Inclusivity And Equality In Performance Training

Inclusivity and Equality in Performance Training focuses on neuro and physical difference and dis/ability in the teaching of performance and associated studies. It offers 19 practitioners’ research-based teaching strategies, aimed to enhance equality of opportunity and individual abilities in performance education. Challenging ableist models of teaching, the 16 chapters address the barriers that can undermine those with dis/ability or difference, highlighting how equality of opportunity can increase innovation and enrich the creative work. Key features include: Descriptions of teaching interventions, research, and exploratory practice to identify and support the needs and abilities of the individual with dis/ability or difference Experiences of practitioners working with professional actors with dis/ability or difference, with a dissemination of methods to enable the actors A critical analysis of pedagogy in performance training environments; how neuro and physical diversity are positioned within the cultural contexts and practices Equitable teaching and learning practices for individuals in a variety of areas, such as: dyslexia, dyspraxia, visual or hearing impairment, learning and physical dis/abilities, wheelchair users, aphantasia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autistic spectrum. The chapter contents originate from practitioners in the UK, USA and Australia working in actor training conservatoires, drama university courses, youth training groups and professional performance, encompassing a range of specialist fields, such as voice, movement, acting, Shakespeare, digital technology, contemporary live art and creative writing. Inclusivity and Equality in Performance Training is a vital resource for teachers, directors, performers, researchers and students who have an interest in investigatory practice towards developing emancipatory pedagogies within performance education.

This volume sets out and critically evaluates the key principles for inclusion and the expectations derived from them, and looks closely at the practical issues involved in devising and implementing an inclusive PE curriculum.

This book offers tools to address the growing and urgent interest in exposing and challenging unconscious biases in the studio, exploiting how actor training uniquely combines elements of education and culture. It is the first practical and rigorous investigation of Pierre Bourdieu’s idea that domination and inequality are embodied in surreptitious ways. This book adapts and develops the techniques of Joan Littlewood and Ariane Mnouchkine that juxtapose the social with the comedic to theatricalise Bourdieusian concepts, inviting critical consciousness and critical praxis in the studio. It constructs the creative intervention Ludic Activism that can be practically applied in an actor training context. Actors from diverse training backgrounds were trained to use Ludic Activism, co-investigating how the Bourdieu-inspired vocabulary and pedagogy can facilitate the acknowledgement and tackling of dispositions during theatre-making. Ludic Activism developed the participants’ social representations into progressive and compassionate versions, reinforcing an understanding and use of their positionality in performance through a set of authorial acting tasks. This book is an advanced study for actors, directors, and teachers of acting for both the training/rehearsal studio and research. The methodology, account of the process, and evaluation of the creative intervention – including illustrations and selected videos that can be accessed on the Routledge website, under the Support Material section, here: https://www.routledge.com/Bourdieu-in-the-Studio-Decolonising-and-Decentering-Actor-Training-Through/Stamatiou/p/book/9781032306070 – demonstrate a decolonising and decentering trajectory for actor training.

Despite the mythology of sport bringing people together and encouraging everyone to work collectively to success, modern sport remains a site of exclusionary practices that operate on a number of levels. Although sports participation is, in some cases at least, becoming more open and meritocratic, at the management level it remains very homogenous; dominated by western, white, middle-aged, able-bodied men. This has implications both for how sport develops and how it is experienced by different participant groups, across all levels. Critical studies of sport have revealed that, rather than being a passive mechanism and merely reflecting inequality, sport, via social agents’ interactions with sporting spaces, is actively involved in producing, reproducing, sustaining and indeed, resisting, various manifestations of inequality. The experiences of marginalised groups can act as a resource for explaining contemporary political struggles over what sport means, how it should be played (and by whom), and its place within wider society. Central to this collection is the argument that the dynamics of cultural identities are contextually contingent; influenced heavily by time and place and the extent to which they are embedded in the culture of their geographic location. They also come to function differently within certain sites and institutions; be it in one’s everyday routine or leisure pursuits, such as sport. Among the themes and issues explored by the contributors to this volume are: social inclusion and exclusion in relation to class, ‘race’ and ethnicity, gender and sexuality; social identities and authenticity; social policy, deviance and fandom. This book was published as a special issue of Sport in Society.

