Hello TASC friends! We are looking forward to a lively conference once again, and are planning the agenda for the TASC business meeting which takes place Saturday AM. WE NEED YOUR INPUT! Business already on the agenda includes: 1. Election of annual positions: Newsletter Editor, Membership and Elections Coordinator, Secretary/Treasurer, and a Conference Planner-Elect. If you are interested in any position and want more info, or if you know a likely candidate, please contact an OC member. 2. Review of by-laws. No changes are planned for this year, but we always welcome input and ideas from TASC members. 3. Discussion of how to improve the way we make arrangements for the post-conference, perhaps appointing a post-con coordinator at each year's meeting. 4. Updating the web page. Please send your suggestions and concerns to the list or to any member of the OC. We'd like to hear from you.
From Melanie Blood, Conference Planner
For this year's ATHE conference, Theatre and Social Change is sponsoring seven full panels, plus our business meeting and networking session and co-sponsoring one panel with the Lesbian and Gay Theatre focus group. The selection process was more competitive than usual this year, but those panels chosen by the conference committee represent several areas of our work and promise to be exciting. The ATHE 2000 conference, subtitled "Dreaming the Century", will be held in Washington DC, at the Marriott on Pennsylvania Ave, from August 2-5. In order to get the conference rate and be assured a room at the hotel, you must reserve a room by June 23, 2000. (the phone number is (202) 393-2000) The following is a schedule of Theatre and Social Change panels at the upcoming conference. The sessions are listed in the order that they will occur in the conference, so please feel free to hit print and use this to plan what will certainly be an exciting and busy conference.
Wed 8/2, 9:45-11:15: Promotion/Tenure Issues for Community-based and Theatre for Social Change Academics. Coordinator: Beth Cherne, TASC Focus Group Representative.
Thurs 8/3, 11:30-1:00: Problematizing the Role of the Facilitator in Theatre of the Oppressed and Interactive Theatre. Coordinator: Sharon Green. Presenters: Cathy Plourde, Leslie Bentley, and Sonja Kuftinec.
Thurs 8/3, 11:30-1:00: Eco-Action Theatre: Giving Form to Experience. Coordinator: David Kaye. Presenters: Sara Romersberger, David Kaye and Michael Mufson.
Thurs 8/3, 3:30-5:00: Community-based Avant-garde. Coordinator: Assunta Kent. Presenters: Kent, Jean Graham-Jones, Leslie Delmenico, Anne Basting.
Fri 8/4, 8:00-9:30: Business meeting. Coordinators: Beth Cherne (Focus Group Rep) and Melanie Blood (Conference Planner)
Fri 8/4, 9:45-11:15: TASC Networking Session. Coordinators: Beth Cherne (Focus Group Rep) and Melanie Blood (Conference Planner). I'm excited that this year the networking session was placed directly after the business meeting. This is a terrific, informal opportunity to share our work and to network for projects during the year and for the ATHE 2001 conference.
Fri 8/4, 3:30-5:00: Performing Democracy: Issues Circumscribing the Theory and Performance of Community-based Performance. Coordinator: Susan Haedicke. Presenters: Bruce McConachie, Alan Filewood, Tori Haring-Smith. Fri
8/4, 5:15-6:45: Sugar and Spice and Theatre Not-so-Nice: Theatre with, by and for Girls. Coordinator: Melanie Blood. Presenters: Blood, Cathy Plourde, Susan Applebaum.
Sat 8/5, 9:45-11:15: Latina/o Performance and the Politics of Community Theater. Coordinator: Patricia Herrera. Presenters: Herrera, Maria Figueroa, Tiffany Ann Lopez.
Thanks to all TASC-ers for so many exciting submissions, for the work many of you are also pouring into a TASC post-conference, and to the TASC selection committee. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you in DC in August.
