Updated 7.26.23
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE | 12
explore the partnership - situating ourselves within a scenario and taking on roles to think from and about different viewpoints , as well as stepping out of the drama to reflect .
Inviting Children with ASD to the world of Shakespeare Track : Applied Theatre Presenter : Jirye Lee Location : The 5 th Avenue Theatre – Studio A
Hunter Heartbeat Method ( HHM ) is a series of drama games for children with autism , invented by British actor Kelly Hunter based on her decade-long fieldwork . Her journey has begun when she ran a workshop for prisoners while she was touring with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1991 . She prepared the workshop using speeches form Shakespeare ' s play . When she arrived at the site , she realized that none of the participants could read . She immediately discarded the script . She used short phrases from the play , encouraged them to work on their feet , improvised body sculpting , and introduced the characters to them . Thirty men who had been ashamed of their lack of literary skills transformed into a group of individuals with fierce opinions and passionate questions on life in less than two hours . This experience transformed Hunter as well . From that point on , her motivation to teach Shakespeare would focus on invigorating the learners ' souls in the present , rather than on raising future well-behaving theatergoers . Her discovery of how Shakespeare ' s characters and texts could function as strong tools to break communication barriers for certain individuals led her to work with children , especially those with ASD . Using Shakespeare ' s text and focusing on his " poetic exploration of how it feels to be alive , how it feels to expressively communicate ," Hunter created sets of rules and roles for a playground for children with ASD . In the HHM workshop , children ' s learning experiences take place in a rather three-dimensional mode . This is especially so for non-verbal participants . When they are taught Shakespeare ' s texts , what is delivered is indeed many-fold : Interpersonal communication techniques , rules in social interaction , personal boundaries , and ways to express oneself , whether verbally , or non-verbally . By introducing some of the games from HHM , I would like to illustrate how drama can be an efficient tool in teaching and learning language , not simply as a means of communication , but also as self-expression .
Lessons From Shakespeare ' s Classroom Track : High School Presenter : Robin Lithgow Location : The 5 th Avenue Theatre – Studio B
" Lessons From Shakespeare ' s Classroom : Empowering Learning Through Drama and Rhetoric ," posits that the brilliance of Shakespeare ' s generation was the result of the performative aspects of both the formal ( classical ) and informal ( colloquial ) curriculum in Elizabethan schools . In this interactive workshop we will explore and perform humorous scenes from Desiderius Erasmus ' " Colloquia " ( short scripted scenes for the teaching of Latin ), and note their " echoes " in Shakespeare ' s early comedies . Lots of laughter will be allowed !
Mime , Movies , and Making Waves : Approaching Activism in First-Grade Drama Track : PreK-8 Presenter : Suzanne Katz Location : Crowne Plaza – Parkside – Second Floor
Our early elementary students are not immune to discourse from the world around their classrooms . Equity , inclusion , diversity , and race are all constant terms in the discussions that have bounded their lives . In fact , young children are keen observers of equity and fairness- and are ready to examine these topics in their classrooms . Beginning with a simple mime activity , uncover how first-grade students learning about silent storytelling enabled them to confront the inequities of early Hollywood and claim the genre of silent film for themselves . This workshop will provide an activity sequence , visual clips , and resources that can be used to simultaneously explore mime , silent film , and issues of equity in the drama classroom in addition to content standards and key questions to build an interdisciplinary unit with homeroom teachers and school content directors .