Number Three
Winter 2004
Editors: Kristy Messer
Zachary Moore
EdTh News
NYU Program In Educational Theatre*
In This Issue
“Caucasian Chalk
Circle”
Pg. 2
“Theatrix!”
Pg. 3
“Provocative Acts”
Pg. 4
“Faculty
Happenings”
Pg. 5-6
“Student
Perspectives”
Pg. 6-7
“Outreach Projects”
Pg. 8-9
“Study Abroad”
Pg. 10-12
“Research Spotlight”
Pg. 13
“New Full-Time
Faculty”
Pg. 14
“Spring/Summer
Schedule of
Classes”
Pg. 15-16
“Educational Theatre
Convention”
Pg. 17
“Lowell Swortzell
Remembered”
Pg. 18
Happenings
The summer 2004 was one of our busiest yet with
courses, projects, international presentations, and
performances. Our two Washington Square
Projects (New Plays for Young Audiences and
Looking for Shakespeare) received critical
acclaim. New Plays presented three new works:
Before the People Came by Jeff Obafemi Carr,
Earth Songs by Jose Cruz Gonzalez, and Between
Land and Sea: A Selkie Myth by Laurie Brooks.
Also, we added to the New Plays series an
historical connection. Nancy Swortzell directed a
staged reading of Flight by Saul and Lantz. Flight
was part of the Federal Theatre’s Living
Newspaper project and was produced at NYU this
summer in conjunction with the International
Connections Unit of London’s Royal National
Theatre. Our London study aboard students had
the opportunity of seeing Flight at the RNT this
past July which was a wonderful treat. It is a thrill
to see the Program continuing to have such
international visibility. The other major project at
Washington Square was our young people’s
ensemble, “Looking for Shakespeare”, who
presented Romeo and Juliet at the historic
Provincetown Playhouse. This show was
beautifully directed by Joe Salvatore, and
produced by Brad Vincent.
Our study abroad program saw 34 students
studying in England and 36 studying in Ireland. In
the UK, students worked in seven different
London schools planning drama curriculum, they
participated in workshops at Shakespeare’s Globe
Theatre, and saw thirteen plays. They collaborated
with leading British educators, including Judith
Ackroyd, Gavin Bolton, Jonothan Neelands. The
Ireland applied theatre course winessed a new
NYU partnership with the Program, The Abbey
Theatre, and the Samuel Beckett Theatre. Students
went to Irish theatre, participated in workshops,
and devised work with teaching artists, including
Andrea Ainsworth, Martin Drury, Sharon
Murphy, Joanna Parkes and Chrissie Poulter. If
you are interested in participating in summer
study abroad 2005 you should alert the ed theatre
office as soon as possible (edtheatre@nyu.edu) as
next summer we will be capping the numbers at
25 for both programs. Also, this January 3-13
2005, we are offering a new community theatre
arts program in conjunction with the University of
Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. This three point
course (E17.2194 Drama in Education 2) is open
to seniors and graduates and we have already
established a wait list.
Our 04/05 production season is in full swing.
Students presented storytelling myths and
community theatre in the historic Samuel Beckett
Theatre at Trinity College Dublin in August. Ed
theatre students recently collaborated with
colleagues in the Program in Vocal Performance
on Tonight at 8.30, a series of one act plays and
musicals written by Noel Coward. The main stage
ed theatre production this fall is Brecht’s The
Caucasian Chalk Circle. Check out the details in
this newsletter. In the spring, newly devised
contemporary performances, Provocative Acts,
delve into the politics of identity and culture.
Auditions to be held in December.
Throughout the year, our storytelling festivals
feature renowned artists telling great tales from
around the world. Our Shakespeare to Go troupe
will be inviting you to audition for their 40 minute
cuttings of Shakespearean plays which travel to
schools in Manhattan and the surrounding
boroughs. There will be opportunities for ed
theatre students to lead and devise workshops
attached to our mainstage production season with
young people, as well as becoming part of our
Theatrix! club. The Program now has a very
active elist and if you are not on the egroup, you
should alert the office as soon as possible so that
you can receive regular updates on program
developments, job and networking opportunities,
seminars and internships that might be of interest
(edtheatre@nyu.edu).
Philip Taylor, PhD
Director, Program in Educational Theatre
* Established in 1966 by Lowell and Nancy Swortzell. If you would like to contribute to the
Swortzell Scholarship in Educational Theatre please check out:
www.nyu.edu/education/music/swortsell
EdTh News
Page 2 of 18
Fall Productions Underway!
The Caucasian Chalk Circle Opens the Ed. Theatre Main
“Brecht’s tale
defines morality in
terms of social
use.”
“In this play
Brecht shows us
that an act of
compassion can
sometimes be
dangerous...”
Stage Season ~ by Richard Hinojosa
The Progrtam in Educational Theatre will
present Bertolt Brecht’s seminal parable play
with songs, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, at
the venerable Provincetown Playhouse.
Caucasian Chalk Circle was written in 1944
while Brecht was living in exile in
California. It is based on the 13th Century
Chinese play The Chalk Circle by Li Hsing
Tao. Brecht sets his compelling version in
the post WWII Caucasus Mountains where
two farm collectives are in a dispute over a
fertile mountain valley. He uses the parable
of the Chalk Circle to take us into a play
within a play, transporting us 100 years into
the past to a time when Grand Dukes and
Princes ruled the land. The story centers on a
young servant girl who reluctantly adopts an
abandoned royal infant after a sudden
revolution forces its arrogant and careless
mother to flee the city. Her compassionate
deed leads her to many hardships but the
more she is forced to endure in caring for the
child the stronger the bond grows between
them. In the meantime, a rascally judge has
been appointed back in the city. He bases his
judgments on his skewed idea of social
justice. The climax of the play is when the
judge must decide who should get custody of
the child, the birth mother, or the servant girl
who saved him.
Brecht’s tale defines morality in terms of
social use. Who is the best person to care for
the child; the rich birth mother or the servant
girl who took it when nobody else wanted it?
In this play Brecht shows us that an act of
compassion can sometimes be dangerous but
even in a sordid and suffering world that act
can lead to happiness instead of sorrow.
The production process so far has been
phenomenal.
We have already had a
successful run through and many of the other
production elements such as masks, costumes
and set pieces are already in the works. We
have assembled a fantastic cast and crew for
this production. Dr. Philip Taylor, the head
of the Educational Theatre Dept., will direct
and John Simpkins will be the Producing
Director. The cast members include: Sarah
Bellantoni,
Jennifer Carroll, Sarah
Chemerys, Sharon Counts, John DelVecchio,
Jason Diminich, Daryl Embry, Monica
Escueta, Heathet Heels, Caitlin Heibach,
Scott Lupi, Annie Montgomery, Christopher
Peterson, Andy Robinson, Jessica Rodriguez,
Alex Sarian, Isabel Steuble-Johnson, and
Jason Zanitsch. The crew consists of Josh
Adler-Assistant Director, Richard HinojosaDramaturg, Jonah Spiedel-Music Director,
Chris Yon-Movement Director, Zeke
Leonard-Technical Director, Jacob SeelbachProduction Stage Manager, Ralph Lee-Masks
and Puppet Coordinator, Natalie BurgessAssistant Mask and Puppet Coordinator,
Charles Alexander-Scenic Designer/Master
carpenter, Ben Aufill-Lighting Designer,
Brenda Burton-Costume Designer, Sam
Weisenberg-Sound Designer, and Branden
Huldeen-Assistant Producing Director.