From Sharon Green, Election Coordinator
At the TASC business meeting this year in DC, we will be electing people to fill the positions listed below. If you are interested in nominating yourself or someone else to any of these positions, please send me an email message at: shgreen@davidson.edu before July 29. The only true qualification for each of these positions is an interest and/or curiosity in the work of TASC, and enthusiasm! The people serving in elected positions are also automatically members of TASC's Organizing Collective and have the opportunity, throughout the year, to engage in discussions regarding our current and future activities. Serving in one of these positions is an EXCELLENT way to learn more about TASC and get more involved in both TASC and ATHE. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch with me. AND consider nominating someone you would like to see get more involved with us in the coming years! OR, if you were involved with TASC in the past, but haven't been very active recently, WE NEED YOU BACK! Please consider nominating yourself for one of these positions!!!
Conference Planner-Elect:This person serves a three year term, the first of which is spent assisting and observing the work of the current Conference Planner and the second two of which are spent as the TASC Conference Planner. The Conference Planner is responsible for coordinating all TASC sponsored events at the annual ATHE conference. This includes: facilitiating and encouraging proposals for sessions; assembling and overseeing the work of a committee which will vet all submissions for TASC sponsored sessions; working with the ATHE conference committee to determine a final slate of panels at the Conference. Our current Conference Planner is Melanie Blood.
Newsletter Editor: A one-year position. This person edits the TASC Newsletter (which usually appears around September, February, and June), and distributes it electronically. Editing the newsletter can be great fun and involve a lot of networking. Our current Newsletter Editor is Michael Mufson.
Secretary/Treasurer: A one-year position. This person takes minutes during the annual meeting, receives and handles donations, maintains records, prepares attendance sheets, and does several other odd jobs during the year as needed. Our current Secretary/Treasurer is Cathy Plourde.
Membership and Elections Coordinator: A one-year position. This person is responsible for updating the mailing list, collecting electronic mail addresses, sending this information to the appropriate officers or agents of ATHE and TASC, soliciting nominations and self-nominations for the next election of officers, and announcing the candidates. Our current Membership and Elections Coordinator is Sharon Green.
Graduate Student Representative: In the last 2 years ATHE has begun to focus greater attention on creating programs and networking opportunities for graduate students and more opportunities for the graduate student reps of each focus group to make a real difference in the organization. This position will allow you to network with graduate students from other focus groups as well as those also interested in TASC and bring your thoughts and concerns to the Organizing Collective. This is a great way to get involved with TASC! Our current Graduate Student Rep is Patricia Herrera.
ECO-ACTION THEATRE: PLAYING WITH OUR OWN WASTE Michael Mufson
Don't miss this exciting workshop on creating original, collective
performances about environmental issues. In the course of the workshop the
participants will create a short performance composition using waste materials
collected during the conference. At the beginning of the conference we will
distribute garbage bags to willing participants. The task will be collect
personal waste products generated just by being at the conference. The object
is to create an awareness of just how much waste we are personally responsible
for. We are hoping that people who may not take the workshop will be willing
to collect their waste products and contribute them to the workshop. In the
workshop we will transform these waste products, and the process of collecting
them, into performance material. The workshop will also include a brief introduction
to Viewpoints and other collective creation tools.
From Eberhard Scheiffele
Hi Folks, I will be in two presentations of interest to TASC folks: -On August 1 at the LGT pre-conference I am part of a panel and will facilitate a workshop on Transgender. This may be my coming-out celebration - I took psychopathology this semester and realized that I satisfy the conditions for so-called Gender Identity Disorder. -On August 2, the first day of the conference at 8 am (arghh!) together with David Kaye, we will present a workshop on Confronting Homophobia. Before the conference on July 29 and 30, I will teach a one credit course "The Theatre of Truth" at Immaculata College here in PA. I have now completed my certification by the American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Group Psychotherapy, and Sociometry. By September I expect to have authorization to award training hours towards certification. Anyone interested in psychodrama trainings and workshops, please contact me. As always, I am interested in collaborating on projects, especially if anyone is near Philadelphia area.
