arts-in-ed | Shearwater Productions

Doing arts-based learning in an mixed proficiency classroom

Theatre Workshops and Kids with Autism = AWESOME

July 21, 2012

In June, I had the amazing opportunity to work with 3 Tier Consulting (http://3-tier.org/home/ check out some of their amazing blogs and work) and some fabulous kids who are also kids with Autism or Asperger’s Syndrome. We were doing theatre/dramatic play/acting and playbuilding exercises and games, partly because yes, those skills are what those kids need to analyze and memorize social cues and responses, but also because it’s fun and develops social awareness for anyone! Were they scared at first? HECK yes. Another opportunity to not understand what is going on and feel out of place. Great. But once they

A tall and a short clown stand next to each other

Workshop Openers: connecting to the self and others using movement

June 8, 2012

A colleague recently asked me for some opening exercises to do with a clown class. The class would include folks with a variety of challenges, from the usual “I don’t like being vulnerable with other people” to learning challenges to challenges that accompany Down Syndrome. What an AWESOME question and AMAZING project! There are sooooo many terrific clown activities to use and do—it’s an ancient, myriad, mulitplexed art form. Even its practice in a workshop setting can change how one feels in the world. I have included below ‘openers’ that are great for many workshops—not just clowning, not just theatre.

Holly Adams in her studio recording an audiobook

Pirates! In praise of swordplay

June 3, 2012

I love pirates. Not, of course, modern real-life pirates, but the pirates of history and fiction with whom I fell in love as a girl. I still remember the thrill I felt when I met my first wild and adventurous pirate, Sinbad the Sailor from 1001 Arabian Nights. I was a shy, bookish, wandering girl of 8 who spent long afternoons alone in the woods to recover from school where having both too much energy and an agile, hungry mind made me ….. well, let’s call it “less than popular”. My discovery of the swashbuckling, adventurous narrative saved me. To

Three clowns in a hospital in Tuscany, Italy

A Mime is a Terrible Thing to Waste

May 25, 2012

(Sigh.) Let’s face it. I’m gonna let the truth be known. YES, I studied as a mime. I loved Shields and Yarnell (start with “The Breakfast Show”), Marcel Marceau, and the Mummenshanz, so it seemed natural to have intensive mime training as a part of my career development. I took workshops and courses, and enrolled in the renamed Dell ‘Arte School of Physical Theatre. As the official website beautifully frames it, “Originally called the Dell’Arte School of Mime and Comedy, the School’s name was changed to The International School of Physical Theatre in the late 1980s as a result of

A boy puts makeup on a girl getting ready for her clown therapy session

Clown Therapy Projects: love at first nose

May 20, 2012

Many projects in the expressive arts have a built-in lifetime, and a part of the pleasure arises out of the pre-knowledge of the project’s life expectancy. Clown Therapy, projects, however, are not wrought, like a performance, but rather exist as a process, like the water cycle, where beings are drawn together, change, affect and are affected by their environment, are lifted up, then are quite literally expressed. Like water, the process itself does not need to have the same exact people in it all the time to feel continuous, although like water, repeated action in the same place and close

Holly holding a mask and sign that says "Theatre Transforms Lives"

State of Arts-in-Ed with guest Marsha Wheeler

May 12, 2012

Arts-in-ed issues and conversations have gained momentum and greater public significance of late. A number of studies have been published indicating the importance of the arts in academic success and in post-school success. For these reasons, I opted to interview an incredible friend and colleague, Marsha Wheeler, an administrator in the arts-in-ed world for many years. Marsha is the Arts-in-Ed Coordinator of the Oswego County BOCES program in upstate NY. She is also a long-time organizer of conferences, initiator of opportunities, and inspirer of dreams. Below are her words, followed by an excerpt from President Obama’s Remarks at the Reception for