NEW YORK TAPS PERSPECTIVES
ABOUT TAPS PERSPECTIVES TaPS Perspectives gives IB DP Theatre students the unique opportunity to work intensively with a series of theatre professionals, specialising in: Collaboratively creating original theatre Staging play texts Exploring world theatre traditions Performing theatre theory IB DP Theatre ISTA TaPS Perspectives provides students with an understanding of how the IB DP Theatre course syllabus is applied to current theatre practice. It's a launchpad for students’ explorations of theatre. Working with DP Theatre students from different schools broadens perspectives, forges friendships and enhances all learning.
ISTA specialises in global learning through theatre. We are a UK based charity, founded in 1978 providing transformative learning experiences for educators and young people worldwide. We create communities of learning, working closely with over 240 member schools around the world and we are the International Bacclaureate’s exclusive global provider of teacher training for Diploma Theatre. We believe in the unique power of theatre and the arts to connect, develop, transform and empower people to become active members and changemakers in their own communities and the world. We use the ISTA Ensemble method, a collaborative approach to learning and community building and story based inquiry, using story as a way to understand the world and as a tool for change.
NEW YORK TAPS PERSPECTIVES Sherry Weeks - ISTA Rep Born and educated in England, I trained as a dancer at Guildford School of Acting and danced professionally. I moved to Belgium with my family in 1996 where I directed and choreographed shows at the British School of Brussels. For the past 23 years I have lived in Atlanta. I taught IB MYP Drama at Atlanta International School for 18 years. As an artist I have a passion for design, shape and movement and working with young people. I enjoy collaborating with others on projects and productions whether it be directing, producing, choreographing, mask making or designing and creating costumes. I have taught Musical Theatre at Guildford, was deputy head of a dance school, started my own children’s clothing company and ran a summer camp for performing arts and sport. At AIS, I organized TaPS to London and NYC, took MS to festivals in Jamaica, Panama and the UK. I hosted many ISTA festivals at AIS including a powerful Connect festival on the topic of Human Trafficking.
Tom Scott - ISTA Rep Assistant I live in Falmouth, United Kingdom with my partner Logan and Cocker Spaniel, Leo. I studied management, adult education teaching and life coaching and my background was in local government. I’m approaching my 10th year working full time for ISTA. As ISTA Director of Operations I’m responsible for the successful programming, production and quality of all ISTA events and operations. As well as this I’m also responsible for HR, risk management and all our work with the International Baccalaureate.
NEW YORK TAPS PERSPECTIVES FROM THE GROUND UP Collaboratively creating original theatre Workshop leader: Adrienne Kapstein
Biography Adrienne is a collaborative theatre artist and theatre educator creating visually rich, physically adventurous new work and immersive, participatory performance experiences. She is passionate about bringing experimental work to audiences of all ages and sharing live art across generations. Her original theatrical work has been presented at Lincoln Center, Soho Rep, New Victory LabWorks, PS 122 as well as in Canada, Scotland, Ireland, Romania, Croatia and China. She is associate professor and Program Head of the BA Acting and BA Directing International Performance Ensemble (IPE) at Pace School of Performing Arts at Pace University. This is one of the few undergraduate programmes in the United States that has an embedded focus on developing the artist/creator. Adrienne is also the co-founder of Movement Theater Studio, the only Lecoq based acting studio in New York City. Workshop overview The focus of the workshop is on forging a strong ensemble and building a collective theatrical vocabulary in order to create something that is uniquely rooted in these people and this place in time. Based primarily on the pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq but also using techniques and methodology from Laban, Grotowski, Tectonic Theatre Company and Frantic Assembly, students will encounter the tools of ensemble creation. They will be immersed in the fundamental aspects of storytelling and will learn to think like a creator and engage in the work in multifaceted ways as writer, director, designer and performer.
