"Theatre, the imagined and enacted world of human beings, is one of the primary ways children learn about life -- about actions and consequences, about customs and beliefs, about others and themselves."

~ ArtsEdge, Kennedy Center

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Happy Theatre in Our Schools Month!

In this newsletter we bring you ways you can celebrate and bring awareness to theatre in your school and community.

We just wrapped up a residency program at a school in Jacksonville, Florida where, with the help of the staff and students, we somehow worked some theatre magic and managed to turn a 2 person show into a 452 person extravaganza, thanks in part to a grant from Target. We worked with the students (K-8) all week on theatre technique and writing skills. The Kindergarteners and 1^st graders learned new stories, American Sign Language and played small parts in the show. The 2^nd grades focused on Aesop's Fables and mask making, culminating in a parade during the performance. 3^rd and 4^th grade learned to dance the Charleston, tableaux theatre and commedia del arte. 5^th and 6^th dived into history and culture, learning about the 1904 world’s fair and the different countries represented there. Each of the four 5^th/6^th grades learned a different dance to perform in the show. They did the square dance, the Russian Troika, the Halay from Turkey and the traditional Bon Odori from Japan. 7^th and 8^th grade classes were each given an integral part of the play to write and perform. At the end of the week the parents were invited to the show. When it was all over we were exhausted and ready to do it all over again!

View excerpts of the students dancing on YouTube.

We are now making our way across the country to California where we are anxious to do two more residency programs, each tailored to the school and their specific needs and a number of shows at various schools and libraries. On the way we will be stopping in New Mexico to perform at the library in Farmington on March 14th.

Act!vatedly Yours,
Dennis and Kimberly Goza
Currently Act!vating Oklahoma
vm/fax: 1(800)429-6576 – cell: 1(818)720-3061

Time for Target

Speaking of Target. Applications are NOW being accepted for funding for school programs and early childhood reading programs. We invite you to partner with us if there is a Target store in your neighborhood. The grants ($2,000) can be applied to the following Act!vated programs:

A two day Artist-in-Residency program with shows for the entire school, workshops and a family night in full
A portion of a week-long Artist-in-Residency program “Script to Stage” with shows, workshops for the entire student body and a family night (balance $1,098 / $1,435 for 6 days)
5 shows at up to 5 locations (libraries and/or schools) scheduled over 3 consecutive days (or combination of shows and free books for Early Childhood Reading Grant)

We can handle the paperwork for you, all we will need to get started is demographic information and to pencil in dates sometime between September 2013 and May 2014. Email us or call us now for more information activatedstorytheatre@gmail.com

March is Theatre in Our Schools Month

A!S Theatre is excited to share Theatre in Our Schools Month (TIOS) with you! Sponsored by the American Alliance of Theatre and Education (AATE), TIOS celebrates the power of theatre to contribute to a well-rounded education for all young people. The theme for 2013 is Fostering a Culture of Creativity.

Here's how you and your students can join Act!vated to celebrate TIOS:

Aesop Tableau – Classroom Theatre Project

Objective: The students will know that Aesop was a Greek storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as Aesop's Fables. The tales feature animals that speak and solve problems. The students will learn that Tableau (plural: tableaux) means "living picture".

Core Curriculum Standards:

Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral. RL.K.2, RL.1.2, RL.2.2, RL.3.2
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. RL.K.3, RL.1.3, RL.2.3, RL.3.3
Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text. RL.4.7
Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures. RL.4.9
Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges; summarize the text. RL.5.2
Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch. RL.6.7, RL.7.7
Theatre K-4.2: Acting by assuming roles and interacting in improvisations

What you need:

Copies of Aesop's Fables printed out (One for every 2 students)
One class period

Begin the class by demonstrating a tableau by molding student volunteers as if they were clay into a scene depicted in one of Aesop’s Fables more popular tales, perhaps the Tortoise and the Hare. You may choose to do three scenes - one from the beginning, middle and end of the story. Try working in silence to pique the students' interest. Once your scene has been created let the students guess at what is going on before explaining it to them. Explain that tableau means “living picture” and write the word on the board. (5-10 minutes)

Next pair the students off and pass out the Aesop's Fables for them to read (2-3 partners per tale). But first tell them to read quietly and to try to keep their story a secret from the other students. (5 minutes)

Now each team of 2-3 “directors” will take turns making their own tableaux by casting clay (fellow students) and molding them into a scene from the story they were given. The directors can work together on one scene or have one do a scene from the beginning and one from the end. The “clay’s” job is to move when directed and stay in the position they have been given. You may wish to have the students who just directed be the "clay" for the next set of directors. The directors describe their scene and tell how it fits in the story when done. If the class is unfamiliar with the tale give the directors a few moments to explain the story. (15 - 20 minutes)

Classroom discussion: While the students are setting up their scenes lead the class in a discussion about who Aesop was. The exact biography of Aesop is a little hazy. It is believed that he was born a slave in Greece and that he gained his liberty as a reward for his learning and wit. In his desire alike to instruct and to be instructed, he traveled through many countries. One tradition states that at one time he was a slave along with Rhodopis, who became the Egyptian Cinderella. Ask what the moral or lesson is for each of the tales.

Act!vated Theatre Study Guides

For each of our stories, Act!vated has created activity-packed study guides for teachers and parents. All activities are linked to the Core Curriculum Standards. Since our plays are based on children’s literature, most of the guide activities can be done with your class whether or not you attend our shows (but we hope you do!).

More at American Alliance of Theatre and Education

Wear Your Show Shirt Day is Friday March 8, when all players and supporters wear a shirt from a theatre show they've worked on or seen to school or work. It can be for a show you currently are working on or perhaps the show you most enjoyed in the past. More info and ways to celebrate and promote TIOS: www.aate.com/

Getting READy to Dig Into Summer Reading Programs

Kimberly’s sewing machine is fired up and ready to turn a large pile of material into costumes, carrots, strawberries, and corn so Bear and Fox can argue over who is going to get the tops and who is going to get the bottoms.

This summer we kick off our newest production Digging Diversity at libraries and summer school programs from California to Massachusetts. 32 performances are already scheduled in California, Arkansas, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. There is limited availability in the following areas during these times:

6/3-8: Sacramento, California
6/6-7: Southern Nevada
6/7-11: I-40 corridor (Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma)
6/10-15: Eastern Oklahoma, Western Arkansas, Southeastern Kansas
6/22-24: Central Arkansas (Little Rock)
6/26- 7/3: Northeastern Arkansas
7/3-7/8: Missouri/Illinois (highly suitable for “Have Book, will Travel” theme)
7/24 & 7/29: New Jersey
7/25-27: Pennsylvania, near Williamsport
8/9-31: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire

No travel fees since we are heading your way already! Please check our tour schedule for availability and give us a call our voice mail (800) 429-6576 or cell (818) 720-3061.

Listen to an new Act!vated Tale

The Farmer and the Werewolf is a tale from Ireland, a country that traditionally has spun many yarns about such supernatural and sometimes frightening critters. The werewolf in this tale, however, is not an entirely vicious monster; he’s also a human who is appalled by his darker side, and wants to make amends. This is also one of those folk tales about the importance of keeping a secret, and the sometimes dire consequences of failing to do so-- a story somewhere between Ali Baba and Lohengrin. As it happens, this motif figures prominently in "The Bridge and the Dream", a Middle Eastern story that we're currently preparing for our new production that opens this summer. Direct download: Werewolf.mp3