Download - Researchmap

Friday, April 22, 2016
SESSION 2: 1:30pm-3:00pm
Workshop Presentations
Group E – Pless Hall Basement Acting Studio
Workshop 1: Challenging a Japanese Model of Friendship through Drama: Would You Be Able to
Sacrifice Yourself for Your Friend?
The Japan Foundation London has developed the ‘JFL Japanese Scheme of Work for Primary Schools’ since Modern Foreign
Language in the National Curriculum in England became compulsory at Key Stage 2 in September 2014. It is based on the
‘Key Stage 2 Framework for Languages’ (Department for Education and Skills, 2005) and the ‘JF Standard for JapaneseLanguage Education 2010’ (Japan Foundation, 2010), both of which originates in Council of Europe’s language education
policies.
I developed one unit for Year 4 students in the scheme with a Japanese language advisor in the Japan Foundation London. In
the unit, we introduced Hirosuke Hamada’s children’s story, ‘Naita Akaoni’ (Red Demon Cried), and taught some of
Japanese words, manners and cultures through the dramatization of parts of the story. Above all, we focused on exploring one
of the important themes in the story: we unpacked a Japanese model of friendship associated with self-sacrifice and in doing
so attempted to develop the ability to decenter and critical cultural awareness, which, according to the Council of Europe’s
language education policies, is essential to intercultural understanding.
In my workshop, I am going to introduce a shorter version of this unit. We will dramatize parts of the story and discuss this
Japanese model of friendship associated with self-sacrifice through this process. At the same time, we will look at how we
can adopt conventions of Japanese traditional theatre within the framework of the English model of drama education.
Norifumi Hida, MFA (East 15, Essex), PhD (Warwick) teaches class struggle, gender, ethnicity and multiculturalism in
theatre at Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music and English language and stories through theatre and drama at Seisen
University in Tokyo. As a teaching artist and director of theatre for young audiences, he developed his most recent
production, Hospital Theatre Project 2015, a site-specific multi-sensory theatrical performance for children with disabilities.
He was formerly a Research Associate to the MA in Theatre for Young Audiences at Rose Bruford College in London. He is
a founding board member of the Next Generation, ASSITEJ.
Workshop 2: Transforming Visual Art into Performance: "The Colunga Project"
Experience the journey of students at the American School Foundation Guadalajara (ASFG) in Guadalajara Mexico as they
collaborate to create a performance piece inspired by characters from the paintings and sculptures of internationally known
artist Alejandro Colunga.
See how an international school celebrated the works of a visual artist with ASFG students, preschool through high school,
and the extended community. Through interviews, research and interactions, ASFG high school drama students, wrote and
workshopped scenes inspired by the characters and life of Alejandro Colunga. Elementary and middle school students
explored the physical life of these characters using improvisation and storytelling.
The final goal was to share the life and work of Alejandro Colunga with our school community. A devised piece was
produced through a collaboration among the participating students and artist; together over 200 K-12 students participated in
the creation of the final performance titled: The Colunga Project.
Participants in the NYU Forum in Educational Theater will experience a multi-media journey of the The Colunga Project
through interaction with director Stacy Ohrt-Billingslea, participating students, and a short performance from the piece by
ASFG alumni student, María Contreras, who is currently an undergraduate in the New Studio on Broadway program.
Stacy Ohrt-Billingslea is currently the Theatre Director at the American School Foundation Guadalajara, Mexico. Originally
from Hudson, Wisconsin, she attended Luther College in Decorah, IA and the University of Nottingham in Nottingham,
England, where she majored in Theatre & Dance. From there she received her MFA in Acting from the University of
59