Magazine Academy Theatre & Dance 2023-2024

From teacher to artisteducator

Magazine ArtEZ Academy for Theatre & Dance 2023

Table of contents 3

Preface

Maritska Witte

4

The artisteducator in education

Marijn Lems

8

“We can do away with the term ‘Target group’ altogether.

We are a group and we do it together”

Roos Wijnants

12

The brave artisteducator

David Limaverde

14

Building bridges in Belfast as an artisteducator

Iris Janssen

16

De Shankill Mission: “ArtEZ finds a new home at its site-specific college in Belfast”

Roos Wijnants

20

Connecting through conflict: IMAE alumnus Ana finds her purpose

Roos Wijnants

22

A toolbox full of dance

Iris Janssen

24

“Who has a seat at the table, who speaks, and who may have to listen for a while”

Dana Linssen

28

The artisteducator: a movement towards non-hierarchical pedagogy

Emiel Copini & Fabiola Camuti

31

Liza creates theatre with Ukrainian children

Iris Janssen

32

Dansen als medicijn

Rachel Felix

34

The DNA of the yes and the no

37

A search for my artisteducator in practice

38

Robby created his own study programme in Suriname

Iris Janssen

40

Moving histories: connecting communities through art and education

Iris Janssen

42

Experiencing the feeling of dance without dancing

Iris Janssen

45

Dance Artist students at Museum Arnhem

Noortje Bijvoets

1

ARTISTEDUCATOR IN DANCE ARTISTEDUCATOR IN THEATRE ARTISTEDUCATOR IN THEATRE AND MEDIA MASTER ARTISTEDUCATOR DANCE ARTIST ACTING SCHOOL LECTORAAT ART EDUCATION AS CRITICAL TACTICS

Inés Sauer Jesper Pouw

Preface Dear reader, I am proud to present this magazine from ArtEZ’s Academy of Theatre and Dance 2023.

This year, we have devoted it entirely to developments within the teacher training programmes in theatre, dance and media, which will be renamed as of the 2023-2024 season.

The courses have changed their curricula and content dramatically in recent years, responding - and anticipating - developments in the field. The programmes’ new names are the result of innovation processes they have initiated together with iMAE (International Master of Artist Educator) and the professorship Art education as Critical tactics (AeCt).

Theatre teacher Zwolle becomes Artisteducator in theatre & media, Dance teacher becomes Artisteducator in dance Theatre teacher Arnhem becomes Artisteducator in theatre.

Artisteducators apply their artistic and social didactic qualities within the context of various projects and communities. They enter the space between art and society, analyse the systems, relationships and structures they find in the chosen context, and then reflect on them artistically. Co-creation in context is the source of the artistry and social empathy of the art educator. We therefore deliberately write artist-educator to each other, to show that the artist and the teacher are one and cannot be separated.

Social issues about equality, climate and cohesion call for artist-educators who use art to work with people to see, imagine and perhaps shape the world differently. We will have to redefine and give new meaning to concepts such as growth, success and living well together. For this, we need imagination. We therefore primarily train people who listen and engage in meaningful processes with different audiences that lead to self-expression, self-awareness and environmental awareness. Theatre and dance (and film/new media) are the media in which our students are skilled. The media they use to shape those perspectives.

In this magazine you will find examples of how that can work in our own educational modules inside and outside ArtEZ, both for the artisteducator bachelor’s and master’s programmes and the performing arts programmes. In addition, it features students who are working as artist educators.

Of course, the name change we celebrate with this magazine is not the end of the journey, rather a meaningful stopover. This academic year, Artisteducator in Dance is launching a completely revised curriculum. The Dance Artist programme has also been working on a new curriculum. Both with more room for a diverse intake and flexible learning routes. I am also very much looking forward to the coming season because Lotte van den Berg will be artist-inresidence for the entire academy until the end of 2024. It feels like a huge achievement that we can take the time to get to know each other and, by speaking and working together, highlight and shape the key needs and wishes of students and staff.

All of this together is a foundation for working to reflect the multi-voiced nature of society. To continue working on student engagement. To build on more collaboration between programmes.

We are not there yet. But we can take a break now and look at the road ahead.

Yours sincerely, Maritska Witte

*In the spirit of the artisteducator, the magazine is designed by three brand-new alumni of ArtEZ’s Graphic Design programme, and largely written by students and staff. *Different from previous years, we do not present the individual new alumni here. Those can very easily be found on the finals pages via the QR code on the left page.

MARIJN LEMS

THE Artisteducator IN EDUCATION The teacher training courses in ArtEZ's performing arts department are in a state of considerable flux. Starting next academic year, they will in fact no longer be called teacher training courses, but artisteducator courses in Theatre, Dance and Media. But what does 'artisteducator' actually mean? And which developments have led to this change? We sat down with the three artistic heads of the courses (Laura Wijnbelt - artisteducator in dance, Cormac Burmania - artisteducator in theatre Arnhem, and Arjen Hosper - artisteducator in theatre and media Zwolle), senior researcher Fabiola Camuti and Maritska Witte, director of the Academy of Theatre and Dance.

Starting this academic year, ArtEZ’s performing arts teacher training courses have a new name: they have become artisteducator courses. This involves much more than a simple name change: the courses have been revamped from top to bottom. For the theatre in education courses, this process has been going on for some time, and the dance in education course is still at the beginning of a change process, but it basically amounts to the same thing: a complete overhaul of how education is organised.

The ‘artisteducator’ is central to that reform. Artisteducator is written as one word to eliminate the discrepancy between artist on the one hand and teacher on the other.

An artisteducator deploys didactic-pedagogical qualities in their artistry, as well as the artist’s skills and craftsmanship in working in diverse contexts. The artisteducator moves in the space between art and society, analysing the systems, relationships and structures they find in the chosen context, and then reflecting on them artistically. Always in concert with that context itself. For example, when an artisteducator enters the classroom, they first examine what is going on in the classroom, the school and the local environment.

The dialogue about this with the students is the starting point of the artistic process. The artisteducator can do the same in neighbourhoods, communities or businesses; in each context, they focus on environmental and systems analysis and translating that reality into the imagination. Co-creation with context is the source of their artistry.

In order to prepare students for careers as artisteducators, they should be given the opportunity to work in a researchbased manner throughout their course, in constantly changing environments, usually outside school. Traditional professional courses are disappearing almost entirely and, in their place, new ‘laboratories’ are constantly being set up in which teachers and students work together on a research question.

Later in this magazine, examples of working within different contexts are highlighted.

In 2015, professor Jeroen Lutters saw the need for a transition in art education. He invited John Johnston to come to the Netherlands and develop his expertise in socially engaged art and art education at ArtEZ in a new master’s program where his idea of the artisteducator could be further developed.

At the same time, this resonated with the then newly appointed heads of the teacher training courses programmes who have given it their hands and feet in the process of revising their curricula. What does that mean, what challenges does the educational transition pose in practice?

I suggest we start with you, Fabiola. You and Emiel Copini wrote a theoretical piece on the artisteducator, an you be more specific about what needs to change in art education? What does the decolonisation of art education specifically entail?

Fabiola: ‘We can name two main points. The first is the resources we use: our canon and curriculum is almost entirely Eurocentric and patriarchal in nature, and lacks alternative voices. That doesn’t mean throwing out Stanislavski and Brecht, but looking at them critically, and putting other sources alongside them. We cannot change history, but we can change and broaden our view of history. Secondly, it has to do with educational theory and pedagogy. We need to revisit the relationship between teacher and student, which should no longer be about knowledge transfer in a hierarchical sense, but much more about knowledge exchange between student and teacher and collaborative research. The teacher still takes responsibility for the frameworks of teaching, but makes themselves more vulnerable. We call that the concept of the ‘leading learner’: the teacher leads the process but is still also a learner, with their own research questions.’

For heads of courses: what exactly does it take to make that transition to an artisteducator course?

Laura (head of artisteducator in dance course): ‘That is an

extensive question. I only started in my position at the dance in education course in September, so that process is still in full swing. If you look at the dance forms that we teach, I think there is a wealth of context there because all those forms originate from, or at least have been nurtured by, different cultures. So in itself, dance already provides those handles – but you have to actively make room for them of course.

That means the approach changes from ‘learning to perform the move optimally’ to ‘what does this move mean to me and where does it come from’? This allows a dancer to seek the moves that resonate with their personal need, providing a form of embodied knowledge. Then you examine the context not only cognitively, but also physically.

Another thing is that the emphasis will be much more on research. As an artisteducator, when you start working with a group of people, what does that mean? How do you collaboratively create art in an educational context? That is a totally different approach from the more traditional dance teaching approach, which focused much more on teaching technique.

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And what challenges does that pose for teachers?

Laura: Teachers often draw on their own experiences in their training and work, which is no longer the self-evident basis. This is an exciting quest for us. Fortunately, I have a fantastic teaching team who know how to shape this movement with enthusiasm and expertise. It also requires students who are willing to shape the ideas together with teachers, as Fabiola said about the leading learner. That also means that you have to look for a new way of testing, which should no longer be based on technical skills but much more on behaviour, openness and an inquisitive attitude.’

Arjen: ‘Assessment is also an important element in shaping change for theatre education. Cormac and I started this transition together six years ago and so have been at it a little longer, and yet crucial questions continue to surface: “How do I as a teacher know whether I’m doing my job right?” So not only our students but also the teachers are learning to name time and again what students have grown in. And the great thing is that the students themselves play an important role in this.’

Cormac (head of artisteducator in theatre): ‘I think there’s another question that precedes it that we haven’t answered yet: What is the objective of the education?

It is not fleshed out until that question has been answered.

Is it about the individual you are enriching, or are you preparing people, for example, to play a useful role in society?

Education is often instrumentalised by society; you can see that now, for example, in the pressure on secondary vocational education courses in healthcare and engineering because we need those kinds of professionals. That’s a clear task, but the question is: is that tenable and sustainable, or do should people be trained in a different, broader way? Artisteducators can play a role in answering those questions because they can look at education with a non-instrumental view. Education in arts is essential for the broad development of (young) people in a constantly changing society.

Fabiola, you say in the artisteducator article that artists are not there to solve social problems, but to encourage change. Can you explain that?

Fabiola: ‘Perhaps I can give an example. There is, of course, a long tradition of community art, but the question is: what does that mean? Because it is quite a paternalistic approach if you regard art as something that has to solve actual social problems, because you then go to a “disadvantaged” community based on the assumption that you as an artist know how to help them, that you actually know better than the members of that community themselves. If we look at that critically it doesn’t really hold up, because it also only addresses the superficial problems and not the underlying system.

So a better approach is to look at a community together with its people, so that they themselves can then work on what has come up in the process.’

That sounds as if you want to turn people into revolutionaries.

Fabiola: ‘As a matter of fact, yes. And that revolutionary approach entails first stepping back and looking at your own position. The artisteducator is initially clear about their own characteristics to the people they work with, based on the recognition that it is not a “neutral” or “objective” presence.

