Animals

Animals is a physical transformation exercise in which players move through the space embodying different animals called out by a facilitator or chosen by the participants. Each new animal demands a complete shift in physicality, tempo, weight, rhythm, and energy. Players explore how different creatures occupy space, move, breathe, and interact, using the animal as a gateway to expanded physical vocabulary and heightened commitment to transformation. The exercise appears across multiple performance traditions, from Augusto Boal's Games for Actors and Non-Actors to Seraphin Eldredge's mask improvisation work, and is a foundational component of both actor training and improv pedagogy. Animals develops range of physical expression, spatial awareness, and the ability to commit fully to a physical choice without self-consciousness.

Structure

Setup

Spread the group out so everyone can move without bumping into someone else.
The coach names one animal at a time.
As soon as the animal is called, every player shifts into that animal with the whole body.

What Players Are Actually Changing

Players do not just add a gesture. They change:

posture
spine shape
weight and balance
speed and rhythm
breathing
eye focus
relationship to the floor and the room

The point is to make each animal feel physically different from the last one.

How The Round Moves

The coach gives the group enough time to settle into one animal before calling the next. Good sequencing creates contrast. A heavy elephant, a quick bird, and a low snake ask for very different centers of gravity and movement choices. That contrast stops players from staying in one safe physical pattern.

Once the basic version is working, the coach can add a second layer:

let the animals notice and react to each other
ask for a gradual transition from one animal to the next
ask for the human version of the animal, where the player becomes a person who still carries the same center, tempo, and energy

Simple Example

If the group moves from elephant to hummingbird, the shift should be obvious. The body gets lighter, faster, and more precise. If both animals are played with the same stance and tempo, the transformation is too shallow.

When To Stop

The round ends when the group has made several clear transformations and the physical choices are getting more specific instead of more generic. A coach can also stop once the players are ready to carry the physical work into character or scene work.

Common Variations

observation version, after players study real animals before playing them
interaction version, where the animals share the room and respond to one another
human version, where the animal is translated into a human character
eyes-closed crossing version, where players move carefully toward the middle as assigned animals

How to Teach It

Objectives

loosen self-consciousness by giving players a clear physical task
expand physical range beyond habitual posture and tempo
build commitment to full-body transformation
create a physical base for later character work

How to Explain It

We are going to fill the room with animals. When I call one out, change your whole body right away, not just your hands or your face.

Let the animal change your spine, your weight, your breathing, and the way you move through space. Stay with it until I change the animal.

Playing Notes

Start with animals that are easy to read in the body, such as cat, elephant, bird, snake, or horse.
Move from obvious animals to stranger ones once the group is committed.
Coach the whole body. If a player only adds claws or a funny sound, ask what changed in the back, hips, feet, breath, and focus.
Use contrast on purpose. A round gets better when the next animal forces a new center and a new rhythm.
When the room is ready, ask for the human version of the animal so the physical work carries into character.

Common Pitfalls

Players do a quick impression instead of a transformation. Why it happens: they choose a surface gesture and leave the rest of the body unchanged.
Every animal lands in the same tempo and posture. Why it happens: players are reaching for a general idea instead of a specific physical life.
The coach changes the animal too quickly. Why it matters: the group does not have time to settle into weight, breath, and rhythm before moving on.
Players chase jokes instead of commitment. Why it matters: the room stops investigating physical truth and starts performing an idea of the animal.

Notes That Appear Directly in Source Material

Viola Spolin recommends real observation, including trips to a zoo or barnyard, so players study movement, rhythm, bone structure, and facial structure instead of inventing from cliche.
112 Acting Games documents an eyes-closed variation in which players assigned different animals move slowly toward the middle of the room.
Improv Ideas documents a scene variation in which performers keep the selected animal in human form and the audience guesses the animal at the end.

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Related Exercises

Animalistics

Animalistics is a physicality exercise in which players explore movement by gradually transforming from a human into an assigned animal. The transition demands attention to weight, tempo, posture, and impulse. The exercise frees performers from habitual movement and builds a vocabulary of physical expression.

Animal Farm

Animal Farm is a physicality exercise in which each player adopts the movement, sounds, and behavioral patterns of a specific animal. Players explore the full range of an animal's physicality, then interact with other animals in the space, building character embodiment and ensemble responsiveness.

Elephant

Elephant is a high-energy circle exercise in which a center player points to someone in the circle and calls out an animal name. The targeted player and their two immediate neighbors must quickly form a three-person physical representation of that animal before the center player finishes a count. Different animals require different configurations: the center player forms the trunk for an elephant while the neighbors create the ears, or the center player mimes holding a fishing rod while the neighbors become the fish. Incorrect or slow responses send a player to the center. The exercise builds reaction speed, peripheral awareness, physical commitment, and comfort with looking foolish.

Animal Understudy

Animal Understudy is a scene game in which performers play a scene using the physicality and vocal qualities of assigned animals while maintaining human characters and dialogue. The animal influence colors every choice without replacing the scene's content. The game produces unexpected character work and physical comedy.

Barney

Barney is an energy and movement warm-up exercise in which players adopt an exaggerated, lumbering physical character and interact with the group through simple, playful commands. The exercise asks participants to embody a large, slow, friendly creature (often described as a dinosaur or monster) and move through the space with maximum physical commitment and minimum self-consciousness. The inherent silliness of the character lowers inhibitions quickly, making Barney effective as an early warm-up for groups that are new to physical work or uncomfortable with large physical choices. The exercise builds comfort with exaggerated movement, vocal projection, and the willingness to look ridiculous in front of others, all foundational skills for improv performance.

Become

Become is a transformation exercise in which players physically and vocally transform into a series of characters, objects, or environments as directed by a facilitator. Each transformation must be immediate and total. The exercise develops range, commitment, and the ability to shed one character completely before inhabiting the next.

How to Reference This Page

APA

The Improv Archive. (2026). Animals. Retrieved March 17, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/animals

Chicago

The Improv Archive. "Animals." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/animals.

MLA

The Improv Archive. "Animals." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/animals. Accessed March 17, 2026.

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