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Incite/Insight
Member’s Corner
feel that they do not have enough support
in order to do their work. However, I did also
raise the question of, “What does support
mean?” It did seem to me that it was
going unrecognized that there are many
programs provided for them including
having me come in from the United States
to work with them. I left thinking, “What is
the right support for artists and how do we
provide it so that it can best support the
work they are doing?”
Program Youth Artists
I worked with young artists, ranging from
about 12 years old to 17 years old, to further
develop theater skills that they already had
begun to develop, and we used devising
techniques to create a piece of theater.
We only had 3 days, two hours each day,
with this group of about 25 students. We
Summer/Early Fall 2018
started with ensemble-building activities,
but since they had been working together
for so long, they already had a wonderful
ensemble established. They worked
really well together. Each day we spent
some time participating in skill-building
activities/games to engage and develop
skills focusing on the Actor’s Toolbox
(Voice, Body, Imagination) as well as
Improv games.
These kids were much more advanced
then I had imagined. They came to class
wearing all black, and as soon as they
came into the space, they started to do
physical warm-ups. They were happy,
focused, and thrilled to have me there,
which made it so easy.
We decided as a group to do some
simple interviews with their communities
(teachers, siblings, family members,
neighbors) around an agreed upon topic,
and then they all brought the interviews
back and in groups began a process
of devising. This started out with them
working in groups of 4-5 to establish what
their interviews had in common and what
was different. I then asked them to think
about this: “If you took this information
and wanted to share it with an audience,
what would you want your audience to
walk away with?” They discussed and then
the magic of devising began. Each group
was asked to have at least one tableau
in their short pieces, some role-playing,
some dialogue, some choral speak, some
simultaneous movement. They were
able to give peer-to-peer feedback with
other groups and then have some more
time to refine their pieces. As I watched,
I made notes as to what would make
sense in terms of how to sequence these.
In addition, since we had used flocking as
a warm-up, I had a different group than
the one who was presenting do a flocking
“performance” in between each scene. For
example, when group 1 performed, group 6
would perform a flocking scene after, then
group 2 would perform, and then group
Incite/Insight
Member’s Corner
Summer/Early Fall 2018
29
5 would do a flocking scene after, etc. By
the end of the final day, we had a cohesive
25-30 minute performance that the drama
teacher would continue rehearsing to
share with parents at a later date. had a strong foundation. These kids were
passionate and responsible; they went
home and did their ‘homework’ and were
always prepared, so it was wonderful for
me to be in the moment of creating as an
artist with them.
Participant Outcome Program Elementary Artists
Participants not only gained an experience
in devising theater, but they also further
developed the theater skills that they had
been working on before participating in this
experience. With these artists, we continued to
introduce and develop theater skills
using creative drama techniques. I used
ensemble-building activities, theater
games including improv games and
storytelling to have these students devise
an ending to a story. The youngest group
I worked with ranged in age from 6
years of age to about 10 years old. They
participated in creating performances
based on a story I told them called “Como
el escarabajo tiene sus colores.” They
used mime, movement, music, dance,
improvisation, tableau, role-play, Reader’s
Theater, and their imaginations to retell this
story and to add to it.
Personal Outcome
I gained huge respect for the theater
teacher who had already been working
with these kids. It was really great to work
with theater students who were excited
about working with me and who already
I only worked with this group for two
days, two hours each day, and I was so
impressed with the commitment and
dedication they had this week.
Participant Outcome
Participants not only gained an experience
in storytelling, but they also developed
even more theater skills by participating
in tableau work, Improv games, and
ensemble-building activities. By the end
of my time with them, these students were
taking risks in their scenes.
Personal Outcome
There were some really young kids in the
group, as young as 6 years old. It was
wonderful to see how much respect they
had for the art form, and it reminded me
of the power of the arts, especially when
introduced well with children.