The Caucasian Chalk Circle runs November 12-13, 18-20 at 8pm
and November 14 & 21 at 3 pm. Admission is $15 and $5 with
Student ID.
For ticket information please call 212-998-5281.
Page 2 of 18
EdTh News
2nd Annual Fall Theatrix! Fest Runs October 29th-31st
~ by Zachary Moore
In April of 2003, a group of students
got together to form a student-run
organization dedicated to providing NYU’s
Educational Theatre students with the
opportunity to develop and showcase creative
endeavors within a supportive community.
This goal was successfully realized with the
launching of the 2003/2004 Theatrix! season
which included two festivals of original
student work, and two main stage student
directed productions. The second Theatrix!
season was launched during the weekend of
October 29-31 with the Second Annual Fall
Theatrix! Fest.
On Friday, October 29th the festival was
kicked off with three one-act plays. The first
original play by Jonathan Landau entitled Age
is a Number. This play took a look at a young
man of today who nostalgically longs for a
world with the class and value of the movies
of the 1950’s. The second production of the
evening was Annette and Gina starring Julia
Spanja and Donna Romero. In this piece
"Two girls ruminate on life, love, and 'West
Side Story.' From Mo Gaffney & Kathy
Najimy's hit Parallel Lives.' " The third play
of the evening was an originally written play
by Michael Cunningham entitled UnAmerican. The play examined the trial of
Eugene Victor Debs who was imprisoned for
speaking out against America’s involvement
in World War I. The play’s themes carry
contemporary relevance to what is occurring
in today’s society with legislation such as the
Patriot Act being passed through congress.
On Saturday, October 30th the festival
continued with an original performed
ethnography, and two comedic one-act plays
by David Ives. The first piece of the evening
is an ethnographic performance piece being
compiled from interviews by Dani Snyder,
Lauren Cavanaugh, Tammie Swopes, Vincent
Gautieri, and Jessica Rodriguez.
The
interviews are based around the experience of
New Yorkers during the Republican National
Convention. The last two pieces of the
evening were two companion one-acts written
by the witty David Ives. Foreplay, directed
by Merielle Berger follows a young man on
three different dates to a miniature golf
course, all of which get played out
simultaneously. As the action goes on, the
sounds of the games meld together to form a
fugue. Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread,
directed by Andrzej Zabicki, takes Philip
Glass’s titular musical style and uses a
layering of vocal sounds to tell the story of a
deceptively simple stage picture.
The festival concluded on Sunday, October
31st with two student plays performance in the
afternoon and a musical revue in the evening.
The afternoon performances began with the
play Wake Up! by Brad Vincent. This play
follows the inner conflict of a teenager in a
small Texas town dealing with his
homosexual feelings and his faith in a religion
he believes condemns them. The second play
of the afternoon was Rusted, written by
Gabrielle Gold. Rusted takes an introspective
look at the life of an actress as it chronicles
the struggle of a B-Movie actress to make it in
the legitimate theatre world. As she waits to
audition for a Broadway production of Cat on
a Hot Tin Roof she discovers the young man
she has to audition with is a small time hick
who had been in a community theatre
production of the play and had back handedly
landed this audition.
The evening
performance was an original musical revue
compiled by Jennifer Kapitan, Amanda
Munger, and Gabrielle Gold which examined
the trials and tribulations women face in
today’s world of dating.
All performances were free. The students
involved
and
those
who
attended
enthusiastically shared in the commitment our
program has to cultivating student produced
work.
Theatrix! will soon be looking for
submissions for the student directed main
stage production to be performed in April.
For more information please contact Zachary
Moore
at
(212)
998-5272
or
ztm200@nyu.edu.
Schedule
Friday Evening,
October 29th
8:00 PM: Age is a
Number
8:20 PM: Annette
and Gina
8:40 PM: UnAmerican
Saturday Evening,
October 30th
8:00 PM: The
Convention Project
8:45 PM: Foreplay
9:00 PM: Philip
Glass Buys a Loaf
of Bread
Sunday Afternoon,
October 31st
2:00 PM: Wake Up!
3:00 PM: Rusted
Sunday Evening,
October 31st
8:00 PM: Sweet and
Sour
EdTh News
Page 2 of 18
Provocative Acts Displayed on the Black Box Stage
Transfiguration ~ by Joe Salvatore
On a warm spring evening in May 1999, a
seventeen-year old boy was listening to
music by the band Queen in his dorm room
at a prep school in western Massachusetts.
His listening was interrupted when two of his
dorm mates decided that Queen was a “gay”
band. The two older students, 18 and 20
years old, pushed the boy into a corner of the
room, and while one man held him down, the
other used a pocketknife to carve the word
“HOMO” into the boy’s back. The carving,
in 5-inch block letters, stretched from
shoulder to shoulder and was deep enough to
leave a scar. Both men were arrested and
pleaded innocent to charges of assault and
battery with a dangerous weapon, assault
with intent to maim, and assault with intent
to intimidate resulting in bodily harm. One
of the carvers had just received an
appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.
Transfigured is the working title of a theatre
project that will explore this incident, its
ramifications, and the concepts and
implications of branding and marking.
Educational Theatre faculty member Joe
Salvatore will collaborate with Los
Angeles-based playwright Julie Marie Myatt
to create a working script for the project.
Then a cast of NYU students will join the
process to further develop it for presentation
as part of Provocative Acts. The project will
also engage the NYU community and the
community-at-large through a series of
workshops and outreach experiences that will
allow people to share their own stories of
being marked or scarred. In a time when
cutting, piercing, and tattooing have been on
the increase, when more than ever the body
has become a canvas, this project will
examine the difference between being
marked and choosing to mark. The
scars on our bodies tell much about
our personal histories, betraying us
in a way as they “shout out” our
private memories. By examining
the different stages of this young
man’s journey with this mark,
audiences will be forced to
confront their own experiences of
labeling and being labeled, and the
scars that this process can leave
behind,
both
literally
and
metaphorically.
“…the other used a
pocketknife to carve
“HOMO” on the boys
back.”
Body Image ~ by Nan Smithner
If it is our minds that govern us, and our
souls that guide us, then it is within our
bodies that our histories are embedded.
The sum of many diverse parts, each with
its
own
distinct
functions
and
characteristics, the body identifies us as
who we are, and is at once a vessel, a dear
friend, a stern judge and a treacherous
betrayer.
In this devised work, the
multifaceted
dimensions
and
manifestations of the body will be explored
and reconsidered.
This performance work hopes to represent
the body in its most powerful and glorious
state, as well as examining contemporary
cultural obsessions and dilemmas of body
image, which transcend the boundaries of
gender, class, and race. Images of the
body, often defined by commercial
expectations, have led to a culture of
gorging, starving, carving, and transforming
one’s physical state. At the same time the
receptor of disease, addiction, and decay, the
body is the site of our beginnings, our
sexuality, our exuberant athleticism and our
artistic expression.
It marks our natural
aging process from birth to death, and is the
container of our corporeal memories.
This as yet untitled theatre project, directed
by Nan Smithner, will be created through
research and improvisation by an ensemble
of actors, and will include text, movement,
sound, music and visual elements. By
examining our own notions of the body,
through imagination, emotion, intellect,
physical shaping and sensation, we will
create work that illuminates current
perceptions of the mind/body connection.