NEW YORK TAPS PERSPECTIVES COMMEDIA DELL’ARTE Exploring world theatre traditions Workshop leaders: Matthew A.J. Gregory, Brandon Salerno, Adam Rodriguez, Samantha Evans & Garrett Lawson About the company The Department of Fools brings Renaissance street theatre to New York City, led by Capicomico: Matthew A.J. Gregory. We have performed at venues around New York City including at the New York International Fringe Festival and at the PIT. Our company members share a love of pure unadulterated play and a commitment to satire. Through the masked mayhem of Commedia we use humour to address inequities in our society. Commedia dell’Arte is wild, salacious, zany, tremendously enjoyable and deeply satirical. We believe that the social satire inherent in Commedia dell’Arte is still as relevant today as it was during the Renaissance.
Biography Matthew A.J. Gregory: Matthew is the Capocomico (Captain comic) of the Department of Fools. He is an interdisciplinary theatre artist whose current theatre work explores the nexus between art and politics, specifically through use of comedy as a lens for investigating modern civil issues. He is a theatre generalist with expertise in direction, acting, theatre history and costume design. He has directed numerous productions at venues across New York City including NYU, Theater for the New City, the cell and the Culture Project. He has performed at Kennedy Center, the Saratoga Shakespeare Company and Off Broadway at the Mint Theater. His costume designs have been seen at the Juilliard School, Wheeler Opera House and Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. He has previously taught at NYU and The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. Currently he is on the faculty at AADA and The New School - College of Performing Arts.
Workshop overview In this workshop we will be exploring the performance traditions of Commedia dell’Arte. The session will begin with a short lecture grounding the work in Commedia’s historical contexts, followed by hands on mask exercises. Participants will be introduced to beginning mask inhabitation exercises, allowing them to embody the stock characters in the Commedia legacy: Physical theatre techniques of Jacques LeCoq, Barry Grantham and Sears Eldridge. This experiential workshop will expose participants to practical approaches to bringing Commedia traditions alive today.
NEW YORK TAPS PERSPECTIVES ACTOR TRAINING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY: SUZUKI/VIEWPOINTS Performing Theatre Theory Workshop leader: Leon Ingulsrud
About the company One Year Lease Theater Company was founded in 2001 by Ariane Barbanell, Ianthe Demos and Jacqueline Kristel. OYL’s mission is to create bold, athletic new works of theatre that draw on the power of collaboration – the group, the ensemble, the chorus – to express bold visions of our collective human experience. Our vision as a company is to create magical experiences for audiences that transcend the ordinary, transport the spirit and embrace the magical. We are deeply passionate about the artform of theatre and seek to inspire the next generation of creators through our educational programmes and support of young theatre artists.
Biography Leon Ingulsrud began his career as a member of the Suzuki Company Of Toga and a resident director at the ATM Arts Center, Japan. He helped found SITI Company in New York and served as one of three artistic directors along with Anne Bogart. Currently Mr Ingulsrud is a member of One Year Lease Theater Company and is on the Theater faculty at Long Island University. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Directing from Columbia University and in addition to serving two years as artistic director of Swine Palace in Baton Rouge, Leon has taught and led workshops throughout the United States and the world. As a performer he can be seen in featured roles in AMC’s acclaimed western series Hell on Wheels, as well as the hit game Red Dead Redemption 2. In addition to directing, acting and teaching, Mr Ingulsrud translates Japanese plays to English. Workshop overview In this workshop, we will be exploring how the Six Viewpoints and the Suzuki Method of actor training give us access to our whole selves as expressive theatrical instruments that are awake to the materials that make up performance and can respond to our impulses and our environment. We will be treating heavy ideas like our connection to the earth and time and space as if they were things we can hold in our hands and play with.
NEW YORK TAPS PERSPECTIVES IB DIPLOMA PERSPECTIVES Workshop leader: Helen Szymczak
Biography I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and attended the prestigious National School of the Arts, the leading liberal arts high school in Africa. I obtained an Honours degree from AFDA, and my Masters of Arts from the University of London. Currently I am Head of Performing Arts at Marymount International School in London. Theatre is a universal art that travels, connects people and continents, influences, enlightens, making one more aware of their world and their place in it. It is a powerful and provocative medium and is an enormous part of who I am as a human being. I have been involved with ISTA and the IB for eighteen years and am an IB examiner. I have been lucky enough to be an ensemble leader for many Middle and High School festivals, as well as an IB TAPS Leader and Rep in the UK, Europe, Asia and USA.