How can theatre and Shakespearean performance be used with different communities to assist personal growth and development, while advancing social justice goals? Employing an integrative approach that draws from science, actor training, therapeutical practices and current research on the senses, this study reveals the work being done by drama practitioners with a range of specialized populations, such as incarcerated people, neurodiverse individuals, those with physical or emotional disabilities, veterans, people experiencing homelessness and many others. With insights drawn from visits to numerous international programs, it argues that these endeavors succeed when they engage multiple human senses and incorporate kinesthetic learning, thereby tapping into the diverse benefits associated with artistic, movement and mindfulness practices. Neither theatre nor Shakespeare is universally beneficial, but the syncretic practices described in this book offer tools for physical, emotional and collaborative undertakings that assist personal growth and development, while advancing social justice goals. Among the practitioners and companies whose work is examined here are programs from the Shakespeare in Prison Network, the International Opera Theater, Blue Apple Theatre, Flute Theatre, DeCruit and Feast of Crispian programs for veterans, Extant Theatre and prison programs in Kolkata and Mysore, India.

Expert guidance and step-by-step instruction for building a successful diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative from scratch In Diversity and Inclusion Matters: Tactics and Tools to Inspire Equity and Game-Changing Performance, award-winning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) expert Jason R. Thompson delivers a practical and engaging handbook for implementing a DE&I program in your organization. The CAPE technique, developed by the author, gives you a clear blueprint and the tools you'll need to make your diversity program a success. In this book, you'll learn how to achieve early and significant wins to create the necessary and long term organizational change needed for successful DE&I programs. Find out what data you need to collect, how to analyze it, and choose the right goals for your organization. In addition, the CAPE technique will show your progress and ROI. You will learn to: Manage and lead a diversity council and implement diversity initiatives in the correct order Get early buy-in and long-term commitment from a Chief Executive Officer by knowing what to ask for and when Set appropriate and realistic expectations for a DE&I program with the executive leadership team Perfect for diversity and inclusion professionals, human resources leaders, founders, business owners, and executives, Diversity and Inclusion Matters will also earn a place in the libraries of students of human resources, leadership, management, and finance.

Acting: The Basics 3rd Edition is a dynamic response to recent societal and entertainment industry changes, focusing on inclusion, diversity and equity, and the actor's trajectory from training to rehearsal to performance on stage and screen, with hands-on tools and global perspectives. The book offers vital ways of building a practical acting toolkit, through breath, body, voice, emotions, imagination and spirit. We begin with a socio-cultural look at actor as magician, storyteller, healer and social changer. Throughout, there are insights from Black, Indigenous, First Nations, South/East Asian, intercultural and feminist practitioners, together with methods focusing on disability and accessibility, intimacy directives, mindfulness and intersectionality. Key 'canonical' figures still feature (e.g., Stanislavsky, Meisner, Brecht and Suzuki) with re-visioned perspective. Scattered throughout are post-COVID insights, plus expanded sections on screen acting (including self-tapes) and Shakespeare. This book is useful for beginner or expert, as it's always helpful getting back to basics. Because the author is both an actor and an actor trainer, the tools are steeped in user-friendly application. At the same time, transferable skills (e.g., dynamic listening and empathy) are shown as relevant to everyone. With a glossary of terms and useful online suggestions (including blogs, videos and podcasts), this is ideal for anyone learn anew about the practice and history of acting, or to take their acting and teaching into new terrain.

Introduction: Invisible avalanches and ripple effects / Ofosuwa Abiola -- The gaze of power, rebel bodies and the specter of savagery : African and African descents' dances in the narrative eye of the beholders in Puerto Rico during the 19th and 20th centuries / Noel Allende Goitia -- Rooting across generations : establishing British Caribbean diasporic identity through dance / Tia-Monique Uzor -- Visualizing African diaspora dance through the African American dance company and visual art / Katie E. Dieter -- The ruses of memory in the cinematic choreographies of Delia Zapata Olivella : dancing to build gender in the public space / Juan Suárez Ontaneda -- Dance, rhythm, and ritual : Afro-Venezuelans in resistance / Mesi Walton -- Dancing African-ness : the transnational identity of Siddi Dammal / Anuran Dasgupta -- Dance : a catalyst for spiritual transcendence / Tamara Williams.