After that, it is about jointly expressing the needs of a community, seeking an appropriate form. The co-creation in the process gives participants a sense of ownership.

And it opens up opportunities to view one’s own identity and that of others in a different way.’

Arjen: ‘Another difference is that we used to work from target groups, which were selected in advance and basically isolated from the rest of the community. Now we start from a place and look at who belong there, which is naturally a diverse group of people who relate to each other in a certain way, because of that shared locality.

Fabiola: ‘Right, and if you take that approach and look at the circumstances in a critical way, you automatically come across underlying themes.’

Hmmm, is that so? Shouldn’t you already have a certain political awareness, and knowledge of how social systems work?

Cormac: ‘It is indeed important to develop political

awareness. Education takes place in the public domain, neutrality does not exist, so all educational choices are at the same time political choices.’

So that requires new skills from your teachers, doesn’t it?

‘It requires new knowledge and skills from all of us. As an example, we recently had as our guest Professor Bruce White, who researches identity. Identity is an important thing within education and at the same time we know precious little about it.

Skills in how to look at identity and work with it are particularly important within art education, since art and its practice can have a great impact on identity formation.

For teachers, it is important that they see the political expressiveness of the process and the work, and continue to explore this together with the students. There is an area of tension between what a teacher thinks and a student thinks, which is not to be confused with what is good or not. We look at training much more holistically than before. The question of meaning has become more important in relation to individual skills. ‘ That may also have to do with the image of teacher training courses as places where people end up who had actually wanted to be actors, dancers or makers, but were not accepted into those courses. Is the switch to artisteducator also a way to accommodate that – it sounds as if – a specific form of – artistry is becoming more paramount?

Arjen: ‘You already see a clear difference in terms of the people who come to audition – they are already much more people who really want to tell something. Often they also already have some kind of maker practice, for example on TikTok or other creative media. And the question they come up with is: How can I find resources to tell my story? And how do I do that in contact with other people?’

Maritska: ‘Hence we select much less on the basis of whether students can act or dance well, and much more by how much room they allow for experiences and different perspectives and how they can translate that into an artistic idea. This also offers prospects to a different type of student for these courses.

Incidentally, you see this happening now in all teacher training courses; nationwide we are seeing growing emancipation.

This also has to do with the shortage of teachers; students all have job prospects upon graduation.’

Wijnbelt: ‘I notice a tremendous eagerness among our students to take the space to engage in artistic research, and I would like to make room for that earlier in the curriculum.

It is precisely this personal commitment to the field that

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should be at the centre, which is the most fruitful source of development.’

Cormac: ‘Absolutely, and we talk a lot about that as well, to remove fear and give that confidence.’

Cormac: ‘I think it’s also a sign of the times. To begin with, you see that there is more activism among young people, more will to change the world. Our students have that as soon as they arrive here, they just don’t have the language or form of expression for it yet. That’s why you have to provide space from the beginning to explore that.’

Arjen: ‘And the whole learning process is based on exploring things together. When you break down the hierarchical relationship between teacher and student, there is also much more room for the teacher to be vulnerable and hence take the liberty to ask students things. And students, in turn, feel more security in a process when they feel their voices are heard as well.’

Maritska: ‘In that respect, the name change is also important: the term artisteducator is going to appeal to an entirely different audience than ‘teacher’.

Cormac: ‘We are already noticing it in job applications: if you put artisteducator in your job posting, the group of applicants responding is much more diverse.’

Cormac: ‘But that step asks a lot from teachers, which takes a great deal of time and energy. Now that we’ve been around for a while, a teacher sometimes asks: “All nice and all, but can I perhaps for once teach a lesson where I do know it all?” (laughs). As a teacher, you can’t be in three projects at the same time, because you just don’t have enough energy for it.’

Arjen: ‘As a result, we also need new positions. I just hired another new production manager because I really need a very experienced staff member in that position now. They produce education for teachers as if it were theatre productions; a research lab involves much more than simply booking a classroom at the right time. You really need someone who can step back, it’s intramural, extramural, with different guest teachers and other outside parties – it’s very complex.’

Fabiola: ‘All education is excessively focused on testability, measurability and efficiency, which leaves no room for individual care. That’s also terrible for the teachers themselves, who really aren’t the bad guys, but are just as stuck in a restrictive system.’

How do you make the switch to artisteducator in your respective courses?

Laura: ‘What is most important is that in terms of knowledge transfer, a lot is already being done very well in the curriculum, but there could be more room for depth and research. That is the core of the focus on artisteducator. With a greater focus on research labs and less on traditional classes.

And with that comes the question to teachers of what they themselves want to explore, because that is the concept of the leading learner, that you have questions of your own.

And the answers to those questions in turn offer new angles for education at ArtEZ itself, and this should give rise to a form of interaction in which education itself is constantly being questioned and reinvented.’

Cormac: ‘You go from teachers, who have expertise in imparting knowledge, to researchers, who continuously question everything. That means they have to master the art of not knowing, and that is quite a challenge. They need to gain confidence in being allowed to explore and not to have all the answers.’

Fabiola: ‘This way of thinking and working also lends itself very well to scrutinising the system, where research is generally reserved for universities and higher professional education master students. But research should play a role at all levels of education because that is the only way you can make your practice resilient to different contexts and questions, and respond to unforeseen challenges (social or otherwise). In this way, you also break down the hierarchy in educational levels that is so “normal” now, and address all students at every level on their creativity and hence on their own talents.’

Can such a basis of trust and not-yet-being-allowed-to-know also be a way to deal with other social transition processes?

I am thinking specifically of the various emancipation struggles that are going on now, which are about anti-sexism, antiracism, LGQBTIA+ acceptance and social safety in general.

Many teachers struggle with how to relate to this subject matter and want to do it ‘right’ – would it help them if, in this area too, it is okay to make mistakes?

And social safety specifically? Does the new role also help against the danger of abuse of power and transgressive behaviour?

Cormac: ‘What is important is that we mustn’t start thinking: there is no more hierarchy, so no more room for abuse of power. Because there is still hierarchy: a teacher is paid, and a student must pay for education. So you have to be particularly transparent about that positionality. Furthermore, it is true that within these structures, a teacher can never decide on a student’s assessment on their own because there are no more individual courses. Ultimately, you have an assessment in relation to a group of teachers and external parties, so that is a joint decision based on that meeting.

The dependency relationship between student and teacher is diminished as a result. And in a broad sense, the research work format also entails that you are more strongly networked as a student, because you never work one-on-one, but always as part of a larger group of students and teachers.’

Maritska, do you, in time, expect the other courses at the Academy of Theatre and Dance to adapt their teaching methods in a similar way?

Maritska: ‘That’s already happening. In our team, we are lucky to work with people extremely committed to education. At the dance academy, Noortje Bijvoets has ensured that it is more outward-looking and more connected to society, confronting students with other forms of work early on.

At drama school, they spent a year working exclusively with women as sources, so all the move methods, texts, and guest teachers. That has had a profound effect.

The focus is on the transition of the teacher training courses because of the trickle-down effect: all graduates go out into the field and will hopefully inspire others (children, teenagers and adults). ArtEZ is the largest supplier of art teachers in the Netherlands with 750 students every four years, and for many people our students are the first point of introduction to the (performing) arts. Change that we implement on these courses has a kind of flywheel effect. Also in the area of diversity in the performing arts: by running this process first in the artisteducator courses, our students will hopefully be making art education in schools more inclusive. And when you send artisteducators out

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into the world to question that idea, to broaden and deepen the understanding of dance, you attract yet other people. That’s a long journey, but the key lies with artisteducator training.’

Cormac and Arjen, where do your courses actually stand in this change?

Cormac: ‘We are now focusing on so-called site-specific classes, introducing education into the community itself and spawning a mutually fruitful interaction between education and society. Actually, tuition is used for a dual purpose: to enrich the life and imagination of a particular neighbourhood, and to teach students to conduct collaborative research with a community. That way of working also prevents repetition, because each place is a one-off for each student, and each new place is different, with new research questions.

That brings with it a completely different idea of teaching.

You can’t just replace a class, for example – if a teacher is replaced, the research questions are also replaced and hence the whole project.’

This also teaches students that there is not just one form of knowledge, but many different forms and types of knowledge, because the research approach of each teacher and each place is different.

with master students, everyone realised that it was exactly the same in the schools where they had worked! We’re so used to those kinds of structures that we don’t see them, and so that’s where the artisteducator can make a difference.’

Cormac: ‘Yes, and besides analysing the systems we’re in, we can also learn from other systems. In that respect, I find the hip-hop tradition very inspiring, because its values are completely different from those of our education system.

Such as a focus on learning by doing, the concept of each one teach one that makes teaching a joint responsibility, as it were, the cypher, a circle in which you improvise and try things out with each other, and so on.’

Maritska: ‘This is all especially important these days because there is a huge shortage of teachers. Moreover, there is an increasing focus on citizenship education, media literacy, digital skills, creative thinking, everything you need to hold your own as a future adult in a constantly changing world.

Artisteducators can play a major role in raising awareness and the broad development of (young) people. You want to train teachers for the future – and that’s exactly what our artisteducator course is geared to.’

Cormac: ‘Exactly. And the teachers themselves learn this as well, as they constantly have to conduct new research in different formations and places Maritska: ‘So that also calls for a great diversity of teachers, with different backgrounds and practices to draw from. We are working hard on that, even though we are not there yet.

One small caveat in applying context research as a method of education is that not all of our students’ future employers are necessarily comfortable with such an approach. They (e.g. secondary schools or course houses) often still expect an arts teacher to just come and teach a class. So we need to prepare our students for that as well: that that is part of their toolbox, but also that they must assess which approach works with which employer.

And we have it relatively easy as theatre and dance courses; for music and visual art courses, it is even much more difficult because those art forms are much more thoroughly integrated into secondary schools. This is also why performing arts in education courses are already much advanced in this revolution.’

Arjen: ‘But one does not preclude the other. If you are “just” teaching, you can take that opportunity to do contextual research as well: what kind of students attend this school, what concerns do the students have, what do you notice in the environment, and all that research can be fed back into your lessons. So you can always use that research focus and that critical eye.’

Fabiola: ‘I have a good example of that. In the research that Emiel and I did for our essay, he spoke to artisteducator students who were going to work in a secondary school. There they noticed that the school was completely hierarchically organised – the lower education classes on the ground floor, the intermediate education classes on the first floor, and the pre-university education classes on the second floor. As a result, the students of the different educational levels never see each other. And when I mentioned that example at a meeting

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ROOS WIJNANTS

EN

“Dance should be accessible to everyone, regardless of background, disability, origin or other things that want to put us in boxes.” So says Yuliya Globa, master’s student in Education in Arts and coach at the bachelor’s course Dance in Education at ArtEZ. For her graduation project, she created an environment (WELAB) that enables different people with different bodies to develop through dance.

“As far as I am concerned, we can do away the term ‘target group’.”