As in Joe Salvatore’s companion
piece, this project hopes to engage the
NYU community and community at
large through a series of workshops
and outreach experiences that will
allow people to express their own
experiences
and
concepts
of
contemporary body image. Actors of
all ages, races, sizes and abilities are
encouraged to audition.
“This performance work
hopes to represent the
body in its most
powerful and glorious
state...”
Auditions Will be Held December 10th, 11th, and 12th
Page 2 of 18
EdTh News
Faculty Happenings!
Welcome to Our New Adjunct Faculty Member ~ Jay
Pecora
1971 saw the beginning of Jay Pecora’s
involvement with both drama and education.
While exploring the boundaries of his pre-k
program he also rehearsed and then
performed the role of sheep #16 in his
church’s nativity play. Hooked by both
experiences he has stayed a performer and a
student ever since.
received his masters in Urban Education
from The Graduate Center of the City of
New York and subsequently began the NYU
Ph.D. program in Educational Theatre in
1999. His dissertation asks the question:
what is the experience of a teacher and
students in a class that uses drama to teach
about the Holocaust?
Jay graduated from the Goodman School of
Drama at DePaul with a BFA.
As a
professional actor he appeared on stage in
Chicago and New York and on an episode of
“In Living Color”. After completing teacher
training at Hunter College in 1993 he worked
for 10 years as a social studies teacher at an
alternative, NYC public high school. He
Jay has been an adjunct at NYU in the
Department of Teaching and Learning since
2000, where his courses include “Methods of
Teaching Social Studies” I & II. That same
year saw the birth of his first daughter,
Isabel. Last year saw a second girl, Luca,
join Izzy, her mom and Dad in the DudleyPecora household.
Professor Jay Pecora
Program in Educational Theatre Faculty Member Chosen for NTARP
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Professor Laurie Brooks
Laurie Brooks, Playwright in Residence and
Literary Manager for New Plays for Young
Audiences at the Provincetown Playhouse,
has found herself among an impressive list of
theatre luminaries, including Robert Wilson,
David Henry Hwang, Jennifer Tipton, and
Paula Vogel. All, like Brooks, have received
a prestigious National Theatre Artists
Residency Program grant from Theatre
Communications Group, funded by The Pew
Charitable Trusts. As a recipient, Brooks will
be in residence at The Coterie in Kansas City
MO, for the spring semester. During the
residency, Brooks will complete her book and
re-imagined play for young adults, Between
Land and Sea: A Selkie Myth, the recipient of
the 1998 Distinguished Play Award from the
American Alliance for Theatre and Education
as Selkie. In addition, Brooks will explore
themes of coming of age through process
drama and writing at renowned Kansas City
high school for girls, Notre Dame de Sion.
Artistic Director Church and Brooks have a
long history of collaboration. The Coterie
commissioned and premiered Brooks’ plays,
The Wrestling Season, the American version
of The Tangled Web, and A Laura Ingalls
Wilder Christmas, and produced the Equity
premier of Everyday Heroes. Brooks looks
forward to continuing work with Director
Church on designing and implementing her
interactive post-show forum designs that
extend and deepen the theatre experience.
“The Coterie is not afraid to tackle big
subjects,” says Brooks, “such as their season
of plays based on banned books. Church and
I are allies in a vision for theatre for young
adults, and that includes interactive post-show
experiences. To us, this is a thrilling
challenge – to offer another model for postshow discussion.”
Fran Kumin, Director of the NTARP,
echoes the excitement. “We were
excited by (the) proposal, not only
because the residency will support
your work as a writer, but also
because your work with interactive
audience
forums
could
have
significant impact on the not-for
profit theatre world.”
Brooks is currently working on
several new commissions, including a
play for Graffiti Theatre Company in
Cork, Ireland, that will premiere in
February 2005, and tour throughout
the spring.
“…your work with
interactive audience
forms could have
significant impact on the
not-for profit theatre
world.”
EdTh News
Page 2 of 18
Faculty Spotlight ~ Marla Carlson
“As a scholar I
specialize in theories
of the body in
performance with
concentrations in
medieval theatre and
cultural studies;
performance and
body art; acting
theory; and classical
theatre and drama.”
Before I returned to graduate school I wrote,
directed, choreographed, produced, and
performed in San Francisco, combining
elements of physical theatre and post-modern
dance to investigate the ways in which text
can structure movement, and also worked as
an actor in regional theatre. I couldn’t manage
much “hands-on” involvement in theatre
while I was completing my Ph.D. in Theatre
at the CUNY Graduate Center, although I did
direct Griselda Gambaro’s Antígona Furiosa
in 2000. Since I finished in 2002, I’ve
performed Off-Off Broadway and as a guest
artist at M.S. 51 in Brooklyn. I got involved
with that school as a parent and got to know
the Program in Educational Theatre at NYU
when I co-wrote an arts partnership grant to
the Center for Arts Education. The fact that I
was asked to teach Theatre History here was
totally coincidental but made me eager to
accept the offer: I was tremendously excited
by the work that I saw the program’s students
and alumni doing in my son’s school. Theatre
was my first “home” as a high school student
in a small Eastern Oregon town, and it has
been the center of my life ever since. I’ve
tried to leave it for what seemed more
sensible pursuits but have never succeeded;
hence, the Ph.D.
As a scholar, I specialize in theories
of the body in performance, with
concentrations in medieval theatre and
cultural studies; performance and body art;
acting theory; and classical theatre and drama.
I have a book proposal circulating: How to Do
Things with Pain examines spectator response
to performances of physical suffering in the
late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries
and in the Middle Ages, reading the two
periods against one another in order to better
understand both.
I've contributed a paper entitled
"Tasting Compassion, Spitting It Out?" to a
seminar session for the meeting of the
American Society for Theatre Research in Las
Vegas this November. For the Association for
Theatre in Higher Education, I serve as chair
of the Theatre History Focus Group, and I've
organized a roundtable on the place of the
medieval in the Theatre History curriculum
(something that my students will know is
close to my heart). I'm also included in a
proposed panel on memory, memorial, and
performance. My paper will address recent
theories about trauma and memory and will
focus on performance and 9/11.
New Student Perspectives ~ Undergraduate
Freshman Student ~ Dan Poussart
From a very young age, eight to be exact,
I wanted to be a school teacher.
Eventually I found myself wanting to
teach music, sitting behind a piano in third
grade, falling in love with my elementary
school band director. She had a way of
“making those kids make music”, that
really sparked my interest in music
education. Once I reached high school I
found theatre, and though I still wanted to
teach, I knew that I would need to leave
the piano behind me and go to the best
place I knew for theatre education, NYU.
Let me just say the educational
theatre program in NYU is everything that
I expected it to be and much more. I have
the privilege of working with highly
trained and specialized professors, as
well as some of the most intelligent and
talented students in the entire country!
The ed. theatre group is like one big
family. We support each other in
everything that we do, and more
importantly, we are all learning as a
group, not a group of individuals.
I admit, NYU can be a little
scary; ok, it can be REALLY scary.
But being a part of the ed. theatre group
has taken away that fear. I don’t dread
going to class, or reading assignments,
because they all tie so well into our
class activities.
