Categories
Presentations

Educators’ Forum: Strategies for Wellness

Jason Butler and I co-facilitated this embodied panel and workshop at the meeting of the North American Drama Therapy Association in Yosemite, CA. As the fourth annual Educators’ Forum, this workshop once again created space for drama therapy educators to come together for support and collaboration. In connection with that year’s theme, we looked at ideas of balance and wellness as they apply to the drama therapy educator. In particular, we examined the day-to-day strategies that assist educators in maintaining balance and a personal sense of wellness. Participants were invited to bring strategies that work for them as well as situations that cause difficulty. Together we actively explored the contradictions and paradoxes inherent in drama therapy education and work to facilitate harmony and balance.

Participants will also heard about our recent explorations and collaborations bridging the fields of drama therapy and applied theatre as we had recently co-presented at two international applied and educational theatre conferences. Our experiences and findings were shared and these were collectively investigated with participants alongside other ways that other related fields can inform the education and practice of drama therapy. 

Finally, we  examined how drama therapists can better collaborate with applied theatre initiatives in order to expand the exposure of the field and create more opportunities for teaching drama therapy and expanding the profession. 

Below are some images of the participants embodying scenarios and themes of drama therapy education:

Categories
Publications

Reflections on the Life of Maxine Greene and the Forum on the Teaching Artist: Navigation, Innovation, and Sustainability

As one of Dr. Greene’s last students at Columbia University, I proudly recruited her to deliver a keynote address on the opening night of NYU’s annual forum, for which I was the organizing manager. Sadly, this would become Maxine’s final public appearance before she did later that year. In this blog post, I recount a few more precious details about that night and the conference at large.

Revue, Fall.

http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/site/revue/2014/10/reflections-on-the-life-of-maxine-greene-and-the-forum-on-the-teaching-artist-navigation-innovation-and-sustainability/

Categories
Community Engagement

Sacred Play: Enacting Forgiveness

Atonement on Yom Kippur can be deepened through imagination, community-building, and sacred play. Alongside Shoshana Jedwab (and once with her partner Jill Hammer), I have developed and facilitated several creative breakout sessions preceding the final prayer service, Neilah. Dramatic strategies have helped me create unique spaces for engaging, immersive prayer at Romemu. Informed by expressive arts therapy practices, we adapt and interweave text, liturgical imagery, and ritual group activities that diverge from–yet complement–the sanctuary process. Over the years, we have found best practices and concepts to safely structure embodied teshuva (meaning “return”) experiences that ignite participants’ whole self to connect with each other and Source.

ROMEMU YOM KIPPUR BREAKOUT SESSIONS

Teshuva Labyrinth

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Andrew Gaines, Rabbi Jill Hammer, and Shoshana Jedwab

A labyrinth is an ancient technology for meditation and transformation through walking a sacred pattern or circuit. On Yom Kippur during biblical times, the high priest would also walk a labyrinthine journey through the Temple, to the Holy of Holies and the Divine Presence, and then slowly recede. We will offer texts, visualizations, and a labyrinth path to help you frame your experience and prepare for the coming year, but the Teshuva journey itself is co-created by you and your Source.

Between the Cherubs: Embodied Teshuva

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Andrew Gaines and Shoshana Jedwab

The High Priest was only permitted to enter the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur. Inside lived the ark, adorned only by two cherubs facing each other, with an empty space between them. Inspired by liturgical text and imagery, and informed by creative arts therapy practices, we will collectively invoke a playful safe space to embody the practices of the High Priest. Together we will co-create a spiritual journey towards teshuvah, making conscious preparations for the concluding Neilah service, encountering the gateway to mystery.

Enacting Forgiveness

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Andrew Gaines and Shoshana Jedwab

Deepen your renewal through the support of your imagination, our community, and stories from our sacred texts. Shoshana and Andrew will safely guide us to dramatize the teshuva journey with techniques adapted from Bibliodrama and Drama Therapy. To create this magical experience, please arrive on time as latecomers cannot be admitted. No acting experience is necessary; participants must be at least 14 years old.