She has a turbulent past behind her.

Yuliya Globa was born in the Ukraine and emigrated to Germany at the age of eight. Because she didn’t speak the language and didn’t know the culture, for her dance was a way of connecting with her peers without having to talk to one another. “I mastered the language soon enough, but you always remain a bit of an outsider”, explains Yuliya. “As a child, that could be tough at times. For me, art became a way of surviving and integrating.”

“I relived my emigration period”

Because dance was pretty much Yuliya’s life and she couldn’t find a suitable dance course to facilitate her further development, she decided to emigrate again, this time to the Netherlands. She applied to ArtEZ and after two attempts she was accepted on the Dance in Education course in Arnhem. Several years later, she was appointed interdisciplinary coach for several different teacher training courses at ArtEZ, and right now she has nearly completed her master’s degree in Education in Arts. “I chose this because I wanted to go into more depth”, explains Yuliya. →

During the master’s course, you also constantly reflect on everything you’re doing and have done. As a result, I started questioning more and more things, which brought more and more stuff to the surface.” - Yuliya Globa, master’s student Education in Arts -

“Doing a master’s degree was intense, because I kind of relived my emigration period, which was also to do with language – during the Dance in Education bachelor’s course, obviously you speak and write in Dutch, but in the master’s there is a different focus on words and meaning. You take it a step further. During the master course, you also constantly reflect on everything you’re doing and have done. As a result, I started questioning more and more things, which brought more and more stuff to the surface.”

Making dance education accessible to everyone During her graduation project WELAB, she took a critical look at her own legs, feet and hands as a dance artist.

What does she do when she is working with people with different disabilities?

Yuliya: “My research basically consisted of bringing together a mixed-abled →

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group of people with a passion for . dance. Because I want to make dance education accessible to everyone, we literally and metaphorically looked at different working methods I could use as a dance artist. And we also asked ourselves what inclusion means for us.

What are our experiences, what do we consider valuable and what not?”

Everyone is a source of inspiration in dance Through WELAB, she wanted to gather the insights of participants.

How did they experience the working method and how did it affect them?

Yuliya: “One of the ‘conclusions’ was that if there is a good balance between freedom and boundaries, participants experience various learning moments, which they also perceive very consciously. Another outcome was that everyone is a source of inspiration in dance, particularly if that person has a very different body. So stepping out of your comfort zone can be very valuable. We also observed that inclusion is something that needs to be trained; it is a process that is constantly evolving and which therefore cannot have a hard outcome, because we all still have a long way to go.” →

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Engaging in dialogue through movement and dance.

According to Yuliya, living together and being able to participate in talent development should be a basic right.

“But in order to make that a reality, a lot of effort will be required. It’s very complex. During one of our meetings, we realised that the building was not even accessible to everyone. “So there’s still plenty of work to be done.”

Yuliya explains that WELAB offers a potential environment in which we can engage in dialogue with one another. “As well as talking, the ways of doing so also include dancing, moving and experiencing. That’s why I developed this working method. I think that a lot of people enjoy being part of something. And due to my background, I probably have a certain sensitivity to that.” →

I think that a lot of people enjoy being part of something.

And due to my background, I probably have a certain sensitivity to that.” - Yuliya Globa, master’s student Education in Arts -

Thinking in boxes Although her future plans are not yet entirely clear, Yuliya does have an ultimate goal: making universities of the art accessible to everyone.

“If you’re in a wheelchair and you want to become a dance teacher or choreographer, you should be able to”, she believes. Ultimately, she wants to get to a place where we collectively do much less thinking in boxes and more living hand-in-hand. “As far as I concerned, we can do away the term ‘target group’ altogether. We are a group and we do it together.” •

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DAVID LIMAVERDE

EN

“Have Courage to be happy”. - Augusto Boal -

K. was a student of mine a short while ago. They are very outspoken, and a team player with a great sense of proactiveness. During the first half of our course, an issue arose with the behaviour of another member of our small group of students. This slowly formed an obstacle to the group’s ability to benefit from our sessions.

What to do now? Knowing that the situation could easily continue without any confrontation (like many times before), would K. move themselves out of their comfort zone and open up about this very unsettling issue, risking that they cause an immediate disruption in the group dynamics, and perhaps being seen as impolite, overly clinging to anything, as well as a “pot stirrer”? Would K. be brave?

By brave, and in relation to K.’s case, I mean acting in accordance to their values and in favour of the collective, even fearing a possibility that they are doing the wrong thing.

This is a real story (in which names and actual issues were suppressed) to exemplify what a “brave space” can look like in classroom, as opposed to a “safe space”. In this anecdotal article, I want to add the knowledge and practice of facilitating a brave space to the layered complexities of what an artisteducator can be. But before my arguments, I would like to share the feedback K. sent to me at the end of our course: “Because of the brave space, I dared to confront my classmates and friends when something was bothering me. We communicated and solved issues instead of keeping it all inside and being annoyed with each other.” →

For the last two years, I have

beenwelcoming the concept of brave space as an alternative to holding safe spaces in all my sessions with students, as well as when working with other fellow artisteducators.

When I think of someone who juggles in their practice, important intertwined self-attributes such as of being an artist, educator, researcher and change maker; I can’t close my eyes to the enormous responsibility the artisteducator carries - and the first adjective that comes to mind is “brave”. The artisteducator in inherently brave. On the very first day of my sessions, I encourage students (and myself) to act “from safe to brave” while holding spaces; starting our processes with an agreement on a brave space, a concept that becomes clearer and embodied when the right challenging situation arises.

Holding a brave space acknowledges that no space will ever be completely safe. The practice of holding a brave space is about ethically and authentically positioning myself as an artisteducator, and also having in mind the many micro-cosmos my students live in, concerning their gender, social class, race, neuro-divergence, self-confidence, health etc. - multiple nuances and multiple ways that we might embrace and be accountable for. Who has experienced being a participant in a session, meeting, class or therapy, and one of the first things the facilitator says is: “Don’t worry, you’re in a safe space”? What do we do with these nuances of life mentioned above which are always in motion and deeply embodied in us? Do we leave them outside our learning space simply by that act of speech? The word “brave” came to me as a rhyme to → “safe” - well, let’s agree it sounds

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a bit lame… Although it’s catchy…

Nevertheless, when researching about this concept, I found out that other artisteducators all over the world were making use of the same jeu de mot.

How about “courageous space”?

I like the word courageous – there’s no rhyme in it, however, there’s depth, there is a meaning of an agency that is in motion and despite potential fears, continues aiming at self-expression, for which there is no right or wrong. How can we express ourselves courageously in any learning environment? By not worrying about walking on egg shells, or silencing ourselves, or expressing emotions (like crying, being upset or passionate), or making mistakes, or choosing the easier path, or saying something that may not be “politically correct” – and the list goes on… Instead, a brave space is characterized by one being authentic, true to oneself, sometimes uncomfortable, respectfully open to critique and being critiqued, and most importantly: by being accountable! The responsibility of holding a brave space entails accepting the consequences of our actions; by not running away from a possible conflict or even physically escaping the actual place.

To sum up, the artisteducator is indeed inherently brave - but also responsible and accountable, a professional who deals with the consequences of what has been said, expressed, done, and behaved. Before you go, here’s a contradiction (because life is full of them): there are times that I need to act bravely, and I sense triggers, danger or pain… Who will be holding a brave space for me? Who will be facilitating my and others’ → accountabilities? Will I be dealing

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David Limaverde is an Amsterdam-based, Brazilianborn artisteducator, interested and experienced in participatory methodologies, collaborative, relational and socially engaged practices, as well as transversal critical disciplines and turns, such as Post-humanism, Anti-colonial approaches, Gender and Queer Studies, Critical Pedagogy, Subaltern Studies and Performance Theory. Currently, coordinating the bouwsteen NOMAD, part of the BA Docent Theater/Artisteducator in Theatre & Media - ArtEZ, Zwolle.

with consequences without any professional support? If and when I’m not really sure in answering these questions, I can remind myself that it is also okay to be in my comfort zone for my self-preservation, just as much as it is okay to act bravely.

With time and exposure to challenging situations, we can differentiate between these two scenarios. → When I envision the artisteducators

that I want my students and myself to be, I see us as artists, educators, researchers and change makers who feel in our guts the sensible pedagogical moment to turn spaces brave, and people braver – just like K. We, artisteducators, are inherently brave! •

FROM TEACHER TO ARTISTEDUCATOR

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IRIS JANSSEN

EN The Theatre in Education course is getting a new name: Artisteducator in Theatre. Student Saron Tesfahuney explains why this name is so appropriate. During a study trip to Belfast, she began to realise: 'I am an artist, but I can also use my art as a form of education. Not art education that you can test in school, but art education to connect people and open eyes.'

In her fourth year of study, Saron spent eight weeks in Belfast, Northern Ireland, with a group of fellow students. 'The core of the Belfast Module was building bridges between different communities', she says. A protracted ethnic conflict raged in Northern Ireland in the last century, the effects of which are still being felt today. 'In Belfast, everyone asks: Are you Catholic or Protestant?

But the question never is of what your expression of faith is. The real question is: which side do you choose? Are you English or are you Irish?'

The students were taught on site about identity formation and 'conflict transformation’. Saron explains: 'How can you use art to transform a former conflict zone? What impact has the conflict had on the now? And what role can art play in that respect?' 'My project was intergenerational healing, through storytelling', Saron says. Every Wednesday afternoon, she visited seniors in a home for the elderly, all of whom had experienced the Northern Ireland conflict up close.

Saron decided to ask all the elderly in the old people's home the same question: what would you have done differently in life? With the answers, she wrote a spoken word poem, 'They told us', which she gave as a gift to the young people in Belfast: a bridge of words between generations.

“They told us we were heroes to join the war. We were players, but it wasn’t our own game. We have to define what a hero is today. Today a

Art to disarm 'The day after we arrived in Belfast, war broke out in Eritrea, where I am from.

The cause was religion, the same as always. The news I heard through family and friends had a great impact on me. At first I thought: What am I doing here in Belfast while there is fighting in my country? But then I started digging deeper: how does a conflict arise, why do we seek power, why do we want to belong to a certain group?' Thanks to her conversations with the seniors – especially with veteran George – something clicked with her.

'The older generation continues to cling to the pain inflicted on them. The British did this, the British did that ... I sat listening in amazement: I knew white people oppressed black people, but how can white people oppress white people?

George said to me: 'Darling, this was never about colour.' Religion and identity are used as weapons, in the past and now, to divide people. Black and white, masculine and feminine – in fact, anything that is part of your identity can be used to drive people apart. My position as an artisteducator is: how can I disarm identity again, through art?'

What would you tell your younger self?

In Belfast, Saron built a close relationship with George. One Wednesday afternoon, she asked him: what would you tell your younger self? His answer was: 'I would love. Just love, nothing else.' 'The first time he heard his father say "I love you" was the day his father died. According to George, it is actually the silence that is passed down from generation to generation.' Saron used art to break that silence. →

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hero is one who loves.”