I have yet to do an assignment that wasn’t
relevant to what the professor was teaching
in class. That is so important, because with
such an overwhelming work load, I have to
pick and choose which assignments are my
priority. I’m proud to say that ed. theatre is
always my priority, and with a small but
dedicated group of staff and students, I feel
like my ed. theatre experience is their
priority as well.
EdTh News
Page 2 of 18
New Student Perspectives ~ Graduate
News
M.A. Student ~ Andy Robinson
I spend my days with the drama we call
middle-school and my evenings with the
drama we call “process”. Yep—I’m a new
student in the Master’s program in Ed
Theatre. Perhaps it was a foolish thing to
take a full load of classes while still
working at the school where I’ve been nine
years. But I thought it would be a great
way to integrate my teaching and my
learning with my reflection about both—a
teacher/student in classic Ed Theatre style.
What I didn’t expect was how much in
common I would have with my neurotic
adolescent student actors.
They—like
myself—were venturing into a new school
year hoping to learn, to feel affirmed, and
to find community.
I’ll say it now because it’s gotten
better, but my first day at NYU was worse
than a first day of seventh grade wearing
last year’s sneakers. I felt flooded by the
barrage of unfamiliar vocabulary, I
couldn’t find my second classroom (the
elevator didn’t even go to my floor), and I
got to the mixer too late to get any wine.
Worst of all, when meeting fellow
students, I realized—gulp—I didn’t know
what was cool. How could I? I was new to
the program. I hadn’t seen “Wilder” or
“Midsummer,” hadn’t spent my summer
doing summer abroad or “Looking for
Shakespeare,” and I missed the great
chance to have Lowell as a teacher. And I
felt old, too—something that even the most
awkward seventh-grader might be spared.
But the good news is that it all
changed. The vocabulary and the work
became more manageable. My advisor and
professors were accessible, encouraging,
and interesting. And by the second week, I
had made friends with enough fellow grad
students (and undergrads, too) to go into
the Pless Lounge and not experience
middle-school cafeteria flashback trauma.
Best of all, the people I met shared with
me an unspoken connection based on our
own goals for our futures.
community draws in its members with a
unified vision, a common language, a
collective memory, and a shared passion.
The tightness of this bond can make it
hard to break into as a newcomer. Five
weeks, four class journals, three group
projects, two auditions, and one party
invitation later, the grad program in Ed
Theatre at NYU had drawn me in and
made me part of it. Ultimately, I have an
unexpected empathy with the emotional
experience of my students, which is
perhaps the best kind of lesson for a
teacher/student to learn--even an old one
like me.
“The Ed. Theatre
program is a vibrant
and dynamic
community….”
The Ed Theatre program is a
vibrant and dynamic community; such a
Ph.D. Student ~ Kristy Messer
My introduction to educational theatre
took place several years ago at Seattle
Children’s Theatre. After finishing my
undergraduate degree in theatre, I
received a call accepting my application
to intern in Seattle for a year. While
there, I worked in drama classes
apprenticing with teachers who used
techniques
like
role-playing
and
storytelling with very young children.
Each class brought an unpredictability that
completely engaged me in ways acting
never did. I immediately found both
creating a curriculum centered on drama
and interacting with children inspiring.
As the internship came to a close, I
wanted to learn more about the field of
educational theatre, so I moved to Los
Angeles to attend graduate school.
Although the theatre department did not
have a program specific to education, my
teachers allowed me to focus my papers
and research on educational theatre. The
readings I found most interesting were
coming from people associated with New
York University. After reading more
about the department, I was impressed
with the offerings: specifically the classes,
the outreach work and the study abroad
programs. The idea of a community of
artist/teachers working towards similar
goals excited me. After leaving Seattle, I
was the only person in my circles (in
school and at work) with a specific
interest in using drama in education. I
could not imagine being in an
environment surrounded by people who
felt passionately about the same issues. As
I begin the doctoral program this fall, I
walk into each of my classes amazed at
the wide range of people sharing similar
beliefs about the importance of
examining and expanding arts in
education. It is both a comfort and a
challenge for me; I am comforted by the
idea of a community and challenged by
the realization that I must find my own
distinct voice to differentiate myself
from the crowd.
Specifically, my
interests are in transforming ways
physical education and child nutrition
are taught in elementary schools using
drama methods.
I feel incredibly
grateful to have this opportunity to
explore and research my interests in
such a highly regarded and innovative
department.
EdTh News
Page 8 of 18
Outreach Projects
Looking For Shakespeare 2004 ~ By John DelVecchio
“Oh my god,” were the first words out of the
cherubic little girl’s mouth as she began her
audition for this past summer’s Looking for
Shakespeare program at NYU. Romeo and
Juliet was the play that was being produced.
“Oh my…god…okay, here goes.” She takes
a huge breath. “Gallop apace you fiery
footed…oh my god…steeds. Oh god, get me
through this…” She kept her arms hugged
around herself, as if to keep herself from
falling over.
After her audition, the tiny fifth
grade girl, with beads of sweat rolling her
forehead, thanked us, as she gasped for air,
then made her way, uneasily, up the stairs
and out of the Provincetown Playhouse.
Perhaps never to be heard from again. Being
an actor myself, I empathized with the girl;
on many auditions I have silently hoped to
“just get through it” and get out.
But the fact is that the Looking for
Shakespeare program looks for participants
to not simply “go through it” but to have the
program “go through them.” In other words,
if the students are able the gauge their
progression during the rehearsals then a
greater connection to the experience is
possible.
To “find” Shakespeare is to
experience creativity, passion, and emotions
that no other writer has ever been able to put
into words as eloquent, visceral, and poetic
as the mighty Bard. The actors, nineteen in
all, range from ages 12-17. This age mix is
difficult for any project, be it arts or
academics, to get off the ground smoothly:
the young male members are more
challenging to focus, the older female
members are perhaps too focused and they
all want to be Juliet, the girls, that is.
However, with the expert tutelage of the
show’s director, Joe Salvatore (in his second
year as director), and his creative team, along
with an enthusiastic group of graduate
students, we were able to assist this group of
teens focus their energies into respecting the
art of theatre and the hard work that goes into
producing a show.
This riskiest part of this summer
program was that it was only three weeks
long. Changing the five week schedule from
years past, this timeframe would require
more focus than ever before. Of the nineteen
students, half were returning members; they
were the veterans. The returning students set
the example and led by example as well. The
rookies attempted to follow by design. It
would be utopian if I said it all went
smoothly. In fact, I believe there always
needs to be a breakdown in the rehearsal.
process for it to regain its focus and move
forward. This breakdown came when
the entire cast was on stage and they
started to laugh as the lights faded This
was unacceptable and Joe let them
know it. He explained that for a
community to grow and expand, one
must respect its community, its
environment. This group of actors, Joe
explained, did not respect the stage
which is an actor’s environment. If the
actor doesn’t respect the stage, the
theatre will cease. Joe left the theatre to
allow the group to reflect. It is what
happened next that was worth the three
weeks of being cooped up in a dark
theatre: natural leaders spoke up and
explained in their own words why this
horseplay had to stop. Many members
who I never expected to stand up for
themselves or the process, stressed the
need for focus and all the hard work
that they, Joe, the graduate students, and
the design team had done in these two
weeks.
With one week to go, these
young performers put their differences,
egos, and personalities aside and
worked hard to learn their lines, move
scenery, and in general, maintain a
positive attitude about the show.
