| Abstract |
In this program, diversity specialist and folklorist Norine Dresser lead actors through exercises that demonstrate cultural differences in body language and movement. Dresser discusses the norms, taboos, and gender issues surrounding a variety of gestures from a diverse array of cultures and offers explanations of reasons for gestures either to be, or not to be, performed in specific countries or settings. She introduces, considers the rules associated with, and teaches how to perform such gestures as shaking hands, social kissing, embracing, bowing, namaste, and those associated with salaam; covers rules for, reasons behind, and interpretations of such expressions as same-sex hand holding, smiling, and eye contact; and presents examples of common American gestures that are offensive in other countries. The DVD also explores cultural differences in eating customs, including such general principles as using a toothpick and emitting eating noises, and teaches how individuals eat in cultures that use knives and forks, chopsticks, and bread. |
