchanted world and restores desire and vitality" (p. 18). Artistic creation encourages the best possible version of the individual to emanate from the individual. By expressing that within the theater workshop an integration of its members was generated, in which individualities were not favored, but as part of a collective, where the characters of the play were assigned to the student who was considered the most appropriate to represent it.

Precisely in the contemplation of the possibilities that the subject has to make a new creation within the theater, which can go from the creation of the dialogue for the play, the invention of the characters, to the construction of the scenarios and objects that should appear in each scene, considering that the students are starting from their own understanding, doubt, uncertainty and certainty of what is and what surrounds them to generate a new staging.

Where a cognitive ability of the individual stands out as is the imagination, which although, can be considered elementary in artistic creation, "imagination as the faculty with which art is made and appreciated" (Hiriart, 2015, p. 28). Emphasizing that each individual possesses the ability to imagine, to subsequently project it and/or materialize it, if we refer to the artistic and cultural field there are endless elements that allow us to appreciate art, such as museums, books, a painting, a photograph, landscapes, music, dance among others In a predisposed way, Villegas (2019)He pointed out that the most that is reached is the inventiveness that allows orders of different realities already known, so that, when this mental attitude is generalized in a society and in the subject himself, -isms are produced, that is to say, artistic movements with origin and end in the most immediate 'I'.

Rescuing the tendency of the -isms, from the moment in which one of the factors of the artistic creation rebels against the harmony of the already established and assumes the intentional direction, in such a way, that the work is creativity at the moment that they are characterized by being innovative and experimental.

Taking up this trend of -isms as an element of inspiration for the adolescent will sometimes allow or force him to go out of his comfort zone, so that he will be satisfied in the construction of a mise-en-scène where he is involved.

kamlot (2017) noted that in relation to a student who was part of the theater workshop, who performed the dialogues for the comedy plays, of which resulted with excellent acceptance by her classmates as well as her audience (personal communication).

kamlot (2017) who stated that:

In the twentieth century, the concept of creativity is used as the action of man that transcends simple reception, that is, when he does not limit himself to affirm, repeat, imitate, when he gives something of himself determined not only by novelty and mental energy, for these aspects do not occur only in art or in the work of artists, but also appear in the work of scholars, scientists, technicians and organizers.

Postulating that creation as that action of inventing or composing a work, artistic or scientific, whose originality makes it new, never seen before and with recognition of its value by the public that conceives it and by the one that contemplates it; in both cases, the proposal to Víquez et al. (2017) alludes to the knowledge of the individual in the search for the self and its transcendence. Therefore, art is linked to ourselves, and to a certain extent, it educates us, the tastes and that learning is about oneself. From the own capacities and abilities that we put into practice, in such a way that we are employing a creative thought.

Precisely in the contemplation of the possibilities that the subject has to make a new creation within the theater, which can go from the creation of the dialogue for the play, the invention of the characters, to the construction of the scenarios and objects that should appear in each scene, considering that the students are starting from their own understanding, doubt, uncertainty and certainty of what is and what surrounds them to generate a new staging.

Where a cognitive ability of the individual stands out as is the imagination, which although, it can be considered elementary in artistic creation, "imagination as the faculty with which art is made and appreciated" (Hiriart, 2015, p. 28). Emphasizing that each individual possesses the ability to imagine, to subsequently project it and/or materialize it, if we refer to the artistic and cultural field there are endless elements that allow us to appreciate art, such as museums, books, a painting, a photograph, landscapes, music, dance, among others.

In a predisposed way, he pointed out that the most that is reached is the inventiveness that allows orders of different realities already known, so that, when this mental attitude is generalized in a society and in the subject himself, -isms are produced, that is to say, artistic movements with origin and end in the most immediate 'I'. Rescuing the tendency of the -isms, from the moment in which one of the factors of artistic creation rebels against the harmony of the already established and assumes the intentional direction, in such a way, that the work is creativity at the moment that they are characterized by being innovative and experimental.

Taking up this trend of -isms as an element of inspiration for the adolescent will sometimes allow or force him to leave his comfort zone, in such a way that he is satisfied in the construction of a staging where he is involved. In relation to a student who was part of the theater workshop, who performed the dialogues for the comedy plays, which were very well received by her classmates and her audience (personal communication).

(Brito-Orta & Espinosa-Tanguma, 2015)who stated that:

In the 20th century, the concept of creativity is used as the action of man that transcends simple reception, that is, when he does not limit himself to affirm, repeat, imitate, when he gives something of himself determined not only by novelty and mental energy, since these aspects do not occur only in art or in the work of artists, He described that the selection of the works that were represented was based on the initiative of the students themselves, starting from themes that interested them or that they wished to address, such as dating, sexuality, teenage pregnancy, femicide and domestic violence (personal communication). Therefore, each staging responded to the concerns and interests of the workshop members themselves, giving each work an innovative and personalized character.

Understanding that art can be appreciated, enjoyed and discussed; the aspect to highlight would be the desire for adolescents to be able to stand out from their creations in the theater workshop, generating their own adaptations in relation to what is close to them, to their particular vision of understanding and representing it. Therefore, the human being searches, in a very insistent way, the meaning of his life and in his conscience there are elements that imprison him in an existential conflict: he wants to transcend and be happy; that is why his contact with art is essential, whether he makes it as a unique invention or he generates it from the creation of others through imagination and implementing his creativity as it was generated in the theater workshop.

The student, being in a moment of human development of consolidation, seeks to build a unique and different self-perception from the rest of those around him; and in this search for conformation, he resorts to new spaces of development and manifestation, an environment that, undoubtedly, can be found in the theater workshop. Affirming that the space generated in the theater workshop as an environment that allows students to reflect, analyze, think about how to promote those capabilities, skills, experiences that foster human development and creativity in adolescents. To contribute to the construction of the perception of self, as well as the influence in the different places in which the students develop.