Stay tuned for upcoming information about Looking for Shakespeare 2005, which will again run in
conjunction with the graduate course Shakespeare's Theatre. Preliminary dates are June 28-July 24, 2005!
Talk with your advisor if you are interested in this exciting opportunity.
EdTh News
Page 2 of 18
Outreach Projects
Storytelling is Happening! ~ By Regina Ress
Storytelling is happening in the Program
in Educational Theatre! Along with our
season of professional storytelling
performances at the Provincetown
Playhouse, we are delighted to announce
a new course for the Program,
Storytelling, taught by professional
storyteller, seasoned teaching artist, and
the coordinator of our storytelling series at
the Provincetown Playhouse, Regina
Ress. This nine hour intensive will
explore the art and craft of storytelling
along with its place in cultural history and
how to apply it in the classroom.
ClownCare Unit of the Big Apple Circus). from Russia to Argentina with some
Why? Because hidden within story lie amazing stops along the way.
lessons about life, language, and learning.
Children often ask: "Was that story
true?" Well, answers one storyteller, "It
may not be real...it may not have happened
exactly the way I told it, but that doesn't
mean it isn't true!" All of the storytellers in
our series are both performers and
professional teaching artists and bring their
unique understanding of the interplay
between teller (teacher) and listener. They
are also, of course, great performers!
For New York With Love is the
title of the 2004-05 storytelling series.
One of the oldest and purest art forms,
storytelling is about direct communication
between teller and audience. There are no
costumes, no sets, no fourth wall. The
audience and the storyteller are partners in
a shared, immediate experience.
The Provincetown Playhouse has a long
history of presenting both cutting edge and
classic performance art. In our series this
year, we bring world class storytelling, both
innovative and traditional, offering a wide
variety of stories and performance styles.
The fall series opened on October 3rd with
internationally acclaimed storyteller, author,
and recording artist Laura Simms, one of the
As a teaching technique, storytelling founders of the storytelling series at the
has
been
used
by
teachers, Provincetown.
preachers....even clowns (one of our In Finding the Queen of Everything, Simms
tellers this fall is a member of the took the audience on a dramatic journey
For
Thanksgiving
weekend,
November 28th, the Provincetown will
feature two of New York’s most popular
storytellers for young children, LuAnn
Adams and Julie Pasqual, with a program
of Food, Friendship, and Fun. Are you
interested in working with children?
Come and see LuAnn and Julie wow
them!
On
December
12,
the
Provincetown hosts Rhode Island
storyteller Len Cabral who draws on his
Cape Verdean ancestry to bring Stories of
Color From Around The World. Len is
nationally renowned, award winning, and
a totally delicious teller.
We are delighted to be able to
include these great performances in our
fall season at the Provincetown Playhouse
and we welcome the addition of
Storytelling to the Program. Come on
over to MacDougal Street one Sunday and
listen to a great story!
Shakespeare to Go ~ By Brad Vincent
We are very excited to begin our second year
of Shakespeare to Go. This exciting outreach
program for New York City students was a
tremendous success in its first year with
performances of The Taming of the Shrew in
Manhattan and Brooklyn. Our travelling
troupe of players represented a great cross
section of the Program in Educational Theatre
with grads and undergrads, classroom
teachers and teaching artists, and more than a
couple with past experience with professional
Theatre for Young Audience companies.
STG Performs The Taming of the
Shrew for Brooklyn Montessori
School
As our new season begins, we say a fond
farewell to some of our founding members
who have graduated and are off to new
ventures and a heart felt welcome to those
new members who have joined our
company. This is a very important year
for us as we work through this transition
and add a new play, Hamlet, to our
repertory. As we remount Shrew this fall,
we will also be developing our new play
under the direction of Zachary Moore for
its premiere this Spring. We're already
getting phone calls from schools
requesting performances. It should be
another great season of Shakespeare to
Go.
EdThNews
Page 10 of 18
Study Abroad
London ~ By Charles Alexander Jr.
Undeniably, it is nearly impossible
to describe the highlights of an intensive
three week study abroad program. When
your days begin at 8:30 or 9:00 in the
morning and don’t end until you leave the
theatre at 11 o’clock that evening a kind of
blurring of the eyes and brain happens.
Things begin to melt together and become
indistinguishable from one another. The
experience is complete. The learning
becomes a state of being and not just an
intellectual activity.
The Educational
Theatre Study Abroad Program in London
this summer is an excellent example of this
experiential learning phenomena. Looking
back on it I have trouble remembering the
order of things. Did the student from the
school I was teaching at ask me to help find
him an after school theatre program on the
day we saw Much Ado About Nothing at the
Globe or Iphigenia at the National Theatre?
Who visited us first, Gavin Bolton or
Jonathan Neelands? When did we first meet
Judith Ackroyd? The honest answer is I
can’t remember any of that. The details of
living within the program are missing and
what is left are the memories I have of and
reflections on moments throughout the weeks
I spent in Europe.
Thinking back on the three specific
weeks in London as well as the three that
followed in Dublin I have been struck by the
inordinate number of poignant moments I
had in one specific place: The Globe Theatre.
The relationship between the Globe and
NYU is a new addition to the London study
abroad experience and is well worth it. It is
the kind of organization Educational Theatre
Practitioners- whether they be in the
classroom, out in the community, or in a
regional theatre- fantasize about.
They have created a place simply
used to teach through theatre. The actors in
the shows are practitioners in the classrooms
they visit and in the rehearsals studios they
run workshops in. The audience experiences
“It is the kind of
organization Educational
Theatre Practitionerswhether they be in the
classroom, out in the
community, or in a
regional theatre- fantasize
about.”
.”
the productions in their original playhouse,
are reminded of the universality of the Bard’s
work through classes and productions
invariably leaving them a bit wiser. There
are tours, a museum, and outreach projects.
And there is only room to grow.
We saw three shows there: Romeo
and Juliet (performed in its original dialect),
Much Ado About Nothing, and Measure for
Measure. There were workshops we were led
through on each of the shows and each with a
different practitioner.
While there, the possibilities for an
institution like the Globe seemed limitlessespecially after spending the day teaching in
a London school or listening to Judith
Ackroyd set us up in a process drama on
King Lear. I finished London feeling highly
motivated to work in a place like the Globea theatre that focuses so clearly and
effectively on precisely the work we do here
in the Educational Theatre Department. And
as I said- still it has room to grow.
If this small part of the experience
overseas could have ignited such a fire in my
belly for the possibilities of our collective
field I can hardly begin to explain what it
meant to teach in the schools, to write
curriculum guides in Northampton between
visits to Shakespeare’s home in Stratfordupon- Avon, to see 17 productions in 21
days, and to have it all blur into one
culminating experience that outlined the
possibilities.
London Study Abroad 2004 Will Run June 25th – July 17th
For Further Information Contact David Montgomery; 212-998-5869, dm635@nyu.edu
Page 11 of 18
EdTh News
Study Abroad
Dublin ~ By Leah Witman
“When you partake in
such an adventure, you
can never be certain
where it will take
you…”
It’s always a pleasure when your homework
entails interviewing Irish people over a
Guinness at the nearby bar, while traditional
Irish music is being performed in the
background. This was just one of the many
experiences I had this summer while
studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland. This
three week adventure in a beautiful country,
allowed us to explore the elements of
Applied Theatre while being completely
immersed in the Irish community
When I think about Ireland, I
remember the warmth of the people.
