Community Art-Making Events
Creator, Facilitator
Revolutionary Joy
In the spring of 2018 I co-conceived and implemented two community-based events for the university of Texas Department of Theatre and Dance. Inspired by Toni Cade Bambara’s call that it is the job of the artist to “make revolution irresistible,” I collaborated with Kate Proietti to curate a day of Revolutionary Joy, complete with laughter yoga and an art-making task party.
Revolutionary Joy Participants dance and cheer during a laughter yoga session led by Simone Monique Barnes.
Photo: Kate Proietti
Revolutionary Joy Participants cool down after a laughter yoga session led by Simone Monique Barnes.
Photo: Kate Proietti
Participants complete artistic tasks as acts of Revolutionary Joy.
What is the role of invitation in community-based artistic practice?
Midnight Society
With Midnight Society, collaborators Faith Hillis, Will Kiley, and myself used our production of Ike Holter’s chilling short play Nightfall as a narrative provocation for a community story circle that asked: what stories don’t you tell out of fear that no one will believe you?
Invitation to Midnight Society
How do we balance healthy risk-taking with generous care in community-based performance?
The People Who Parent Us
In February 2019, I collaborated to create and facilitate The People Who Parent Us, a community storytelling and performance workshop. Through carefully scaffolded activities, participants generated stories around the theme of parents, developed a short movement sequence with an ensemble, and then combined those elements to create original performance pieces.
Story “spicers” used by participants to experiment with storytelling.
Sharing stories with community participants.
Photo: Faith Hillis