* *AATE 2008 PRE-CONFERENCES * *

July 23-24, 2008

You can register for either pre-conference with your main conference registration. Find programming details for each pre-conference below. Please note that times and presenters are subject to change.

Following Atlanta's Footprints

Learning to Walk/Teaching to Dream, Teaching Artist Pre-Conference (application required)

Following Atlanta’s Footprints, July 23-24 2008
Experience Atlanta’s unique theatre culture through visits to The Alliance Theatre, recipient of the 2007 Regional Theatre Tony Award, the internationally-renowned Center for Puppetry Arts and a picnic dinner and performance of The Merchant of Venice at Georgia Shakespeare! Register online!

Destination 1:  The Alliance Theatre, recipient of the 2007 Regional Theatre Tony Award.
Tour the theatre and the newly renovated offices and studios of the Alliance Theatre Education Department.
Meet with Sharon Brewer, Director of Alliance Theatre Education and Carol Jones, Director of the Institute for Educators and Teaching Artists and Al Hamacher, director of the Acting Program.
Participate in a presentation of Georgia Wolf Trap for Early Learning with teaching artist, Nancy Meyer.

Attendees will then have the opportunity to get lunch and explore Atlanta’s midtown.   Sidewalk bistros, Atlanta’s largest green space Piedmont Park, and the upscale outdoor mall Atlantic Station are all just a short walk away. 

Destination 2: The Center for Puppetry Arts
After lunch, the group will head over to the internationally-renowned Center for Puppetry Arts.  Here everyone will have an opportunity to view the museum collection of puppets from around the world, and the new Jim Henson: Puppeteer Exhibit, which is a highlight of a larger collection that has been donated to the Center by the Henson Family.  Attendees will wrap up their visit to the center with a look at the distance learning studios and an opportunity to create a puppet to take home with them.
Destination 3: Georgia Shakespeare
This preconference will round out its day with a visit to a summer Atlanta tradition – a picnic and a show at Georgia Shakespeare!  This highly respected 23 year old company is known for its talented resident company of associate artists and taking artistic risks with classic scripts.  Following a lovely evening outdoor picnic, they will present the difficult text of The Merchant of Venice. 

Thursday morning
Rob Cleveland, longtime storyteller, actor, and stand-up comedian will join us for a morning celebrating our lows and highs in our work with students and theatre, and the footprints we make in the process.   Coffee and a light breakfast will be provided.

Learning to Walk/Teaching to Dream (Teaching Artists as Footprint Creators & Classroom Collaborators),
July 23-24 2008
Explore collaboration between teaching artists and classroom teachers, consider effective strategies for introducing and sustaining a drama-based pedagogy, and investigate possible frameworks for training Teaching Artists.  Then, spend the evening at The Merchant of Venice at Georgia Shakespeare.  Participants for this program will be chosen by application.

The workshops will address three interdependent essential questions:

• How can the art of theatre inform your teaching without being reduced to isolated games and activities?
• How might a drama-based pedagogy be introduced by a teaching artist or through professional/staff development and sustained by the classroom teacher?
• What skills do Teaching Artists need to develop to work collaboratively with classroom teachers? (and provide effective models of integrated or drama-based pedagogy)

9:00-12:00: (2) 90-minute segments
12:00-1:00 Lunch on your own
1:00-4:15: (2) 90-minute segments
4:15-4:45 Reflection

Presenters will include Scott Rosenow, Southeastern Center for Education in the Arts;  Katie Dawson, University of Texas – Austin; Gillian McNally, University of Northern Colorado; and Lisa Barker, Creative Arts Team.

This pre-conference program explores collaboration between teaching artists and classroom teachers, considers effective strategies for introducing and sustaining a drama-based pedagogy, and investigates possible frameworks for training Teaching Artists.   

Ideal Candidate (or minimum requirements).
3 or more years as a working professional with experience in the classroom.

To apply:
Please submit a letter of interest including your current contact information, information about your work, and reasons for your interest in participating in this 2008 pre-conference program to 2008PreConference@aate.com