Are you a MUWCI alumni? Interested in staying connected to our college on the hill? Excited by an Inclusive Arts Project aimed at connecting alumni, MUWCI students and the surrounding communities? Want to know how you can help make this happen? Then please take a few minutes to read over our proposal…....
Who we are
We are two MUWCI alumni recently returned from our ten year reunion, inspired to expand our work in Community Theatre to the place where the seed was initially planted. The last 10 years have taken both of us across continents and through theatres, most recently bringing us to find a shared passion for Community Arts Projects and a desire to research how through our work we can explore the role of theatre in achieving greater inclusion within various communities.
What we're doing
Some of our recent research has highlighted the effectiveness of theatre within a Learning Disability environment. Inspired by our return visit to India, our current project Rubbish Boy and the Buried Moon is a sensory, interactive performance that uses puppetry, music and movement to immerse young audiences in the fantastical journey of a little boy struggling to find the moon (and maybe the right way to be in the world). Exploring themes of environmental re-envisioning, sustainability and the consequences of our actions in the world (alone and together), the project draws on methods of Sensory Interaction and Play Theory as an integrated way to engage some of the hardest to reach children. We are currently developing this project in cooperation with a number of special needs schools in London, as well as a London based theatre.
Why Maharashtra?
As MUWCI alumni we are interested in taking our expertise in this field back to the place where our passion for community work was initially sparked. Remembering the incredibly worthy work of Sadhana Village reminded us of the need in India for models of inclusive practice and we want to extend our research in this area whilst simultaneously hoping to give back to the local communities surrounding our college.
The Plan
So far our proposed outreach to India for this first stage (April-August 2012) includes:
Who we are
We are two MUWCI alumni recently returned from our ten year reunion, inspired to expand our work in Community Theatre to the place where the seed was initially planted. The last 10 years have taken both of us across continents and through theatres, most recently bringing us to find a shared passion for Community Arts Projects and a desire to research how through our work we can explore the role of theatre in achieving greater inclusion within various communities.
What we're doing
Some of our recent research has highlighted the effectiveness of theatre within a Learning Disability environment. Inspired by our return visit to India, our current project Rubbish Boy and the Buried Moon is a sensory, interactive performance that uses puppetry, music and movement to immerse young audiences in the fantastical journey of a little boy struggling to find the moon (and maybe the right way to be in the world). Exploring themes of environmental re-envisioning, sustainability and the consequences of our actions in the world (alone and together), the project draws on methods of Sensory Interaction and Play Theory as an integrated way to engage some of the hardest to reach children. We are currently developing this project in cooperation with a number of special needs schools in London, as well as a London based theatre.
Why Maharashtra?
As MUWCI alumni we are interested in taking our expertise in this field back to the place where our passion for community work was initially sparked. Remembering the incredibly worthy work of Sadhana Village reminded us of the need in India for models of inclusive practice and we want to extend our research in this area whilst simultaneously hoping to give back to the local communities surrounding our college.
The Plan
So far our proposed outreach to India for this first stage (April-August 2012) includes:
- Touring Rubbish Boy and accompanying workshops to schools and Inclusive education / care centres in Maharashtra
- Collaborating with the Youth, Environment & Sustainability (YES) summer programme at MUWCI to devise an Inclusive Theatre Programme to be taken to surrounding schools and centres
- Facilitating the creation of a piece of Inclusive Theatre with adults at Sadhana Village in collaboration with MUWCI students, to be performed for the local community. (We are also seeking similar adult centres to expand this work to)
- Developing an ongoing link with MUWCI students to expand their practice of Inclusive Theatre work with the local communities
- Academic research into the need, uses and possible developments of Inclusive Theatre Practice in India. (The focus of Katie's Masters dissertation)
Through this diverse programme we aim to forge lasting relationships between current students and alumni, as well as between the college and surrounding communities. Further, we hope that exploring self-advocacy through creative expression will help to enrich the lives of some of the most marginalised people whilst contributing to the vital Environmental work MUWCI are already facilitating.
What we need from you
We are currently in the process of securing funds through the MA in Applied Theatre at The Central School of Speech and Drama, however this is a minimal amount and we are therefore casting our nets wider. We are seeking potential funders for the project as well as contacts within the field.
What we need from you
We are currently in the process of securing funds through the MA in Applied Theatre at The Central School of Speech and Drama, however this is a minimal amount and we are therefore casting our nets wider. We are seeking potential funders for the project as well as contacts within the field.
We believe that this project would fit into the CSR briefs of a number of companies and would love any of you to get in touch if you know of anyone that you think would be interested. We are equally keen to forge contacts within the field of Special Needs Education and if there are any centres or individuals you could put us in touch with or recommend for our tour, we would greatly appreciate it. Our website is currently in development, however we are more than willing to forward any further information to whoever is interested.
Click here to read a short project outline for centres / schools with our biographies.
We realise that April is now around the corner (in logistical terms) and so need to move on this as soon as possible.
We realise that April is now around the corner (in logistical terms) and so need to move on this as soon as possible.
In the hoping...
Kati Francis Class of 2001 / Sasha Nemeckova Class of 2002
Kati Francis Class of 2001 / Sasha Nemeckova Class of 2002
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