Whether I was learning about Dublin’s
history from a cab driver, walking down
cobblestone streets and seeing familiar faces,
or exploring our own knowledge in practical
workshops, as both a student and tourist, I
always felt welcomed.
This created a
cultivating working environment as we
explored the various outlets for Applied
Theatre. Conducting interviews for a devised
piece at the local Dublin bar, Cobblestone, to
then have them in attendance as we spoke
their words during a performance, was just
one of the many applications of our field.
We had the opportunity to work
with inspirational people through NYU’s
partnership with both the Abbey Theatre and
Trinity College. We learned about the need
to advocate for the arts through Martin
Drury’s tour of The Ark, an arts center for
children which he founded, the applications
of process drama with Cecily O’Neill, and
Irish dancing with choreographer Camin
Collins. We even had an opportunity to meet
Irish school teachers and exchange common
ideas and suggestions.
A memorable
experience for many of us was the
performance of Blue Flax, a group of women
from Belfast who shared a beautiful
performed ethnography based on “the
troubles” existing in their area, followed by
an evening with playwright Conor
McPherson. Experiences such as these could
not have happened without the partnership
between the NYU staff and the assistance of
Sharon Murphy, the inspiring woman with
the Abbey Theatre, who not only helped
organize our program, but also further
extended this culture’s hospitality by opening
her home for a tour of the Irish countryside.
When you partake in such an
adventure, you can never be certain where it
will take you, however I feel as if the
knowledge I have gained is invaluable.
Whether creating Theatre as Resource
Guides, Riverdancing in the street, exploring
Temple Bar or beautiful castles, I will look
back on this adventure with fondness.
Having these experiences in a foreign
country taught me the importance of
professionalism in partnerships, the need to
advocate for the arts, and most importantly
what can be accomplished when passion is
cultivated, people are challenged, and we are
completely immersed in what we love.
“We had the opportunity
to work with inspirational
people through NYU’s
partnership with both the
Abbey Theatre and
Trinity College””
Dublin Study Abroad 2004 Will Run July 21st – August 11th
For Further Information Contact David Montgomery; 212-998-5869, dm635@nyu.edu
EdTh News
Page 12 of 18
Study Abroad
Puerto Rico ~ By David Montgomery
In addition to Deborah Hunt’s
performance, students will hear performances
of traditional Puerto Rican music, see the
Puerto Rico Traveling Theatre, and view
dance pieces by Teresa Hernandez and Javier
Cardona, two of Puerto Rico’s best trained
actors/dancers.
There has been a great deal of excitement
generated from students and faculty about
Educational Theatre’s intersession program
being offered this year in Puerto Rico. For
the first time in our program, twenty graduate
and undergraduate students are going to San
Juan in January for a course that is held at the
University of Puerto Rico’s Rio Piedras
campus in San Juan.
By engaging in
workshops and attending performances and
conferences, students will examine the
relationships of theories of dramatic art to
general education principles and explore the
potentialities of educational dramatics at all
levels of instruction.
Workshops
promise
to
be
stimulating. Students will take part in two
workshops with Dr. Luisa Márquez, a
specialist in contemporary Latin American
Theatre practice. The first workshop Dr.
Márquez will facilitate is on Image Theatre,
and the second workshop she will co-lead
with Antonio Martorell, one of Puerto Rico’s
most significant visual artists, in a workshop
entitled Transforming Spaces. Students will
also experience a stilts workshop, a music
and theatre workshop with experimental
percussionist Maria Pilar Aponte, and a
workshop on the dramaturgy of the actor by
Javiro Cardona. A Mask theatre presentation
on the first day of the course by renowned
mask and puppet maker Deborah Hunt will
set the stage for a mask making workshop
with her on day two of the course.
Field trips on the course will enable
students to immerse themselves into the
culture of Puerto Rico. A Field trip to Juana
Diaz will have take part in the traditional
town celebration of the Three King’s Day,
and an overnight field trip to Cayey will
include a guided tour of the Pio López
Martinez Museum. Field trips to Old San
Juan and to the area of Sabana Seca, where
an important community project is underway,
will round out the field trip experiences.
Angel Dario Carrero, a mystic poet and
community activist who directs Sabana
Seca’s Community Project, will talk with
NYU students about his work in this low
income and high risk community which is
located 20 minutes west of San Juan.
Finally, students will have the
unique opportunity to attend conferences on
Theater by/for ‘special’ Communities and
Theater in/for/by Prison Communities. The
latter will give NYU students the opportunity
to experience conversations with facilitators
of a University/Prison theatre project and
with inmates linked to the project.
So, as you can see, aside from the
enjoying the warm tropical climate, students
will be actively engaged in seeing and doing
important drama work in Puerto Rico. We
look forward to hearing all about their
experiences when they return.
“It is the kind of
organization
Educational
Theatre
Practitionerswhether they be in
the classroom, out
in the community,
or in a regional
theatre- fantasize
about.”
Page 13 of 18
EdTh News
NYU Launches E-Journal Examining Innovations in Arts in
Education and Community
New York University’s The Steinhardt
School of Education, Department of Music
and Performing Arts Professions has
launched ARTSPRAXIS, a new e-journal
dedicated to examining innovations in the
arts in educational and community contexts.
The annual journal was launched on Sept.15.
ARTSPRAXIS
(http://www.nyu.edu/education/music/arts
praxis) will include contributions from arts
educators, therapists, arts agencies, arts
administrators, funding bodies, arts scholars,
and community artists from diverse settings.
The journal emphasizes critical analysis of
the arts in society.
Philip Taylor, the founding editor of
ARTSPRAXIS and an associate professor in
NYU’s Department of Music and Performing
Arts Professions, said that the journal
“provides a platform for contributors to
interrogate why the arts matter and how the
arts can be persuasively argued for in a range
of domains.”
Education in August 2003, which
brought together over 130 participants
committed to discourse among arts
educators. “Evaluations of the forum
indicated that this event was a
significant one for strengthening the arts
“The pressing issues which face the arts in in challenging and uncertain times,”
society will be deconstructed,” said Taylor, Taylor said. “ARTSPRAXIS enables that
adding that contributions that seek dialogue discourse to continue.”
across the art forms are welcomed.
At the ARTSPRAXIS website, readers
Taylor noted that ARTSPRAXIS is the result can register on an e-group where
of a literature search identifying over 60 notification of new issues will be sent to
journals in the arts disciplines. The inquiry the subscription list. There is also an
revealed few publications that facilitated Announcements page at the site where
dialogue across and between the arts conferences, seminars, research, new
disciplines.
posts and events can be found. To
subscribe to ARTSPRAXIS, send an
The publication of ARTSPRAXIS follows the email to artspraxis.journal@nyu.edu.
NYU Forum on Assessment in Arts
International Conference a Success!
The fifth world congress of IDEA (the
International
Drama/Theatre
and
Education Association) met this July in
Ottawa, Canada. For six days artists,
educators and activists from across the
globe gathered in small and large groups
to share, debate and learn. In addition to
the
many
paper
presentations,
workshops, panels and keynotes there
were several nights of performances.
The
NYU
Program
in
Educational
Theatre
contributed
presentations from Edie Demas, Jay
Pecora, and Carmine Tabone. Edie cochaired a panel on partnerships in drama
and theatre, Jay presented a paper
exploring his use of poetry as a data
analysis tool for his dissertation on using
drama to teach about the Holocaust.