Asking questions 'In the Artisteducator in Theatre course, it has become my forte: just ask questions. You can use education in arts to build a bridge, by opening yourself up, sharing your own experiences and really listening with open ears.'

Real people, real issues, that's what it's all about for me. I want to connect people. I want to translate my and their feelings, my life experiences or my encounters into an art form. By performing that for people, they can join my perspective. Art also provides the space to include my cultural background. I don't have to look through someone else's lens.

You can convey a great deal with art, and you learn that in the Artisteducator in Theatre course.' •

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FROM TEACHER TO ARTISTEDUCATOR

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ROOS WIJNANTS

The Shankill Mission: “ArtEZ finds a new home at its site-specific college in Belfast”

Since 2022, ArtEZ has been working with local communities in West and North Belfast as part of the Northern Ireland peace process. This has been accomplished through the activities of the site-specific International Master Artist Educator (iMAE), an issues-based, socially-engaged master’s course in art education offered in Arnhem. While the courses’ primary goal is art education, this education becomes a two-way street through its site-specific concept. While the students learn, they also contribute new knowledge to the communities they work with.

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The International Master Artist Educator The head of the iMAE, John Johnston, devised the concept of site-specific education in response to his own experience working in the fields of art and conflict transformation. A Belfast native, he has worked to develop the iMAE college over the past two years with Cormac Burmania, head of the bachelor’s course Artist Educator in Theatre. iMAE students have just presented their graduation finals at the reclaimed Shankill Mission building, set in the one of the most socially and economically deprived areas of western Europe.

The Mission’s history

WE ARE HERE

The Shankill Mission, once a dilapidated building, holds a meaningful history in its own right. Located at 116 Shankill Road in Belfast, it was constructed in 1898 by the “Shankill Shepherd,” Presbyterian minister Henry Montgomery, to provide food, medical care, and safe haven for the poorest newcomers to Belfast. Since 1969, the Shankill area has been on the frontline of what is known as the Northern Ireland Troubles. A once-thriving community, the Shankill has now been torn apart both by the conflict and poorly considered social development schemes. The Mission sits no more than 1000 metres from the notorious “peace wall,” a 25m-high construction of concrete and steel dividing the Catholic area of Belfast from the Protestant Shankill area.

FROM TEACHER TO ARTISTEDUCATOR

The Troubles was a period of politically-motivated conflict that has its roots in centuries of sectarian violence between Catholic and Protestant religions.

Nowadays, it has become a conflict based on the boundaries of British and Irish identity rather than religion. Though a peace agreement signed in 1998 brought an end to major acts of violence, the tensions between the two identities remain to this day. This was further exposed during the Brexit campaign, which saw Britain exit the European Union in 2019, with many on the Shankill voting to Leave the EU as the majority of Northern Ireland voted to Remain.

Since the end of the Troubles, the Shankill Road area has developed a reputation for being one of the most left behind areas of Belfast. The ArtEZ iMAE and now also the Bachelor Theatre Artist Educator courses are working with local partners to change that story.

Shankill initiative and the artist-educator as a force of ‘exchange and change’ While the Shankill Mission building originally had plans to be turned into a hotel, those plans were shelved during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ArtEZ saw the building’s potential as a space for its iMAE projects, so they joined forces with artists from the Vault, a Belfast-based multidisciplinary artists’ collective comprised of 30 artists. Together, they promoted the idea that the Shankill Mission could be transformed into a community art and

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education space. The owners of the building, the Argyle Business Centre (ABC), embraced the plan wholeheartedly, recognising the potential impact that having ArtEZ artist-educators nearby had for the local community.

ArtEZ now has a large studio and education space in the Shankill Mission dedicated to its work.

The building has been refurbished by the ABC in partnership with the Vault artists. iMAE hopes this will also facilitate future artist-educator collaborations with the Vault and develop existing partnerships, potentially leading to a residency scheme with other ArtEZ programmes.

Site-specific learning The Shankill Mission was chosen because of its unique history and possibilities to exercise meaningful site-specific learning on issues-based art for the iMAE course. For iMAE, “site-specific” means that a section of the course takes place in a specific socio-political context, solely because of the unique educational value and possibilities that place offers.

Because of this, course participants thoroughly engage with that context’s unique culture, dedicating prolonged time to the place and its people. This provides education that is meaningful, impactful and unique to its students and the people they work with.

Providing agency iMAE’s activities on the Shankill have offered the surrounding community something previously felt denied to them: agency. iMAE spends just over 4 months in Belfast, building bridges through art to promote intercultural dialogue, and concludes with the finals exhibition. The students co-create issuesbased art projects with young and old from both the Shankill and nearby Catholic communities. While

the works are inspired by Belfast and its history, they are not solely dictated by that history. Projects are inspired by locally-focused issues but also connect to global ones. The students and team recognise that this is highly sensitive but meaningful work that can often lead to transformative outcomes.

Clara Freiin Von Stackelberg, “The Art of Listening” (Tattoo Projects, New Lodge Arts youth groups)

The finals: a symbol of creative diplomacy and exchange The graduation exhibition for iMAE took place on 15 June 2023 at the Shankill Mission. The event was attended by over 100 community workers, artists, locals from both sides of the religious divide and political representatives, including a representative to the British House of Lords. From video installations to works exploring family histories to a project with young people exploring tattoos as identity symbols, true to iMAE’s nature, there was no single house style.

One student from Iran produced a significant work questioning the patriarchal nature of the existing political murals and graffiti on the notorious peace wall. Inspired by her own interest and research into women’s rights, she co-created a major new art work alongside local and migrant women that gently questions the violent nature of these murals that surround the area. Another student made important connections between lessons from the Troubles to what will be the future peace process between her home country Russia and Ukraine. Another student presented a tapestry that illustrated the complex layers of networks she had created in her quest to design and promote an international 48-hour film festival in Belfast.

Many of the students and people present recognised that iMAE as a whole is an artwork in itself. The finals work, the context of the Mission and the presence of multiple kinds of engagement all weave together

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to form the artwork that is iMAE. Broadly speaking, this offers possibilities into how art, research and the concept of school can serve as a powerful symbol of hope, reconciliation, diplomacy and exchange.

Transforming the peace process Even by its external façade, ArtEZ’s positive impact on the Shankill is apparent. The Shankill Mission now hums with electricity and is filled with artists, artist-educators and colourful flags from around the world. (Even the blue of the ArtEZ flag is present.)

While the finals exhibition shows proof of iMAE’s impact on the Shankill over the 4.5 months of the projects, the building itself also offers a tangible example of opportunity and possibility.

A community worker put it best when they said: “ArtEZ being here on the Shankill Road alone is transformative. It sends out a powerful message that this university, from a different part of Europe, in post-Brexit times, came here because they’re interested in us. The simple fact that iMAE students come from all over the world brings new international issues and ideas to the community.

And these students are not just here, but they’re also contributing; they’re opening up the narrative and creating something with us and alongside us.

By doing this, ArtEZ is transforming the Shankill, and I genuinely believe that if you can do that, you can transform the peace process. That can only conclude with the acceptance of differences. This is a powerful image of what the European Union was set up to do. If only it had happened sooner.”

Leyli Rashid Rauj, “Making Visible and Heard.” Samenwerking met lokale en migrantenvrouwen, vredesmuur in Shankill, West-Belfast.

FROM TEACHER TO ARTISTEDUCATOR

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ROOS WIJNANTS

EN The international Master’s Artist Educator has a unique trait: you get to do research and study at (and with) different communities in Europe. These so called ‘Site Specific Colleges’ (SSC) enable the students from all over the world to connect their own practice and research to meet the needs of a specific local community. For Anamika “Ana” Shah, alumnus of the Master’s, the SSC were invaluable. “Going to a new country, with people you’re not used to seeing, and especially at the end seeing your own pedagogy come to life, is invaluable. I don’t think the course would have been the same if we had stayed in Arnhem, even if we had been involved with NGOs there.”

Ana, 24, is both a fine artist and social impact-driven educator. With a background in text-based visual and conceptual art, she previously earned a Bachelor’s in Fine Art in Groningen. “I always felt a draw towards the education route, but not traditional educational paths such as a PABO course. I wanted to be an educator through creativity and didn’t want to leave my artistic practice completely behind.”

Uniting two equal interests She was excited, then, to start studying the one-year International Master Artisteducator (iMAE) at ArtEZ in 2021, as a way to unite personal artistic practice with an the possibility to educate on her terms. When Ana started her studies, the iMAE course was made up of 3 phases: first a studio and classroom based phase in Arnhem, where student make a variety of individual art projects based on their own identity and interests. The second phase in Zwolle focuses on the identity of others and is a collaborative project that takes students out of their comfort zone into a real world situation. The final phase is set in the post-conflict scenario of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and is designed to allow students to make a combination of their own interests with that of others.

I always felt a draw towards the education route, but not traditional educational paths such as a PABO course. I wanted to be an educator through creativity and didn’t want to leave my artistic practice completely behind - Ana, alumnus iMAE -

Collaboration with Windesheim in Zwolle The Zwolle phase, was a collaboration between 4th-year students at the University of Applied Sciences Windesheim and ArtEZ's Artist Educator Master students and was a surprise for Ana. ”Since this is an unlikely collaboration the most important thing for us was to create something of value to our lives on both sides,” Ana recalls.

“We often went for a drink after our work sessions, and there, we had open conversations, where we realized we all were going through the same emotional struggle. That helped us learn to trust each other” Ana explains That takeaway helped Ana’s work in Ireland, because she learned →

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how important fostering that organic trust, adapting in the moment, and finding something uniquely valuable for everyone is.

Bridging community divide through conversation After Zwolle, the final phase in Ireland was where Ana was able to apply her knowledge in Belfast, a post-conflict still affected by the remnants of the so-called Troubles. Ana’s research focused on developing agency in young people and encouraging active citizenship, with a focus on areas where the left overs of conflict are at its worst.

In Belfast, Ana worked with youth, youth workers, community leaders and volunteer councils, the latter mainly being adults and elderly. These 'older' volunteers didn’t understand why young people often hang out and party on vacant derelict sites around the area. But, as Ana described, “through what we learned in our artisteducator workshops with the youth we helped the councils understand that those sites were the only places where young people felt agency and felt they could express themselves freely. We were only able to understand that through the trust developed by the creative methods in our workshops →

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Personal agency in conflict Following on from the project Ana co-created a resource, documenting the methods developed in the creative. Though developed in the Site Specific College of Belfast , the resource can be applied to any youth center in a current or post-conflict zone.

“It was absolutely necessary to be in Belfast to develop this resource because of how we came to understand the ways, through direct experience, that this conflict has divided the community,” Ana explains.

