Playback Theatre Leadership Training
The Centre for Playback Theatre is happy to announce the dates for the next PT Leadership Training. In association with the Centre for Playback, The School of Playback Theatre (UK) will be hosting the 2012 Leadership Training at The Buckden Towers, Buckden, England.
This course offers students a chance for an extended training with playback theatre’s founder. It will emphasize skill development, especially in conducting. It will teach theory. It will also confront the issues that face playback leaders, including company life, performance standards, and community relations.
For more information visit: Playback Leadership – United Kingdom
The Wonders of Teaching Playback
The students sat holding a giant circle of twine. They came from Denmark, Brazil, Canada, Australia, and the US. Odia Jordaan, from Pretoria,South Africa, another student, had asked them to write on a piece of paper and tape to the twine one way they had used playback theatre. “Pick one setting,” she said. There was a diversity of answers: “in a school,” “for a corporation,” “at a memorial service.” She then asked them to tape a piece of paper with one setting where they dreamt of bringing playback theatre: to corporations, to immigrants, to families, to troubled youth. Then, after giving individual pieces of twine to each member, she invited them to run it from their spot on the circle across to anyone else whose setting they aspired to. The result was a network of connection that captured not only the wide range of applications for playback theatre, but the spirit of connection among its practitioners.
Odia’s presentation was part of a 4-day course called Teaching Playback Theatre to Beginners taught by Jonathan Fox that recently took place at Falling Waters in Saugerties, NY. It followed the three-day Beauty of the Form taught by Jo Salas. This course focused on the different playback forms and the art of when to use them. “I now have much more confidence about what to do,” said one of the students. “And it is so important to come to the source.” Jonathan and Jo are the founders of playback theatre.
Thanks to Our Generous Supporters
The Centre for Playback Theatre wishes to thank all generous supporters of our 2010 fundraising campaign who made donations totaling over $14,000 since October. These gifts are of tremendous value to the Centre at this time of transition. Donations came in accompanied by gracious messages from international supporters from Hong Kong, Israel, New Zealand, Bali, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, Canada, and the USA.
Thank you for your support!
This communication came from Fe Day of Aotearoa, New Zealand:
MANY THANKS and much love to all at the School – and good wishes for our worldwide community
MAY WE reach out in effective ways and do wonderful transforming work, to help humanity think and respond to our challenges WITH intimacy and belonging, not alienation and objectification! THANKS for all you do, dear sisters and brothers!
Using Playback to Fight Slavery
In November, Shivanna Puttaiah and Kiran Kamal Prasad of Bangalore, India, visited the Playback Centre and attended a public performance of Hudson River Playback Theatre. They were here on a US tour after receiving the distinguished Harriet Tubman Freedom Award from the DC-based Free the Slaves on behalf of JEEVIKA, a grassroots organization that works in rural villages outside Bangalore, where the Dalits or “untouchable” caste has endured centuries of poverty and humiliation.
JEEVIKA helps slaves understand their rights and free themselves from bondage and was founded by Kiran, a former Jesuit priest, who has vowed to improve life for the marginalized and poor. The group incorporates playback theatre and other theatre forms in their vital educational work with slaves and former slaves. The goal, says Kiran, is “inculcating in them a sense of freedom and purpose in their lives, and making them resolve to come out of bondage. We motivate them. We encourage them to come out of slavery and be independent, to support their families in a dignified way.”
Shivanna Puttaiah grew up in slavery, yanked from school at age 12 to work off the family debt as a farm hand. “When I was a bonded laborer, I was treated like an animal. When I see bonded laborers, I have fire in my heart,” he says. Shivanna is now free, after learning from JEEVIKA that bonded labor was outlawed in India more that 30 years ago. He slipped away from the farm and filed court papers to win his freedom. Now, he’s a leader in JEEVIKA and shows others how to follow his example. “My parents gave me birth,” Shivanna says, “but it is JEEVIKA which gave me a way to lead an independent life. That is why I feel JEEVIKA is just as my father.”
To see a video, go to FreetheSlaves.net or go to Jeevika-free.org for more information.
Honoring Families
Centre Company Partner Big Apple Playback Theatre was awarded a $10,000 grant by the Geen Foundation to provide playback performances to disadvantaged families. Big Apple Playback Theatre, based in New York City, works in schools and other settings with young people. Congratulations!
Playback Rising in DC
The first weekend in October, over 40 playback practitioners from the US and Canada attended a Gathering to Grow Playback Theatre hosted by the Playback North America Initiative of Arts Rising.