Carmine facilitated a workshop entitled
“How to do and evaluate pop-up puppet
theatre” based on the process and results
of a three-year evaluation study.
There were hundreds of
additional papers, panels and workshops.
Below is just a sample of the diversity of
places, disciplines and professions
represented.
voice for youth at risk in a south African
context.”
Alex
Sutherland,
Drama
Consultant, South Africa.
“Devils, gamblers, lovers and fools:
the mystery and the power of the mask.”
Teodoro Dragonieri, from the Dante
Alighieri Academy.
“Theatres of the deaf, the visually
impaired and persons with intellectual
disabilities.” Panelists: Chiu Yu Agustine
Mok (Arts with the Disabled Association),
Emily Fung Wai Ying (Chosen Power),
Jennifer Bik Yi Tam (Theatre Worker/Drama
Therapist).
“A drama approach to bullying.”
Larry Swartz (Ontario Institute for studies in
education/University of Toronto).
“Feeling for the scene in the magic
ring… Lessons for the Living revisited.”
Jonothan Neelands (University of Warwick).
“The domestic science of Sunday
dinner: Patricia—a love story.” Brian Heap
University of the West Indies) Students
(University
Dramatic
Arts
Society,
University of the West Indies).
In addition to the breadth of the
conference schedule there were several
keynote speakers. These speeches transported
attendees around the globe; from classrooms
“Making visible the invisible: drama as a in the U.K. and New Zealand to arts policy
meetings in the U.S.A. and into prisons in
Mexico.
All speakers brought their
unique perspectives to the conference yet
spoke of themes that resonated with all.
The most commonly touched upon one
was that drama is being used across the
globe to empower people through its
open-endedness, its ability to awaken and
embrace the complex and ambiguous.
Rich
discussion
on
the
conference themes were to be had
everywhere.
Informal
debate
and
contemplation took place over lunch,
dinner and late night in the pubs of
Ottawa. Special Interest Groups (SIG’s)
met daily to focus on specific issues. Just
a few of the 16 SIG’s were:
Drama/Theatre and schools,
Theatre for community development,
Drama/Theatre in a multicultural world,
Drama/Theatre and gender issues,
Drama/Theatre and the education of
people with special needs,
Theatre for and by young people:
intercultural and aesthetic aspects of the
theatrical event,
Drama/Theater assessment.
EdTh News
Page 14 of 18
DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS PROFESSIONS
PROGRAM IN EDUCATIONAL THEATRE
APPLICATIONS FOR NEW POSITION
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, TENURE TRACK
The Program in Educational Theatre trains theatre teachers, teaching artists, drama and arts
educators, community and outreach theatre workers, administrators and scholars in educational
theatre.
Responsibilities: Teach courses in drama education, integrated arts and applied theatre;
supervise student teachers; advise undergraduate and graduate students; work on curriculum and
program development; write educational resource guides and supervise outreach theatre work in
field settings; work collaboratively on teaching and research projects.
Qualifications: Doctoral degree; teaching and research experience in educational theatre at the
College level; demonstrated record or clear potential for a program of substantial research and
external funding.
Applicants should email a letter of application, a complete curriculum vitae and full contact details
of five referees (including phone and email numbers) to: Dr. Philip Taylor, Director, Program in
Educational Theatre, New York University, The Steinhardt School of Education, Department of
Music and Performing Arts Professions Email: pt15@nyu.edu . Review of applications will begin
immediately and will continue until the search is completed.
NYU is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
OUR NEW FACULTY APPOINTMENT
All students are invited to attend presentations from the three candidates who
will be short-listed for our new full time faculty hire in educational theatre.
Student input is an important part of the review process. We are hoping the
appointee will be able to commence in time for the spring semester.
Details of the teaching demonstration sessions will be
posted on the Educational Theatre list-serve.
Page 15 of 18
EdTh News
Spring Schedule of Classes
Course ID#
E17.2090-001
E17.2092-001
E17.2098-001
E17.2106-001
E17.2133-001
E17.2171-001
E17.2174-001
E17.2174-002
E17.2194-001
E17.2300-001
E17.2301-001
E17.2400-001
E17.2954-001
E17.2955-001
E17.2960-001
E17.2961-001
(pre-requisite:
E17.2960-001)
E17.2962-001
(pre-requisite:
E17.2960-001
and E17.2961001)
Course Title
Instructor
Days/Times
Swortzell,
Theatre-in-Ed Practices
N.
W 4:55PM-6:35PM
Dramatic Crit II
Nadler
R 6:45PM-8:25PM
Adv Directing
TBA
F 4:00PM-6:30PM
Adv Playwriting
TBA
W 8:35PM-10:15PM
McCaslin,
Drama with and for Children N.
T 6:45PM-8:25PM
Shakespeare's Theatre
Salvatore
R 4:55PM-6:35PM
Stud. Tching in Sec.
Salvatore
W 4:55PM-6:35PM
Student Tching in Sec.
Smithner
W 4:55PM-6:35PM
Drama in Ed II
TBA
M 4:55PM-6:35PM
Ind Study
Smithner
TBA
Practicum
Montgomery T 11:00AM-12:15PM
Sem in Applied Theatre
Taylor
T 6:45PM-8:25PM
2/4- 6:30PM-9:30PM, 2/5- 10AMStorytelling in the Classroom Ress, R
5PM
4/8- 6:30PM-9:30PM, 4/9- 10AMDrama Across the Curriculum TBA
5PM
Drama with Special
1/28- 6:30PM-9:30PM, 1/29- 10AMEducation Populations I
Granet, R 5PM
Drama with Special
Education Populations II
Granet, R
Drama with Special
Education Populations III
Granet, R
Intro. To Boal's Theatre of the
E17.2965-001 Oppressed
Vine, C
E17.2966-001
(pre-requisite: Advanced Techniques of
E17.2965-001) Theatre of the Oppressed
Vine, C
Understanding Diversity,
E17.2977-001 Teaching Pluralism
TBA
3
3
3
3
3
3
3-8
3-8
3
1-4
1-6
3
1
1
1
2/11- 6:30PM-9:30PM, 2/12- 10AM5PM
1
3/5- 6:30PM-9:30PM, 3/6- 10AM5PM
1/21, 1/28, 2/4- 6:30PM-9:30PM
1/22, 1/23, 1/29, 1/30, 2/5, 2/610AM-5PM
1
3
3/12- 6:30PM-9:30PM, 3/13, 3/1410AM-5PM
1
4/26- 6:30PM-9:30PM, 4/27- 10AM5PM
1
EdTh News
Page 16 of 18
Summer Schedule of Classes
Course ID#
Course Title
Instructor
Days/Times
Dates
E17.1000-001
Independent Study
E17.1029-001
Dramatic Activities in the Elementary
Classroom
Montgomery
MTWR 6:30PM-8:45PM
7/18/05-8/4/05
E17.1068-001/
17.2031-001
Dramatic Activities in the Secondary
Classroom
Salvatore
MTWR 3:45PM-6:00PM
5/16/05-6/2/05
E17.1109-001
Studies in Directing
Smithner
MTWR 6:30PM-8:45PM
5/16/05-6/2/05
E17.2077-001
Methods and Materials of Research
Taylor
MTWR 3:45PM-6:00PM
7/18/05-8/4/05
E17.2152-001
Theatre Practices: Problems in Play
Production
TBA
MTWR 6:30PM-8:45PM
6/6/05-6/24/05
E17.2172-001
Shakespeare's Theatre II
Salvatore
MTWRF 9AM-4PM
6/27/05-7/15/05
E17.2193-001
Drama in Education I
Taylor
MTWR 6:30PM-8:45PM
6/27/05-7/15/05
E17.2300-001
Independent Study
Smithner
TBA
E17.2301-001
Practicum in Ed. Theatre
Salvatore
TBA
5/16/05-6/3/05
E17.2301-002
Practicum in Ed. Theatre
Salvatore
TBA
6/6/05-8/5/05
E17.2977
Understanding Diversity/Teaching
Pluralism
TBA
F 3:00PM-6:00PM
S 10:00AM-5:00PM
6/25/05-6/26/05
E17.2955
Drama Across the Curriculum
TBA
Sun 10:00AM-8:00PM
7/24/05-7/31/05
E17.2954-001
Storytelling in the Classroom
Ress, R
F 6:30 PM-9:30 PM
S10:00 AM-5:00 PM
6/22/05-6/23/05
Ress, R
F 6:30 PM-9:30 PM
S 10:00 AM-5:00 PM
6/29/05-6/30/05
E17.2954-002
Storytelling in the Classroom
LONDON
E17.2123-099
Classroom Drama in Education
6/25/05-7/17/05
E17.2124-099
DUBLIN
E17.2075-099
Classroom Drama in Education
6/25/05-7/17/05
Youth Theatre in Education
7/21/05-8/11/05
Page 17 of 18
EdTh News
Dr. Taylor to be a Featured Speaker at
The Texas Educational Theatre Association Convention
Dr. Philip Taylor, the program director for
NYU’s Program in Educational Theatre
will be a featured presenter at the Texas
Educational Theatre Associations annual
convention in Dallas, Texas.