The combination of practice with theory and how this is then set into a real world context enables you to begin to behave like

Kick-off of the collaboration between iMAE and Windesheim. The flags feature student answers to the question: "what are the contemporary issues our society will face in the coming years?"

a professional from the outset. - Ana, alumnus iMAE -

Site-specific advantages: holistic and practical Being site-specific made the programme more inspiring, says Ana. Spending so much time together in Zwolle and Northern Ireland, they were able to help each and teach each other through consistent contact. “In Ireland, we all lived together in the same house. If you ever felt dejected, there was someone else living 2 doors away going through the same thing. Not only did that enhance the experience, it also made it a lot easier to coordinate working times and gave us an extra teacher, namely each other. The combination of practice with theory and how this is then set into a real world context enables you to begin to behave like a professional from the outset. This is program is unique as it is not just about the exposure to the subjects themselves.”

Ana at work with young people in Belfast.

As for Ana’s next steps, the course helped her realize that she’s actually more interested in doing site specific research, rather than the traditional idea of art . Ana: “I want to be on the ground, working with people. I specifically want to continue youth work to inspire certain types of (deeper) conversation through light-hearted creative methods. I’ve already applied to refugee centers in Arnhem for work developing creative programs.” •

FROM TEACHER TO ARTISTEDUCATOR

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IRIS JANSSEN

EN Fintan O'Hara (22), a bachelor student Dance in Education in Arnhem, likes to walk his own path. Therefore, he also takes modules that are not part of his curriculum. "This allows me to fully develop my identity. As an artisteducator, but also as a person."

Back in high school, Fintan O'Hara was a bit rebellious. He usually found the classes quite boring and the teachers unapproachable. After school, he had a better time. Especially at Boys Action, where he took dance classes three times a week. "The teachers offered us challenging dance classes and I got on well with the other boys", he recalls.

The ignorant schoolmaster Now Fintan is developing as an artisteducator at ArtEZ in Arnhem. He is particularly drawn to the lessons on pedagogy and didactics. "How do I stand in front of a group? How do I share information? That’s what I find interesting."

Fintan’s own experiences from his school days help him to become the teacher he wants to be. "My teachers only succeeded in getting my attention when they told me good stories, putting the lesson material in context. That’s what I want to do as well.” Fintan also likes engaging in conversation with students. “But I don't like hierarchy. I believe in the concept of 'the ignorant schoolmaster', as the philosopher Rancière called it. In my opinion, teacher and pupils always learn together."

To Northern Ireland In the fourth year of his studies, Fintan, who has family in Ireland, went to Belfast for two months with students of the bachelor of Theatre in Education and International Master Artist Educator. There, they worked with and for the local community. Fintan says: "We stayed in a poor neighbourhood, with many vulnerable residents. The impact of last century's violent conflicts is still very much felt there. Many people walk the streets with depressed faces."

Fintan got to work with a group of young people who had been expelled from school. "I found that challenging", he says. "My assumption was that they would not be open to dance classes."

Analysing movements So Fintan took a different approach. He started by asking the youngsters to throw a ball. Then he asked them to observe how their feet were positioned while throwing the ball, and while standing still. "Step by step, we expanded the movements. For example, the participants also started experiencing and articulating what it's like when you walk with your face down, or when you are hopping in the streets.

My hypothesis, which I want to develop further, is that our physical posture affects our environment. And vice versa."

At the end of the project, some youngsters told Fintan they were grateful to him.

"That gave me so much energy!" →

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Handyman The means Fintan used to reach out to the young people were given to him at ArtEZ. "They train us there to become artisteducators in dance. That means that there is a focus on four different roles: the role of teacher, dancer, maker and entrepreneur. I see myself as a kind of handyman. I enter the group with a box full of tools, including dance materials and information. Then I tell the participants that I would like to make an object, such as a performance on a specific theme.

We work on it together and learn from each other.

Thesis The module in Belfast was actually only intended for students from the courses Theatre in Education and International Master Artist Educator.

"Fortunately, I was given the opportunity to participate as well," says Fintan. "Although this did mean that I was delayed in my studies.

Next year, I still have to write my thesis. It will probably be about art as 'un-science'. In my thesis I want to argue that the value of dance is difficult to capture in words. The meaning lies in the relationship one forms with a dance, and that is different for everyone.”

After graduation, Fintan wants to do community work. He is confident that he is well-prepared for whatever may come his way. "I see my next step as a beautiful adventure," he says. •

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“Who has a seat at the table, who speaks, and who may have to listen for a while” For the past three years the ArtEZ School of Acting in Arnhem has consciously opted for a more inclusive and diverse approach on educational resources and materials.. How does this affect the form and content of classes? A brief tour of students and teachers.

DANA LINSSEN

Research on an inclusive curriculum at Arnhem School of Acting

‘It started with that email’, Teuntje Post says. ‘That one has now acquired an almost mythical status in the school and the field.’ Post is in the fourth year of the ArtEZ School of Acting in Arnhem, and the email she refers to [https://www.artez.nl/stories/hoe-een-maildetoneelschool-verandert] was written by fellow student Nikki Kuis, who wondered aloud why she had barely worked with texts by women during her studies. The email became a dissertation and then a research project in collaboration with the Theaterkrant and the Toneelmakerij [https://www.theaterkrant.nl/tm-artikel/lang-genoeg-gewacht-over-de-rolvan-de-vrouw-inde-theaterwereld/] on the systemic underrepresentation of women in theatre.

For Teuntje, who had just started her studies, that observation was very welcome: ‘I was always concerned with the female perspective, and that was reinforced because I was in a class with only two female students versus eight men. This made me feel the urge to represent that voice even more. But suddenly I was no longer alone, it became a responsibility of the whole programme.’

The dominant and the other story In the meantime, much has changed. The Inclusion weeks organised by the School of Acting, have become a regular part of the curriculum. The concept is based on Animata Cairo’s ideas originating from Cultural Anthropology about positionality, the dominant and her other narrative, and was designed by Inclusive Education researcher Winnie Roseval in close consultation with teachers and students... One week a year, students and teachers think aloud together on what narratives circulate at the school and how these affect professional study and development. Head of department Ernst Braches: ‘Those questions had been there for some time of course, but only marginally. Because of the Inclusion weeks and Nikki’s email, we decided to move them to the centre of the programme.’

The school became a ‘brave space’, a stage for an unbiased debate about diversity and inclusiveness. How can these themes be applied in daily life at school? How does it relate to theatre history and what do we want the professional field of the future to look like? How does awareness of the fact that there are perspectives other than the dominant Western European and Anglo-Saxon, white, patriarchal, masculine, heteronormative one affect the content and form of classes? Also of those involving not only text, but also figures that take shape in, for example, dance classes, in which (the body of) the student themselves is material?

After working solely with texts and other material written by people who identify as women in the 2020/2021 academic year, that was expanded the following year to include questions surrounding female characters, and in 2022/2023 a collaborative study of characters who describe themselves as ‘queer’ was added.

Underlying questions Ernst: ‘We did set some preconditions for that. It is important to mention that this is about the identity of the characters, not the student’s or lecturer’s; no one has to out themselves. It’s

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ARTEZ ACADEMY FOR THEATRE & DANCE 2023

about the professional material, not about personal confessions.’

Actor and former student Hendrik Aerts teaches Dynamic Training and is also active in the Sub-Council. Furthermore, he is working on a performance featuring diversity and inclusion that nine art courses will participate in. ‘The question is then: who sits at the table, who speaks and who may have to listen for a moment? I am more and more convinced that if it does not start from internalisation, it has little chance of success. Then it will remain an idea, a concept. And it’s about all the underrepresented perspectives: colour, woman, gender, sexual orientation, class, people with disabilities, etc.’

‘For me’, Hendrik recalls, ‘the most important moment was when we discussed Nikki’s email at the lecturers’ meeting and the female lecturers raised the question: Why do we always proceed from the same perspective? The door that was opened then has not been closed since.’ Dramaturgy lecturer Ricarda Franzen also remembers that moment well. ‘Suddenly there was room to evaluate the content of the curriculum. Are we discussing Stanislawski’s acting theories because that’s just what we’re used to or are there other reasons? We began to explore the underlying questions. What are dramaturgical structures? These are not the same everywhere. But the question of what a dramatic arc is might be.’

‘The content of the classes has changed as a result’, she notes. ‘In addition to other texts, we also work less with definitions. Several points of view are possible. For example, we explore what theatricality is, without immediately reverting to what Aristotle said about it.’

Tradition in the rear-view mirror Those who fear that the Greek tragedy writers, Shakespeare, Chekhov and Ibsen have been sent on holiday can be reassured. Ernst cites working with texts by Kae Tempest in reading classes as an example. ‘Tempest grew up with the classics. But what happens is that we now look at the tradition through his work in the rear-view mirror. Meanwhile, students continue to learn about important subject-related skills such as rhyme, metre and rhythm from Tempest’s texts.’ Acting not linked to text alone. In Dynamic Training classes, the student’s own body is the material. Hendrik describes the ease with which words like ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ were used to denote dance patterns. Other terms have now replaced that: ‘We’ve changed the jargon; we now use the four elements of water, earth, air and fire.’

And you run into more systemic things. He gives the example of how people who come from a dominant social position are also literally physically wired differently. Chest out, chin up. ‘But to queer students or students from bicultural backgrounds, you can’t just say “don’t look down”, because in many cases that’s a posture into which they’re forced socially. That then exposes a lot more.’

‘We are discovering a new language’, he says, ‘and the importance of substantiating what you say.’ There are no major conclusions yet: ‘Everything is in a state of considerable flux, and it will stay that way as long as we remain curious, and keep asking questions. That insight is the main gain.’

Canon Everyone I talk to sooner or later talks about the ‘canon’ and the latent fear that it is disappearing. But what is this canon anyway? In recent years, questions surrounding the ‘female gaze’ and ‘black lives matter’ have made it clear that a canon is a useful tool for creating a shared history, as a touchstone, but that it is also an exclusive mechanism. In any case, you don’t solve the problems of a canon, and the hierarchical and quality criteria implicit in it, just by making it more diverse. Ernst: ‘You have to see the canon more as a collection, a catalogue, and less as a Top 10.’

Of course, ensuring knowledge of tradition and the quality of education are just as important as that open, inquisitive attitude’, Ricarda believes. She adds: ‘We train students who must relate to a professional practice that involves both Shakespeare and the contemporary view of Shakespeare’s queerness. We always link that back to the text. That will not go away.

What has changed is that everyone can bring their own knowledge and positionality.’

Students Serah Meijboom and Sem Abelskamp are the second class to work with the new curriculum. Serah: ‘The most remarkable thing was that I was invited to have my voice heard as well, even though I am still developing as an actor.’ More important than making the content

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FROM TEACHER TO ARTISTEDUCATOR

of the lessons more diverse, for her and Sem, is the dialogue about it. Serah: ‘It makes no sense to just throw in a text by a writer from an African country. It’s about what it means to not just look at the white perspective. Although I did find it shocking that when Dramaturgy lecturer Maxine Palit de Jongh wanted to discuss a text by James Baldwin with us, so few students had heard of him.’