The event was preceded by a two-day Centre for Playback course, Supervision for Playback Leaders, led by Jonathan Fox and Kimberly Rattley, offering guidance and support to 11 playback leaders and emergent leaders from around the country. The gathering brought together people from Maine to North Carolina on the East Coast, as well as Colorado, Washington, and Canada, with opportunities for rich exchange and networking as enthusiasm to mobilize the North American region, connect playback practitioners, and strengthen playback’s presence builds.
The Centre was represented at the gathering by new ED Sarah Urech, Board Chair Chris von Baeyer, and Board Members Pamela Freeman and Will Chalmus. Special appreciation for organizing and coordinating this event go to Christopher Ellinger, Zhaleh Almaee, Amber Espar, Anne Ellinger and Nancy Capaccio from Arts Rising; Tim Reagan at the Sidwell Friends School for hosting and the Synergy in Action playback company for providing food & drink; as well as many volunteers.
Welcoming Heidi
The Centre is delighted to announce the addition of Heidi Reagan to the staff! She started on September 14 as administrative assistant in our office at 12 North Chestnut Street in New Paltz.
Heidi brings a wealth of professional experience to the position in administration, marketing, publishing, and social media. As a personal life coach, Heidi’s passion is working with people to identify and connect with their unique life purpose. She’s friendly, upbeat and efficient and is learning lots about the world of playback theatre. You’ll probably hear her cheerful voice when you call the office or receive an e-mail response from her when you write to office@playbackcentre.org.
Please help us welcome her to the Centre!
Playback for Lithuanians
Answering the needs of diaspora Lithuanians throughout Europe, a recent playback theatre project brought their stories to the stage in Ireland and the UK. Funded by the EU and directed by Rasa Urbšiene and Egle Pauziene, the project involved six participants from three countries attending the “Encounter at the Crossroads” training on issues of immigraton that the Centre offered last October in Plymouth, England. Then followed the four performances. The project concluded with a workshop in Vilnius conducted by two members of the England’s Mirror Mirror Playback Theatre, Amanda Brown and Alison Fairlove (both are graduates of the Centre training program). Also participating were Helen Blackhurst and Sheila O’Keefe of Dublin Playback Theatre. For more information about this and other projects of the Lithuanian group, see http://www.yourstorymystory.lt/naujienos/lang/en; http://www.dalinkimes.org/naujienos/lang/en.
New graduates
At a touching graduation ceremony in the wood-paneled castle of Manhattanville College, eight participants of the Centre’s PT Leadership training graduated on July 23, culminating years of training and experience and a three week-long final course taught by Jonathan Fox.
They include Sheila Donio of Brazil, Will Chalmus and Davis Rodgriguez Melendez of the United States, Elisabeth Couture of Quebec, Canada, Davina Holmes of New Zealand now living in England, Anna Lena Ostern of Finland now living in Norway, Katrin Knoche of Germany, and Endel Hango of Estonia.
Topics studied included performance skills, company mission, membership and budget, ethics, and oneness.
The students performed twice during the course for campus audiences.
At the graduation, a pickup team performed playback theatre for the new graduates, including former Centre (then School) co-director Jo Salas, current Executive Director Sarah Urech, Matt Spitzer, and faculty member Hannah Fox, with Jessie Cocks and Patrick Seyler as musicians.
BAPT at U.S. Customs & Border Protection
Big Apple Playback Theater (BAPT) had a great performance in August for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency at JFK airport. They were invited in for their Family Heritage and Diversity Program. Approximately 60 people were in attendance and many told their stories about their work family and home family. . .
One woman, a mother of five, happy to have her middle child going off to college- one less person at home!; another man, in uniform, worked at JFK for 20 years, leaving to work at SFO for a better position- leaving his aging mother and all of his colleagues behind a pair; a supervisor feeling anxious because the fiscal year ends the end of September and there is a lot of loose ends to tie up = high stress; another woman planning a 90th birthday party for her dad and though very happy and proud that he is still so lucid and alive it has been a very emotional process weeding through all the photos and memories for the slide show; one of the stories was about how a woman, who when young, used to travel the world during summers (instead of going to summer camp) and visit relatives in different countries and one summer when she was ten she lived on a farm in Germany with her German grandparents and she had to deliver a baby calf at 5am or else she wouldn’t get any breakfast!
Audience members really got into it after hesitating for the first few moments… it was adventure that really paid off!
Posted on Thursday, September 29th, 2011 at 10:06 am in Uncategorized.