Friendly, Eberhard Scheiffele
From Cathy Plourde
Dear Friends, Last Fall I put out a request for assistance while pulling a violence-prevention arts-based residency project together in rural Maine High Schools. The support and resources offered was outstanding. Many asked to be updated on the project. Please pass this along to those you feel would be interested. Thank you! --Cathy Plourde, Portland, Maine) The Maine Alliance For Arts Education, a Kennedy Center Affilate, will shortly be releasing a report on its PENQUIS PROJECT: BUILDING COMMUNITY THROUGH THE ARTS IN OUR HIGH SCHOOLS. The Penquis Project put theatre and creative movement artists in regular high school classrooms --English, Physical Education, History, Spanish-- for two week residencies, culminating in a conference at which the students performed pieces they created during their time with an artist. Sixteen high schools participated. The goal of the project was to foster a more positive social climate in the schools. Using collaborative arts for community building is not a new strategy, but outside of inner city schools it does not often reach the general student population, especially at the high school level. The Penquis area of Maine is a rural setting, and some of the participating schools don't have any theatre or dance programming whatsoever. The PENQUIS PROJECT was a collaboration with several local and state health service organizations. Funding came from the Maine Arts Commission through a New Century Leadership Initiative Grant, and from the Betterment Fund. Several local businesses, the Bangor Daily Newspaper provided sponsorship and in-kind donations. New funding is being sought at this time to continue the project and offer it to a greater number of students, to add internship opportunities for college or graduate school level artists. Other artists interested in learning community building work are being sought and trained in order to extend the residencies into additional areas in Maine. Some of the individual schools addressed social issue and specific teen realities head-on, while other projects took a side door into community building by addressing a topic in their curriculum. Students and teachers involved in this first year's event are a part of the planning for next year's residencies. The artists, all professionals in their fields, were selected by their ability to be "teaching artists" and received additional trainging and support in community-building strategies. An article in "Arts Everyday," the journal of the Maine Alliance for Arts Education, is available right now, a full report with student, teacher and artist assessment is being written, and a 10 minute video documenting efforts so far is in production (available for loan or purchase later in the summer). Send inquiries to maaebangor@aol.com or call Susan Potters at 207-942-7003.
"Anti-Racism for White Folks"
The Mandala Center for Awareness, Transformation, & Action presents: "Anti-Racism for White Folks" (featuring Theater of the Oppressed and other interactive approaches) This 2 1/2 day workshop is an experiential exploration of how European-Americans can be more effective on the journey towards eliminating racism. In this workshop, we will: * define racism and other forms of systematic oppression. * explore our individual cultural heritages/identities. * unveil our own racism and our participation in it. * dialogue ways for being more effective allies to People of Color. * move towards action and the creation of a more just future. We consider this workshop an essential step towards a multi-cultural dialogue in which European-Americans and People of Color can share each other's stories. We realize that as European-Americans, there is much work we have to do before we can create an environment in which this dialogue can happen effectively and supportively. In this workshop, we will learn together.
Though theater will be our primary tool, no acting experience is necessary!! When: Friday, Nov. 12th 6-10 pm Saturday, Nov. 13th 9:30-6 pm Sunday, Nov. 14th 9:30-6 pm Where: Seattle, WA (Directions sent upon registration) Cost: $200 ($225 after 10/22) (Some scholarship available based on need) Info/Registration: (360) 297-5059 Marco59@aol.com Facilitated by Marc Weinblatt -- former Artistic Director at the Seattle Public Theater and current Director of the Mandala Center for Awareness, Transformation, & Action. Marc has been a professional artist, activist, and educator for 18 years having extensive experience with both adults and youth. Marc specializes in the use of Augusto Boal's Theater of the Oppressed to stimulate personal and social change and has worked with communities ranging from corporate executives to homeless youth to refugees in Azerbaijan. Marc is also a Licensed Massage Therapist and Registered Counselor.
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Registration form "Anti-racism for White Folks"
November 12-14, 1999
Limit: 25 people
Cost: $200 ($225 if registered after 10/22)
A $50 non-refundable deposit is necessary to hold a space. Please make checks
payable to: Marc Weinblatt
Mail to: Marc Weinblatt PO Box 483 Indianola, WA 98342
Confirmation, directions, and further instructions will be sent upon registration.