Sem describes how he came to school thinking that certain dramatic roles would never be cut out for him. ‘Being gay is so often presented as drama; it’s never the norm, always a problem. So when we started looking at queer characters and seeing what happens when you rediscover queerness in tradition, the huge pressure was lifted.’

Basically, he thinks, it is not just about who is making something, but about what you are actually making, and why: ‘In the end, the character is essentially always gender fluid – the audience, when they identify, fills in a lot themselves.’

Research and knowledge sharing The above goes to show that not only the content but also the form of the classes has changed. They are becoming more discursive. Or in Ricarda’s words: ‘The outcome of the class is no longer clear in advance.’ Lecturers are following more the inspiration of Jacques Rancière’s ‘Ignorant Schoolmaster’, which is less about imparting existing knowledge and more about a form of equality, Braches concludes. ‘In addition to the lecturers’ expertise and experience, the cultural awareness and embedment have also been incorporated in the zeitgeist. This is also necessary, as the student population is currently even more diverse than the teaching staff. What you share is dynamic, otherwise no exchange is possible anyway.’

However, a great deal is still needed. More research, more knowledge sharing. Ricarda: ‘Finding new material and having it translated on a regular basis also requires more resources.

We have identified our own gaps. Now we have to start filling them.’

Hendrik: ‘These kinds of processes will accelerate if we have enough different perspectives within a classroom and among the teaching staff. The more mixed a group, the more interesting the material you can work with on the floor. But it really goes far beyond what we only do in school. You also have to look at the top layer: boards of governors, administrations, policymakers.

It is systemic. Art schools, including ArtEZ, are 99% shaped from the same perspective.’

Ernst concludes: ‘For the past three years, we have been experimenting. Now we can start looking at the repertoire more systematically. And larger demands are presenting themselves.

The demand for disciplinarity, for example, is quite cerebral in the Western tradition. You see that in other theatre traditions, the gap between dance and acting, for example, is not as wide.

These are ultimately all issues that touch on pedagogy as well.’

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FROM TEACHER TO ARTISTEDUCATOR

EMIEL COPINI & FABIOLA CAMUTI

EN ∕

In a society in turmoil, where debates about hierarchical structures and the call for inclusiveness are paramount, education takes a critical and prominent role in responding to societal needs. At the same time, the need to decolonise education has become urgent worldwide. Student protests have spread around the world (South Africa, Canada, UK) to highlight the critical need for (especially) art and humanities education to bring about a radical change in the education system. The process of decolonisation is a major topic of discussion and long deferred, given that the Western model of academic organisation on which education is based has remained largely unchallenged. So far, education in arts itself has not offered sufficient answers to these issues. As postdoc researchers and educators at ArtEZ, we have undertaken our journey to contribute to the necessary radical change in our education system. In this process, we have explored the possibilities that the concept of the artisteducator can offer for moving towards a decolonised, non-hierarchical and horizontal pedagogy. The theories, thoughts and ideas we have developed as researchers have arisen in conjunction with our teaching practices.

We had the opportunity to watch, experience, participate and design in numerous situations in which the artisteducator develops. We saw educational vision and practice emerge in many contexts: both in formal and informal contexts, in the MKE (Master of Education in Arts) and iMAE (international Master Artisteducator) MA courses; in the communities of the Artisteducator in Theatre (Arnhem) and Theatre and Media (Zwolle) BA courses; in revising the BA Artisteducator in Dance in a co-creative and participatory manner; and in the site-specific connection to ecological issues and wicked problems, in Next Generation, the festival of No University – Centre for Advanced Studies.

A theoretical background Our theoretical framework is embedded in the context of a decolonial and post-humanist perspective regarding higher education. As early as 1970, Paulo Freire, in his exposition of the tools for constructing critical pedagogy, emphasised →

the need to dismantle ‘colonised thinking’ (p.49) regarding the process of alienation to which both coloniser and colonised are subject and the resulting mental obstacles to resisting colonialism.

In practice, the process of decolonisation of higher education must take place in several dimensions of the educational structure.

Firstly, there is a need for change at the curriculum level. Consider, for example, the main sources used. The key reference canon is entirely rooted in the Western, predominantly Eurocentric and predominantly male-written tradition. There is little room for different voices, different methodologies for knowledge acquisition and production. And when they do exist, they are positioned marginally or translated and re-presented from a white and Western perspective. Secondly, change is needed at the level of infrastructure and organisational dimensions. Apart from rare exceptions, our higher education institutions are organised like businesses. Following a capitalist and neoliberal agenda, our institutions are stuck in a productoriented, efficiency-driven and success-driven strategy, with little room for identity discovery and mistakes. Last but not least, buildings, classrooms and their use divide people, such as between lecturers and students in a classroom environment, and between people and their environment, be it in communities inside and outside the same school building or in relation to nature and other forms of existence. →

∕ Artisteducator & Leading Learner workshop, Camuti & Copini, Artisteducator in Theatre & Media Zwolle course, May 2023.

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Today, calls for decolonisation are often intertwined with the recognition of the need to move beyond the so-called Age of the Anthropocene, the current geological epoch characterised by the dominance of human activities on the environment. If we follow this direction, the consistent pursuit of decolonial practices in education should directly address the hierarchical power structures that place human beings at the centre of the universe and instead result in a scenario in which humans are no longer the centre of the world, but part of it, in connection with and in relation to other living and non-living beings.

Working from the perspective of the artisteducator If it is our mission, as researchers and as educators, to reform education in arts in a non-hierarchical and co-creative way, the artisteducator can be an important education tool to move in this direction. In 2015, professor Jeroen Lutters saw the need for a transition in education in arts. He invited John Johnston to come to the Netherlands and develop his expertise in socially engaged art and education in arts at ArtEZ in a new master course where the praxis of the artisteducator could be developed. The artisteducator is someone for whom being human, professionalism and social commitment coincide (Lutters, 2015). They are someone who develops a sensitivity to what is urgent or necessary to respond to a particular context. Artisteducators perform four roles: the experiencer, the maker, the changer and the researcher. By combining these roles, they place emphases where necessary, tailored to their own distinctive style, identity and the context in which they work (Copini, 2020).

Over the years, these principles have been developed into a vision that has since been embraced by the Institute. At ArtEZ, we explicitly ask students, educators and researchers to position themselves personally, professionally and socially. And we believe that education in arts can be a tool to develop resilient societies. As we work together to create an educational culture that encourages this, we naturally encounter challenges. We regard this resistance and friction as fruitful and necessary. In the transition to a way of working where we use education in arts to connect with the other or the other thing, we inevitably make mistakes and errors. Inclusive thinking and action are not self-evident. The fact that we are gradually gaining insight into our →

blind spots in how we perceive, understand and appreciate the world is still no guarantee that we will overcome them.

This is why we first of all advocate trying, failing and taking a leap of faith. We encourage ourselves and others to network, to be open to stories we do not initially recognise or understand, realising that our stories, values and truths are embedded in a dominant culture that is blind to its own position. We do this, or at least we try to, as artisteducators personally, in our daily practice, as researchers, as authors of this brief article, and also collectively in the communities that we are part of. Artisteducators are not the answer to the complex social and environmental problems we face. But in our attempts to connect with the other or the other thing, we do try to be the drivers of (ex)change. We facilitate and contribute to change.

∕ Education in arts in a more-than-human world keynote, Camuti & Copini, Next Generation September 23, 2022.

The importance of dialogue Reflecting together on the meaning and possibilities arising from our personal experiences, we were guided by the following questions: how can we enable fair pedagogies? What makes them fair? And where to start? The first step to answer these questions was to start with ourselves, to put ourselves in the midst of the storm and question our own role and perspective.

We have discovered that dialogue is a necessary beginning. Anyone seeking fairer forms of education should, however difficult, question themselves and their own frame of reference.

Who am I, what is my role and perspective, what blind spots do I have? This is, in the words of Karen Barad (2007), a form of ‘response-ability’.

It is the recognition that our knowledge, our way of knowing, and our identity are intertwined with the world and other beings. It is the willingness to take responsibility for the consequences of our knowledge production and pedagogical actions.

But dialogue goes beyond individual reflection. →

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It is a collective process of listening, sharing and co-creation. It requires openness, vulnerability and a willingness to learn from each other. In a non-hierarchical pedagogy, everyone is a potential source of knowledge and experience, regardless of their position in the hierarchy. It recognises and appreciates the diversity of voices, perspectives and experiences. This dialogue harbours the potential to jointly create new meanings, understandings and practices that promote justice. By engaging in this dialogue and questioning our own role as artisteducators, we hope to contribute to the transformation of educational institutions towards more decolonised and non-hierarchical forms of pedagogy. It is a complex and lengthy process, but we are determined to go this way and continue to learn, grow and change.

References: Barad, K. (2007). Meeting the universe halfway. Duke University Press.

Braidotti, R. (2019). Posthuman knowledges. Polity Press.

Copini, E. (2020). Hoe is het eigenlijk om mens te zijn? (What is it actually like to be human?) APRIA (ArtEZ Platform for Research Interventions of the Arts). https://apria.artez.nl/hoe-is-het-eigenlijkom-mens-te-zijn/

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum.

hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. Henry Holt.

hooks, b. (2003). Teaching community: A pedagogy of hope. Routledge.

Lutters, J. (2015). Research-based art: Een nieuwe grondslag voor een opleiding tot artist educator. [A new foundation for an artisteducator course.] Culture+Education, 15(43), 63-70.

Conclusion Further analysis and criticism regarding the need for radical renewal of the education system are needed. Equally necessary are all the actions and experiments that reveal new possibilities for non-hierarchical and similar pedagogies in different places around the world. What we have presented in this short article is just a hint at one of these conceivable experiments.

We believe that the artisteducator could offer a possible antidote to a colonised and hierarchically structured pedagogical system, as a suggestion for a co-creative pedagogical dialogue, informed by radical openness and love (hooks, 1994 & 2003). We also believe that the artisteducator can provide opportunities for horizontal and situational learning, by helping to redefine the role of lecturers. And we hope that the concept will remain as dynamic as possible to be able to include more-than-human encounters and fully incorporate them into pedagogical processes. •

Mbembe, A. (2016). Decolonizing the university: New directions.

Arts & Humanities in Higher Education, 15(1), 29-45. https://doi. org/10.1177/1474022215618513 https://no.university/

∕ Next Generation 24 September 2022.

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IRIS JANSSEN

EN Liza Bukina, born and raised in Ukraine, is a third-year student at the bachelor's course Theatre in Education in Zwolle. She uses her role as an artisteducator to create theatre with children who have fled from Ukraine. In this story, Liza talks about the balance between art and teaching, living in a parallel universe, and the importance of following creative impulses immediately.

Making a difference for communities Working with various communities, for whom you can do a lot as an artisteducator, is one of the best aspects about the course Theater in Education. During her studies, Liza and three of her fellow students decided to set up a youth theatre group for Ukrainian children with war trauma. The name of the youth theatre group is Theatre Soloveyko (Ukrainian for nightingale).

