Department

Leadership, Management & Business

Journal

HowlRound

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2-2017

Publisher's Page

https://howlround.com/

Abstract

I recently had an experience working on a production of Pippin that served as a cultural bridge between students and helped lay the foundation for a whole new teaching philosophy. I tend to direct with a mix of Deaf and hearing actors, so I was excited when, in September 2016, a drama club at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, NY approached me to direct their production of Pippin. The club itself was wonderfully diverse, and the mix of ethnicity, culture, and language in that one production resulted in significant artistic and teaching opportunities. We quickly learned that although everyone in the group had different cultural backgrounds and communication styles, they all had the common language of dance. So when the choreographer hired to do the show didn’t show up, the whole cast banded together and cooperatively found a way to choreograph the entire show, blending Malaysian dance, belly dancing, and classical ballet. Our time working together taught us how to unite through a shared language of movement regardless of cultural differences.

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