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BOARD CORNER
IDEAS continues to actively recruit individuals for our
Board of Directors. Do you want to give back to your community and help theater arts education for youth with disabilities? Do you have what it takes to move IDEAS forward?
Beliefs required: the arts have a valuable place in the development and education of youth with disabilities and other disadvantages.
If not you, perhaps someone you know. For more information
PLEASE INQUIRE Info@IDEASDrama.org 718-387-5055
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In our next newsletter:
Sociodrama Plus at IS 229X.
Creative Drama workshop for the Deaf community.
American Alliance for Theater Education conference.
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"I learned how to trust others and how to cooperate with others."
Student, Bronx
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I.D.E.A.S. is supported by:
The NY State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), a state agency
The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs
Queens Council on the Arts
Brooklyn Arts Council
BRIC Arts Media Bklyn
Pinkerton Charitable Trust
Theresa Foundation
Materials for the Arts/NYC Department of Sanitation/NYC Department of Education.
The Mertz Gilmore Foundation
Numerous individuals
 
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DURING-SCHOOL PROGRAMS
P231K
Thanks to a regrant made possible with funds from the Local Capacity Building Initiative, a regrant program of the Arts in Education program of the NYSCA, administered by BRIC|Media|Bklyn and the Brooklyn Arts Council, teaching artist Mike Piazza returned with Creative Drama to partner with teacher Vanna Duong to work with students on the autism spectrum and with other developmental and learning disabilities to explore music, character development and setting.
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wraps up a Sociodrama session in Queens
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P811K
Teaching artist Jenny Seaquist returned to P 811K for a Creative Drama Plus program with four classes of multi-disabled and autistic teens. With the help of teaching artist Romy Nordlinger and the participating teachers, the students took to the stage with a theme of New York and depicted street food vendors, tourists, police officers, caterers and even the Rockettes!
BRIDGE BACK TO LIFE
Thanks to support from the Assurant Foundation, IDEAS' Sociodrama returned to the alternative school program at Bridge Back to Life Adolescent Services in Coney Island. Teaching Artist Ana Holly, along with TA Cherish Duke explored issues of substance abuse, peer pressure and violence by using those issues as themes for improvisation.
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"Dealing with very difficult situations through drama allows the students to express what they normally can't."
Teacher, Queens
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AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS
PS 636K
After a short but successful fall, Teaching Artist Twinkle Burke continued at PS 636K this spring, guiding students to explore music and sound, making their own instruments and learning to use them in original scenes, as well as performing urban fables. Some students, because of their troubled background struggled with the freedom of creative drama that also had rules and parameters. In the end, the students' pride was evident in their beaming faces and eager attitudes. They didn't just learn how to perform for an audience, they learned patience, perseverance, teamwork and concentration.
THE BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY
Returning to 4 branches of time the Brooklyn Public Library with Creative Drama: Bringing Stories to Life, teaching Artist Romy Nordlinger facilitated the program at the Cypress Hills and Leonard branches, while teaching artists Jenny Seaquist and Barbara Matovu brought programming to the Bushwick and Brownsville branches, respectively. Students learned the basics of improvisational drama, use of props and costumes and the connections between literacy, storytelling and playmaking.
P811X
Following fall in-school Sociodrama, three groups of students engaged in Creative Drama after school with teaching artists Ana Holly and Mike Piazza. Proudly showing what they learned for their parents, the students - multi-disabled teenagers - proudly engaged in scenes showing how seeds grow into flowers and the challenges teachers have with classroom management (all in good fun of course).
21st CENTURY LEARNING CENTERS
Teaching artist Aimee Reigel lead students at PS 89 in the Bronx through a montage of dialogue and show tunes for an invited audience. Working with teacher Harold Watson at Grace Dodge High School the students successfully staged a production of Sam Shepard's Back Bog Beast Bait. Best of luck to Aimee who leaves us to pursue creativity in Seattle.
At IS 230Q a hearty group of students devised an original short play with music called I.S. Gundi Students Save the Day , with the help of teaching artist Tim Connell (see article below).
Teaching artist Cherish Duke guided students to perform for their peers, parents and other students. At PS/MS 7 two casts performed their rendition of Grease and an enthusiastic group of girls performed Perseus and Medusa at PS 112Q.
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This column is in memory of Carl Roye Jr., one of IDEAS' first student participants. He was a shining star who passed on too young. Look here for inspiring stories of how IDEAS' programs touch students' lives and how students touch our lives.
How does one measure the success of a residency? That is a question that I've wondered about when working as a teaching artist. Through my IDEAS Creative Drama Plus residency at IS230Q this spring I discovered a simple answer. As part of the 21st Century Learning Centers I worked with the same core group of 6th - 8th graders from October to June. When the students returned from winter break, we sat down to discuss what they wanted to do for the spring showcase. They all were emphatic about wanting to do something that they could relate to, that spoke to them. While they enjoyed the experience of learning and performing a short mythological play they now wanted to do something more relevant to the here and now. Out of that discussion emerged the idea of re-shaping High School Musical to make their own version, thus making it more of a Middle School Musical. Happy to oblige their wishes, I guided them through the creative drama process building a piece of theatre from their ideas. A true student-centered, project oriented process. We named it I.S. Gundi Saves the Day. As the time came closer to the performance, I wasn't sure if I was being successful. As we put the piece together I was uncertain about how they felt about what was being developed, even though they were very much part of the entire process. Working with a set script is a bit easier in that the playwright has answered many of the questions that we were now faced with: story, plot, setting, action, characters, and relationships. My uncertainty was alleviated one day when a couple of the students approached me with a question. They wanted to know if they could perform their piece not only for the showcase at the end of the residency, which was part of an afterschool program, but could they perform it for the whole school as well, during school hours. While in the end, logistics and timing didn't allow them to fulfill that wish, the desire, in and of itself, told me that they were very proud of what they put together. They felt proud and successful about their work and wanted to share it. In turn, it was clear to me that my guidance during the residenc y was successful and had an impact.
Timothy Connell, IDEAS Teaching Artist
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