Description 

Using selected scenes from Coco, the 2017 animated film inspired by the Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), this experiential workshop invites participants to explore our relationships with those who have died and the ways love, memory, family, and belonging may continue beyond physical death.

 Through sociodrama, action methods, role play, role reversal, and group dialogue, participants will explore themes of remembering, belonging, and beyond. What happens to a relationship when someone dies? How do those who are no longer physically present continue to live within our memories, families, stories, and identities? What might we imagine or believe exists on the other side of goodbye?

 Rather than focusing only on loss and grief, the workshop creates space for curiosity, imagination, connection, and continuing bonds. Participants will explore how encounters with death can deepen our understanding of life, strengthen our sense of belonging across generations, and invite us to consider what we carry forward from those who came before us—and what we hope to leave behind.

 Learning Objectives 
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Explore personal and collective perspectives on death, remembrance, and continuing bonds through sociodramatic action methods.
2. Use role play and role reversal to explore relationships between the living and those who are no longer physically present.
3. Examine how family stories, memory, ancestry, and belonging can continue to shape identity across generations.
4. Explore how engaging with mortality and imagining what may exist beyond physical death can foster connection, meaning, gratitude, and intentional living.