Devising Performance: Thursday, July 28, 11:45 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.
This workshop explores movement and longform improvisation as vital elements in the
generation of performance material with groups/ensembles of young performers. Starting
with a theme or story idea, we will play through structures that move between the worlds
of the daily and the poetic. Based on the work Rohd does with his award-winning
company Sojourn Theatre, this session is for teachers and artists interested in original
work with middle and high school age youth.
Documentary Theatre: Friday, July 29, 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
This workshop explores material gathered by participants through interviews. Each
participant is asked to bring in three quotes from three different people that respond to
the query "What role does art play in your life?" From this starting point, we will: discuss
the ethics and dynamics of interview based work; examine strategies for community
engagement in school-based projects; and stage the material you bring in using a physical,
gestural approach to creating performance. Based on the work Rohd does with his awardwinning
company Sojourn Theatre, this session is for teachers and artists interested in original
work with middle and high school age youth.
Michael Rohd is founding artistic director of Sojourn Theatre
in Portland, OR, where his work as creator/director/performer
includes Witness Our Schools (a nationally acclaimed touring
documentary theatre piece about public education) and the
warehouse performance journey 7 Great Loves (five 2003 Drammy
awards including Best Production and Best Director). He is a
recipient of Theatre Communication Group's 2001 New
Generations Grant, and their 2002 Extended Collaboration
Grant (as a playwright) with Atlanta's Alliance Theatre. He is
an associate artist with Cornerstone Theater Company in Los
Angeles and an artistic associate with Ping Chong & Co in
New York City. He is also founding artistic director of Hope
Is Vital, an international theatre and community dialogue resource, and author of the
book Theatre for Community, Conflict, and Dialogue (Heinemann, 1998).