Workshop overview This session will assist participants in framing their TaPS Perspectives experience so it relates to their DP Theatre course, their development as artists and as learners. Participants will Reflect on their workshop experiences in relation to the IB DP theatre course Make connections between workshops and the IB DP theatre course Contextualise their workshop experiences in relation to the IB DP theatre course Consider their development as artists and learners to inform their learning in the IB DP theatre course
NEW YORK TAPS PERSPECTIVES STAGING PLAY TEXTS Staging Play Texts Workshop leader: Ianthe Demos About the company One Year Lease Theater Company (OYL) believes in the power of creating theater, building community, honoring a chorus of diverse voices, questioning our past, and re-imagining our future. Founded in 2001, OYL is a professional theatre company based in New York City with a one of a kind ‘Apprentice Program’ in northern Greece. OYL is an artistic fulcrum around which theatre, education, training and inspiration spins. Since our inception we have advocated for work that is collaborative and risk taking.
Biography Ianthe Demos (Director) is the artistic director and a founding member of One Year Lease. Ianthe’s work has received two Drama Desk nominations in New York City and a Stage Award in Edinburgh. She is a full-time professor in the International Performance Ensemble at PACE University and runs OYL’s acclaimed Apprentice Program in Greece. Ianthe has worked extensively in the arts management field managing dance companies on the international circuit as part of Selby Artists Management. Workshop overview In this workshop, students will examine one classic play text, Medea by Euripides and one contemporary text pool (no water) by Mark Ravenhill and explore staging sections chorally. This will be a hands-on, practical session in which participants work on their feet, exploring various approaches to staging and creating rhythmic and choreographic moments inspired by the text.
NEW YORK TAPS PERSPECTIVES STAGING PLAY TEXTS Teacher/chaperone specialist workshop Workshop leader: Matthew A.J. Gregory
Biography Matthew A.J. Gregory: Matthew is the Capocomico (Captain comic) of the Department of Fools. He is an interdisciplinary theatre artist whose current theatre work explores the nexus between art and politics, specifically through use of comedy as a lens for investigating modern civil issues. He is a theatre generalist with expertise in direction, acting, theatre history and costume design. He has directed numerous productions at venues across New York City including NYU, Theater for the New City, the cell and the Culture Project. He has performed at Kennedy Center, the Saratoga Shakespeare Company and Off Broadway at the Mint Theater. His costume designs have been seen at the Juilliard School, Wheeler Opera House and Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. He has previously taught at NYU and The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. Currently he is on the faculty at AADA and The New School - College of Performing Arts. Workshop overview This workshop will focus on the challenges and opportunities created by physical boundaries put in place as a result of actor comfort levels that seem at odds with the ‘demands’ of a script, physical distancing required because of community infection levels from COVID-19, and the like. What happens when a script calls for two characters to kiss, yet the religious beliefs of one of the actors forbids actual physical contact? How do you stage an all out brawl if your actors must maintain 6 feet of physical distance? This workshop will explore the ways in which these seemingly insurmountable obstacles can present unique staging opportunities that may have never been considered before?
THEATRE
NEW YORK TAPS PERSPECTIVES KIMBERLY AKIMBO Booth Theater Kimberly Akimbo features Tony Award-winning book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole), a Tony Award-winning score by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home), choreography by Danny Mefford (Dear Evan Hansen) and direction by Tony-nominated director Jessica Stone. Kimberly (Tony Award winner Victoria Clark) is about to turn 16 and recently moved with her family to a new town in suburban New Jersey. In this “howlingly funny heartbreaker of a show” (The New Yorker), Kim is forced to navigate family dysfunction, a rare genetic condition, her first crush… and possible felony charges. Ever the optimist, she is determined to find happiness against all odds and embark on a great adventure.
THE MAKING OF A GREAT MOMENT Urban Stages Theater Big dreams travel best on two wheels! Actors Mona and Terry are on an ambitious quest: tour their play Great Moments in Human Achievement across the country… by bicycle. Surely they’ll bring inspiration to millions! But as they pedal across the nation reenacting history’s high points, finding laundry facilities proves just as tough as their unruly audiences. When the day is done, can our heroes manage a great moment of their own? An exuberant comedy about all the potholes on the road to sheer brilliance.