Interaction is key for the artisteducator The bachelor's course Theatre Education equips you to become an artisteducator, a role that Liza feels completely at home in. The curriculum is practical and socially engaged. For Liza, the course revolves around interaction: "I believe that having tea and engaging in conversation is already art. It's not always about creating a performance." This yearning for interaction is also fully realized in Liza's work with the youth theatre group Soloveyko.

Advice for future students During her bachelor's course Theatre in Education, Liza learned to be both a maker and a teacher.

Her advice for future students is to be open to the freedom that the programme offers. "Creativity is what matters most. Do anything that comes to mind right away! Even if it sounds straightforward, following your creative inclinations will always lead you to beautiful places." •

A magical world for children "The youth theatre group was born out of necessity," Liza indicates.

"We wanted to give the refugee children at the Ukrainian primary school in Zwolle where I was teaching something different from their everyday things.

The children miss their friends, their pets, grandparents. Making theatre gives them distraction. I want to be creative with the children. Through theatrical techniques, I help them understand their own view of the world. My main goal is to support them on this path, to share knowledge and experience.

"During our classes, I hope the kids can express their emotions through imagination."

A parallel world Liza recognizes that the kids are residing in a parallel universe: "I also live in two worlds. I am not fully Dutch and, of course, I remain involved in the war in Ukraine. As a result, I am constantly living in a world where there is war and peace at the same time. And that fragmentation sometimes carries over into other aspects of life." These are themes that Liza will explore further after her studies. "How are we connected as people, as countries? How do we influence each other? And how have we influenced each other if you look at history?" →

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Dancing as a medicine

RACHEL FELIX

A dance artisteducator visiting ArtEZ for the second time this year, is Lucrèce Atchade from Benin. Her vision on dance motivates ArtEZ students to move from their heart again with full embodiment. For her this is the only way to dance and the means to convey a personal message to the audience. Lucrèce talks about the path she has taken as a dancer, choreographer and lecturer.Why she wants to achieve more than offering entertainment only, and how she makes that happen. Not only in Benin but also here in the Netherlands with dancers from ArtEZ. A body that speaks.

‘Dancing is something I taught myself within Compagnie Wâlo, my mother’s dance company.

The first time I was spotlit on a stage during a performance, I thought: ‘This is what I want for the rest of my life!’. That was an odd realisation while I am an introvert person. This is not the case when I’m dancing. My body speaks and I am not shy. I can completely be meand express myself. With my body I am able to tell what I cannot express in words. I want to pass that feeling on to other dancers. In doing so, I was fortunate to meet many international dancers, choreographers and lecturers through Compagnie Wâlo, including through the Dutch dance organisation Le Grand Cru, when they came to train and create a performance with us.

Through them I found the artisteducator path.’

Am I even good enough?

‘Even though dance means so much to me, there was also a period in my life when I completely lost my love for dance. At that time, I only compared myself to other dancers who were all doing great things. Nothing I did myself felt good enough anymore. That terrible feeling caused me to stop dancing. Fortunately, I have a smart mother who made me realise that I’d stopped dancing from my heart after I’d started comparing myself so much to others.

‘Nothing I did myself felt good enough anymore.’

I mimicked movements. But that’s not who I am as a dancer! Once I realised and understood that, every-thing began to flow again and I could dance from my inner self again, from my feelings.’

Something bigger than dance.

‘On stage I don’t have to be a star or steal the show. However, I do want to pass on what I have to others who do not have what I have. I want – together with other dancers and with the audience – to create something bigger, to convey a message, to open up important issues for discussion, to offer more than just entertainment. From this vision, I created several performances on themes such as sexual abuse, violence and human rights. My aim in these performances, is to touch the audience through movement, to which the audience can respond with storiestriggered by the performance.’

‘I tell with my body what I cannot say with my mouth.’

Hidden and forgotten pieces of human beings.

‘Dancing is my own medicine; it has a healing effect on me. Thanks to dancing, I have found peace and a healthy way of life. That is also something I want to propagate. For example, by getting non-dancers to dance. When they reconnect with a piece of themselves that they have forgotten and discover that their bodies can do more than just walk, I love to see that. Through dancing, they discover hidden or forgotten pieces of themselves, of their bodies andtheir minds.’

Dancing with the elements.

In West Africa, we dance from a flow, from energy that comes from the elements we all carry within us and feel around us. This way of moving that comes from a different vibration is what I want my students at ArtEZ to feel. I want to teach them a new vocabulary that they can use to reach others through their dancing.’

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Reading or exercising?

‘People ask me why I choose dance as a means to convey a message. If I look at my own country Benin, or Africa as a whole, it is difficult for us to take in information from books while we are not used to reading much. Dance, on the other hand, is a way of communicating that people are familiar with. With our own traditional movements and the fusion of contemporary European and African styles developed with Le Grand Cru, we articulate through movement what is going on in a country or within a community. That works. People understand us.’

Being a dance artist in Benin.

‘Being a dance artist in Benin is difficult, but fortunately there is hope for better times.

Dancing doesn’t pay well. As a dancer, you dance because you want to, not for the money.

But on top of that, especially as a woman, I get a lot of criticism from the people around me.

They don’t understand that with multiple degrees under my belt – I studied Human Resource Management and Sociology – I work as a dancer. Don’t I have to start a family and take care of it?! How could I ever do that as a dancer? Fortunately, we now have a government that regards art as an important part of Benin’s development. As a result, dance is already part of the curriculum in schools. There are no professional dance training courses yet, but this is a great step.’

Being a dance lecturer at ArtEZ. ‘The first time I came to Artez was during the Corona pandemic. I noticed a lot of unrest and concern among the students. I noticed that they no longer danced from their hearts, only with their bodies. So I asked them to reconnect with their choice to become a dancer; what did they feel at that time? what were their expectations? Because sometimes as a dancer you lose that feeling, as I have experienced myself. By having students re-examine within themselves why they want to dedicate their lives to dance, I noticed that they began to feel that love again.

They began to dance from their hearts again; they found their passion for dancing again.

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FROM TEACHER TO ARTISTEDUCATOR

‘I want to put something bigger out there, get a message across, make important issues discussable.’

‘Through dance, we articulate what is going on in a country or within a community.’

INÉS SAUER

EN As a dramaturg and teacher at the program Artisteducator in Theatre I wrote the following text, while developing a module on ‘Activism and Compassion’ I do feel rage and pain when I see injustice and suffering. 25 Years ago I wrote my thesis on Brecht and his demand that art demonstrates a changeable world. However, I personally never felt fitting in the image of the hammer. I see how anger can become a transformational force, an instrument of hope that is wielded for a more just society.

Anger can also be used as a force of hopeless destruction, when it’s aim is punishment, this grim feeling of gratification when the being that triggered my anger suffers in return.

Brecht speaks of ‘a hammer with which to shape it’. An image that evokes both a destructive violence (‘a hammer’) as a constructive intention (‘to shape’). Brecht is a poet, loving the tension between the words. In the research on ‘Activism and Compassion’ I address this tension that I have felt since I studied Brecht. Exactly because I did feel the rage, the wish for transformation, but was never sure if a hammer would be my instrument to handle.

I associate the hammer with what is identified as ‘the Jackal’ in the method of Nonviolent Communication.

The Jackal is the pattern inside our system of thinking and speaking that is constantly seeking what’s right and wrong, judging, categorizing, praising or attacking. The Jackal judgement is there to help us survive in our society as we know it. The tragical consequence of this type of Jackal help is that it keeps alive a thinking in conflict and opposition, it maintains the hierarchal thinking of who’s good or bad, right or wrong, normal, abnormal etc. Is there another instrument for me? How can I use empathy as an active force of →

change? Not ‘sympathy’ - which is when “I cry with the crying” (Brecht) during a performance, without feeling the potential of chance, but empathy, the emotional ability to reach out, open up and connect to every living being, making a change between us happen. Empathy as a force of radical nonviolence! How to be an activist by embodying empathy? Expressing it, living it.

‘Connection before Content’ was the heartfelt suggestion here. It reminded me of a quote from ‘Artivists’ Isabelle Fremeaux and Jay Jordan on presenting and representing our voices: ‘We need the spirit of both the Hippie and the Punk - DNA of the YES and the NO. •

As a dramaturg and teacher at the program Artisteducator in Theatre I look for ‘instruments’: ideas, theories, methods that I can try out as lenses through which I can look at what theatre could be. The artisteducator moves at the intersection of fields, exploring artistic practices that inspire education related to themes that matter in the context of the people we learn with. Exploring the role of compassion (in this case using the method of Nonviolent Communication) in the field of activism and political theatre, is just one example. What I learned from it - at this point - is how social healing needs both: the DNA of the ‘yes’ and the ‘no’. In order to move to a place where people can be creative and imagine a hopeful life, the sense of being heard is crucial. There needs to be space for the complaint, the critical voice. At the same time: in order for the critical voices to be actually heard, there needs to be a sense of connection, ‘soft’ open ears, the ability to listen with empathy.

During a workshop on Restorative Justice at the most troubled street of Belfast, the Shankill Road, some of our students were advised to work first softly, playfully on the interpersonal relation, before diving deeper in the painful, critical subjects: →

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JESPER POUW

EN ‘I believe that my presence can be an activist fact.’

In the final assessment in 2022, all the pieces of the puzzle seem to fall into place. It is the beginning of summer and the end of four years of study at ArtEZ. I believe I have found my definition for the artisteducator. This is one of the last talks where my ideas will be questioned by ArtEZ. After this, we have to do it ourselves. With a study of how queerness can become a lens through which to look at transformation in social contexts, I am about to enter the field. 'I want to make, teach, think, write and question in search of fluidity in identity in places where it seems lost. Create a theatrical space for polyphony in contexts where identities have been reproduced into rigid narratives. Then in a while I also hope to see that I have changed again as an artisteducator.Have transformed.

Staying fluid.’ Always changing and moving with the work I will do to initiate and guide artistic processes in connection with a context and community.

That's the role I envision.

Now it is 2023, summer is beginning, marking the end of my first post-ArtEZ year. With a lot of plans and ambitions, I stepped into the field of work. I knew what I was looking for: transformation and polyphony. This year mainly in the context of secondary schools, primary schools, neighbourhood communities and theatres. I look back to a year ago, when I said that my presence is an activist fact. That was to demonstrate that your own identity as an artisteducator is essential in the work you do. Now, a year later, this statement no longer appears to be just a statement with a message for our profession, but often enough a harsh reality. In many places where I have been, there is strong binary thinking when it comes to identity. You are either this or that. You are normal or not. You participate or you don't. I have been called names a lot and, in response, have had endless conversations with young people about how we can collectively occupy our own space, and in doing so, also leave space for others.