The
convention is one of the largest gatherings
of educational theatre professionals in the
nation. Last year the convention had an
attendance
of
over
two-thousand
elementary school, middle school, high
school, and university teachers in the field
of educational theatre.
recognition for it as a course in the Texas
school programs. Its purposes were stated
as follows:
a.
b.
The
Texas
Educational
Theatre
Association, was founded in October,
1951. Preliminary meetings in 1950 and c.
early 1951 had resulted in tentative plans
for the eventual establishments of an
organization concerned primarily with d.
improving the status of educational theatre
in Texas.
However, when the proposals to revise
secondary school curricula and teaching
certification policies were initiated, the e.
need for immediate action became
apparent. Thus, the Texas Educational
Theatre Association came into being in
order to promote theatre and secure f.
To
promote
vigorously
the
development of high quality theatre
programs in Texas colleges and
universities.
To cooperate and appropriate state
agencies
in
obtaining
further
recognition of educational theatre as a
part of the curriculum in Texas public
schools, and to encourage the
employment of qualified public
school theatre teachers.
To encourage the writing and
production of plays about Texas and
the Southwest.
To exchange theatre theories and
practices in order to permit the use of
varied means of producing plays,
organizing theatre departments and
curricula, and constructing effective
theatre buildings.
To increase student appreciation and
participation in a living theatre in
which plays of high quality would be
produced.
To seek every means of creating
widespread
understanding
of
commercial and noncommercial
theatre and the contribution each can
render to the American culture.
Texas thus became the first state to
provide for secondary school drama
teacher certification and accreditation and
to establish drama as a separate subject in
a fine arts program in junior and senior
high school curricula.
Dr. Taylor and professor Brad Vincent
will be leading four to six workshops at
the convention. Students interested in
joining Dr. Taylor in attending this
convention, and helping with the
workshops or recruitment efforts should
contact Brad Vincent at 212-998-5273 or
bev202@nyu.edu.
Last year the Program in Educational
Theatre attended TETA on a very
successful recruitment drive, and we
expect to see more dividends for the fall
class of 2006.
EdTh News
Page 18 of 18
Lowell Swortzell ~ Remembered
1930~2004
Program In
Educational Theatre
82 Washington Square
East
Pless Annex 223
New York, NY 100036680
PHONE:
(212) 998-5868
FAX:
(212) 995-4569
E-MAIL:
ed.theatre@nyu.edu
We’re on the Web!
See us at:
www.nyu.edu/education/
music/edtheatre
Lowell Swortzell, who co-founded our
nation's first program in educational theatre
at New York University in 1966, died Aug. 9
2004 at Long Island College Hospital from
complications of a stroke. He was 74. This
news came as a sudden and unexpected
shock, and we are still trying to process
Lowell's passing. The office doesn't seem the
same without him, as he was always
available to faculty, colleagues, students,
alumni and friends to offer advice. We miss
him terribly. Lowell Swortzell spent nearly
40 years at NYU's School of Education,
renamed the Steinhardt School of Education
in 2001. There, he helped the Program in
Educational Theatre program to become a
top-rated center for the training of scholars,
administrators, performers and designers
committed to advancing theatre as an
educational art form. He co-founded the
program with his wife, Nancy. The
Swortzells' commitment to theatre was also
evident in the surrounding Greenwich
Village area. Lowell Swortzell's "Young
Eugene," a play about the night Eugene
O'Neill's "Emperor Jones" had its
Provincetown Playhouse premiere on Nov.
20, 1920, marked the 1998 re-opening of the
playhouse, which had closed its doors in
1992. In addition, Lowell directed the "New
Plays for Young Audiences" series held at
the playhouse, beginning in 1998. The
playhouse "will carry on that same tradition
of developing new voices in American
theater," he told The Times in an April 20,
1998 story. "But our mission is also to look
at how we can serve the community here. It
is to be a performing arts center which will
bring the community in." Lowell Swortzell
was the lead author of seven books and 20
plays, receiving The New York Times
"Outstanding Book of the Year Award" for
his compilation, "All the World's a Stage:
Modern Plays for Young People" (Bantam
Dell, 1972). A Fulbright Scholar, he also was
inducted into the College of Fellows of the
American Theatre at the Kennedy Center and
was given the Lifetime Achievement Award
by the Children's Theatre Foundation in
2003. Many will fondly remember Lowell's
contribution to numerous international
symposium. He was a tremendous scholar,
playwright, author and raconteur. For those
of us fortunate to have been a guest of his
and Nancy's at their home, 76 Washington
Place, we remember his warm and gracious
hospitality, and the sharing of many
theatrical tales around the kitchen table.
Lowell was a towering mentor to hundreds of
students and was a powerful advocate for
doctoral students, shepdhering them through
dissertation proposals and oral exams.
In May, 2004, Swortzell received the
Steinhardt School's 2004 Distinguished
Alumni Achievement Award. There will be a
day long celebration of Lowell's career at
NYU on Saturday March 5 2005, 10.00am6.00pm. Further details about this event can
be located at the Program website:
www.nyu.edu/education/music/swortzell. On
that day, which will be dedicated to Lowell's
legacy, many guests will be present to share
their memories and promote the field which
Lowell loved so dearly. Swortzell earned
bachelor's and master's degrees from the
George Washington University and his
doctorate from NYU in 1963. He is survived
by his wife, Nancy. The Program sends its
sympathy and love to Nancy who married
Lowell in 1958. For those who want to
contribute to the Swortzell Fund for Graduate
Study in Educational Theatre, please check
the above website for details.