|
Workshops
Workshops include printed material to extend the workshop experience and serve as a catalyst for additional exploration. The headings below delineate the specific focus of current workshops.
TOVA Production RelatedTOVA productions can serve as a catalyst for opening discussions of significant social issues. Production Related Workshops give participants the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the issues by integrating creative experiential exercises with discussion and reflection. These workshops can be adapted for specific communities and populations. Currently TOVA offers workshops focusing on: Prison issues: Living with Life, Holding Up — A New Prison Legacy Theater of WitnessThis experiential course is geared for educators, theater artists, clergy, activists, students and those who are interested in learning about how to create Theater of Witness as well as how to use personal narrative to explore meaningful, societal and life issues. In the course, participants study the foundation, principles and applications of Theater of Witness through discussion, creative exercises and video. Participants also work closely with partners to create original short pieces. Developed by TOVA Artistic Director Teya Sepinuck, Theater of Witness is an original form of theater that presents the personal and collective life stories of people who have been marginalized in society. These healing stories are collaboratively crafted and woven together in spoken word, music and dance. They are performed by the people themselves as a way to provide audiences an opportunity to bear witness to the strength and spirit of those living with significant life issues. Theater of Witness is usually taught as a 13-week course, but can also be adapted for shorter programs. |
||||||
|
||||||
TOVA has had a continuous educational component as part of its mission for over 15 years. TOVA workshops range from intimate classes in creative process techniques to elaborate professional conference workshops designed for hundreds of people. Current educational programs in area prisons and public schools in the Philadelphia School District serve hundreds of participants. TOVA workshops and screenings have been featured at the World Congress on Criminology and Pathways for Victim Services conferences and are available to the general public when scheduling permits.