I have worked with young people to help them find their own voice in a theatrical context, to offer ownership. Sometimes the rejection bounced back rock hard. Then I think I underestimated this field of work. The challenge is not only in developing yourself as an artist and educator and creating work, but also in how you include others in it. How do you include these young people in a piece of theatrical research when they stopped believing a long time ago that they have a voice of their own? How do you question together what identity means when only one story has been told about it? How do we connect with each other when we seem so far apart? I saw my artisteducatorship change from a fluid and perhaps almost poetic role, to a strict and boundary-guarding version, in which I found myself unhappy at the end of the day. Wondering what had happened to that quest for polyphony and fluidity.

Yet one student also stood up to tell us she thought differently from everything we had heard that day. There was a lady who shared a story about her complicated relationship to religion that she was always ashamed of. A group of students who, in the midst of a storm of violence caused by fellow students, found a voice in the assignment to create their own alter-ego. A group of boys who were afraid to dress up but ended up doing so all the same and enjoyed it.

Lecturers who interacted with each other about how they deal with power →

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in their work. Dozens of students who could find something of themselves in a character for the first time. These things also happened. At those moments, we could re-imagine ourselves and the world. Then we broke free from that binary reality for a moment. In this moment, I find hope and remember with crystal clarity why I find the role of the artisteducator so special.

I think back to a lecturer who once told me that you should always keep loving your students or people you work with. This is not always easy when you are trying to make a space of love and polyphony and see it broken down right before your eyes. Yet the mantra keeps resounding in my head. The artisteducator creates ownership with the people they work with, to tell stories from contexts and communities that remain underexposed or force you to turn inward. The role of the artisteducator is political, artistic, educational, compassionate and fluid. And apparently strict at times. I think your job is to learn to understand contexts, that even your own presence can trigger something in that other person.

To not walk away then but get to work. •

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IRIS JANSSEN

EN

Student Robby Hoesenie gave a big twist to his bachelor’s

course Theatre in Education in Zwolle. After completing his first ‘Exile’ module (a study component in which students explore the working field), he built his own six-month programme, in Suriname!

Robby’s dive into his origins “When I first started at ArtEZ, I thought I would use my technical skills (I also did a year of ICT) in the art field, focusing on new media and digital narrative forms, for example.” However, Robby decided to follow the module called ‘Nomad’ (where students explore other theater makers across the country) and ended up attending a performance by the National Theatre in The Hague, which centered around the Day of the Maroons, the annual commemoration and celebration of the Maroon communities of Suriname and French Guiana.

That visit opened Robby’s eyes.

“It was like walking into a family party!”

“I saw people in Surinamese traditional clothes and heard Surinamese music.

I saw my parents’ culture represented in the theater, in my world.” Whereas as a child, Robby mainly wanted to distance himself from the Surinamese-Hindu culture by behaving as Dutch as possible and not different from his friends at school, he now felt the need to discover his past.

Snowball effect He signed up for a storytelling evening by Surinamese theater maker Jose Tojo in June 2022. “Storytelling is incredibly important in our culture,” says Robby.

“Since there are few official records, we depend on the stories that have always been passed on by word of mouth for our existence.” According to Robby, telling Surinamese stories through theater, therefore, fits seamlessly with the creative, but also educational, side of his studies and his role as an Artisteducator: “By telling these stories, we teach people about our rich history.”

Full of pride on the royal stage Jose Tojo was so impressed by Robby’s storytelling skills that he invited him to take part in the National Theatre’s next production, Apinti & Sambura: Two beats, one heart, which tells the story of the Maroons - enslaved Surinamese who escaped slavery and went to live in the interior forests - and the indigenous people who welcomed them. Exactly a year after he first walked into The National Theatre during the Day of the Maroons, Robby found himself on stage there. “It was a moment full of pride.

Trip to Suriname After the performance, it was time to resume the regular curriculum, which included an education internship. However, Robby received a phone call from Jose: the performance would be traveling to Suriname. Did he want to come along? “I would have totally agreed to perform in the production”, Robby explains. “But ideally, I wanted to combine it with a trip to Suriname so I could truly immerse myself in the local theatre culture there too.” →

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Robby knew that the school encouraged combining personal activities with the course, so he took a chance. His study supervisors were enthusiastic and instructed him to first write a plan for six months of study input. He needed to outline how he would achieve the educational goals and be accountable for his activities in Suriname. “I sought help from others who were good at planning and made arrangements with teachers whom I would liaise with for different parts of my study plan during my stay.” →

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Robby’s coming-of-age My study supervisor stressed that I would be the first person to do it this way, so something was expected of me.” In Robby’s own words, the past year has been like a coming-of-age story for him. “Whereas before I was chaotic and never dared to ask others for help, now I had to get my act together.” The show in Suriname was a tremendous success. Besides his spiritual development, Robby learned to find a middle ground between the structuredness of Dutch theater and the Surinamese “No Spang” mentality.

Soon, Robby will be teaching high school students about the colonial systems of the Netherlands. And shortly after that, he will start his final year of Theater in Education in Zwolle. In this stage, he mainly hopes to bring together all his previous experiences and perhaps explore how he can integrate his ICT knowledge into his work… •

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IRIS JANSSEN

backgrounds and cultures, to Arabic music. We also cooked together and made a lot of onion soup. The act of cutting onions inspired us, and we used the onion skins to make a cloth on which we projected our film.”

EN ∕

The international Master Artist Educator (iMAE) and the bachelor’s courses in Theatre in Education, Dance in Education and Fine Art and Design in Education in Arnhem collaborate during the first three years of their study during an interfaculty project. In this project, master’s and bachelor’s students work with the residents of Arnhem to uncover hidden stories and histories of Arnhem.

During the project, ArtEZ creates a valuable connection with the outside world, brings together the different Arnhem educational courses, and allows students to get used to working with and for a community, an important part of their studies.

In the video below, students from the courses talk about their experiences during the project.

Interdisciplinary work “The project Moving Histories is a meeting place to get to know people from other courses better and combine our strengths,” says Sem van der Zouwen, a Dance in Education student who participated in the project for the second time. “We did this last year as well, at the Korianderstraat. It’s always a bit of a search because you are in a new group. You have to adjust and find a groove together. We found that groove, especially in the last week, where we felt a collective drive. We developed something individually and brought it together.”

“My group consisted of four Theatre in Education students, one other Dance in Education student, and two Fine art and Design in Education students.

Together with my group, I created an installation and performance that could ultimately be seen as a kind of mirror image for Het Broek.”

“By cooking together, we got to know the neighbourhood and the people there. That was important to us. Additionally, a fellow student and I made onion soup. The people at Stichting ‘t Broek Omhoog got a bowl of soup, but they also had to cut an onion. That sparked conversations.

And that was the goal. You have to do something to get something. We saw that at the foundation too: people volunteered, they came to help, and they were allowed to eat with us. In that sense, our installation and performance is a kind of mirror image. We ended up doing very little dance. We initially wanted to create a choreography, but the choreography was already there: people would come and get soup.”

Artisteducator The master’s and bachelor’s courses in art education at ArtEZ train students to become artisteducators. For Sem, this means finding a good balance between creating, educating, and performing. “My course focuses more on the educator side. I really enjoy creating myself. That way, you can discover your strength as an Artist Educator and figure out how to best use it. As an artisteducator, you can have a lot of influence if you want to.” •

∕ Filmstill

A Connecting Performance and Installation “At the beginning of the project, we helped out at Stichting ’t Broek Omhoog, an organization for people with a distance to the labour market,” Sem explains. We danced with the people who workthere, who come from various → ∕ Filmstill

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IRIS JANSSEN

EN Ferdinand Baron von Maydell, a fourth-year Dance in Education student, came to ArtEZ in Arnhem with a great love of dance, but during his studies it was only for two months that he was not injured. Fortunately, the Performance Technology Lab project sparked a new passion in him: technology.

Lucky accident When Ferdinand was injured as early as his freshman year, he lost his passion for dance a while: 'The pain impeded my development.' Fortunately, that passion did return. Ferdinand repeated the first year and was given the opportunity to take a flexible training path in which he could change the content of the course. He went for technology, his second love.

The spark struck during the Performance Technology Lab, a project Ferdinand enjoyed so much that he followed it twice: in the third as well as in the final year. 'During the Performance Technology Lab week, stage artists can experiment with new and old technology in various workshops. I took a workshop with 360-degree cameras and I wanted to do more with that.'

Combining dance and VR Ferdinand is now graduating with a research project on VR and dance. 'I wanted to explore whether I could let people experience the feeling of dance without necessarily ever having danced. I want to transport people into a different world, where they lose track of time, have a sense of being loose and let go.'

'I am exploring how to trigger feelings of freedom and flow through Virtual Reality.'

is an art form that adds value during children's development.

Secondary schools recognise that, which is why they are increasingly introducing dance into their curriculum.' In any case, Ferdinand is already sure he will be working on a freelance basis. 'My goal is to continue to approach dance with film and technology. This can be done in many ways: from teaching film for a dance class to giving documentary workshops.' •

Follow Ferdinand @ftothedance @von_maydell_films

Although it all turned out differently than Ferdinand expected, he is happy to combine his love of dance with his passion for technology. Ferdinand's graduate research resulted in a thesis, presentation and final paper. His final work included a VR art installation for one person, focusing on the connection to the body and the possibility of movement.

Enterprising artisteducator The fact that Ferdinand was unable to teach dance due to his injury did, however, not stop him from putting his own spin on his teaching and role as artisteducator. 'I still want to teach and pass on my passion to someone else.

Be it through dance, film or technology.'

'The power of art is great and every artisteducator has a passion. When I think back to my school days, I learned the most from lecturers who loved their subject.'

Endless possibilities A degree in education in arts allows you to work in both education and the extracurricular field. There are many professional opportunities. 'Dance →

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Dance Artist students at Museum Arnhem

NOORTJE BIJVOETS

With a new name this year, Dance Artist, the Bachelor of Dance course also received a new curriculum. In it, the connection is made to the space around the dance artist and what is happening in the world. This is done in various ways, such as inviting non-Western choreographers, working with people distanced from the labour market in an Introdans project and creating work outside the studio or theatre.

Within the new curriculum, second-year Dance Artist students create duets at Museum Arnhem – a valuable collaboration for both the students and the museum. This summer the first edition took place, where students were inspired either by the extraordinary building, by the theme or aesthetics of the objects on display.

Prior to the museum visit, South African choreographer Jay Pather gave an introduction on the difference between site-specific and site-responsive work. After two tours organised by the museum, the students chose where they wanted to work and what their starting point would be. The students further developed their ideas partly in the museum, partly in school.

The museum is open six days a week and not all locations allowed hours of improvisation, research and choreography in the presence of visitors. The entire interdisciplinary research process was supervised by a solid team of teachers in the fields of choreography, dramaturgy, acting and music: Reut Aviran, Jochem Naafs, Irma Nijenhuis and Silvia Borzelli.

The integration of the various disciplines enabled the dancers to expand their creative horizons, experiment with new concepts and develop a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of the various art forms. Also, the interaction with the audience in a museum is completely different than in the theatre, making it an interesting experience for these young dance artists.

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