the social contract |
Performing Arts for Social Change hosted a two-night dialogue between Ithaca Police Department officers, Mayor Svante Myrick, and members of the Ithaca community. Facilitated by our very own, Cynthia Henderson, the dialogue was meant to establish police and community expectations in the future via "The Social Contract." The panelists focused on unpacking the complicated relationship between Ithaca’s minority communities and the police — as well as the national conversation on policing. She encourages community members who have ideas and expectations to contribute them and help the contract grow into something that eventually effects policy change.
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"SPEAKING OUR TRUTH" |
As part of a writing workshop created and facilitated by Performing Arts for Social Change, working with students at Boynton Middle School, "Speaking Our Truth" highlights the highs and lows of middle school life, as well as the meaningful lessons we learn along the way. The production of the play was postponed because of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The full play will be produced at Boynton Middle School at a later time, when schools can safely re-open. This video cannot be used without permission from Performing Arts for Social Change, or the Ithaca City School District.
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2020 JUNETEENTH CABARET |
Sponsored by Wheels for Women and Performing Arts for a Social Change, Black Fems United hosted their Juneteenth Cabaret on June 19th. All proceeds went to the following organizations: The Doonie Fund, The Colin Kaepernick Know Your Rights Camp Legal Defense Initiative, or Women for Political Change Political Action Fund.
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AN EXPLORATION OF RACE, PRIVILEGE, AND THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT |
On Monday April 16, 2018, the day after the closing of the Ithaca High School production of "Hairspray," a very diverse group of people, who would rarely even talk to one another, came together in the chorus room of Ithaca High School for four (4) very intense hours. 29 students, 4 teachers, 2 ICSD administrators and 1 school board member, dropped their guards and did some heavy emotional and practical lifting. Through the genre of theatre this group acted out, wrote, spoke, listened and explored difficult truths about broken trust, racial bias, privilege, profiling, micro-aggressions and institutional racism. The diversity of the group spanned race, gender identity, age, socio-economic position, sexual orientation, ethnicity and nationality. There were athletes, actors, artists, musicians, academics, teachers and administrators. Facilitating the workshop was PASC's Cynthia Henderson.
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DREAM ACTS: A PLAY ABOUT DREAMERS IN THE UNITED STATES |
DREAM ACTS, written by an amazing cohort of international playwrights, including Saviana Stanescu, was performed on Sunday March 25th at 7:00 pm in The Cherry Arts Space of Ithaca, NY. DREAM ACTS tells the stories of 5 Dream Act eligible undocumented teens facing the extraordinary challenge of living ordinary lives under the radar in the U.S. The suggested donation is $10. 100% of the donations went to benefit a local Legal Services Program, which offers free and sliding scale legal assistance to immigrants in Ithaca. This event was sponsored by PASC.
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PASC IN JOAO PESSOA, BRAZIL |
Cynthia Henderson traveled to Brazil as a Fulbright Specialist to facilitate a workshop with professors and graduate students from the Universidade Estadual da Paraíba; UEPB which addressed the affect of violent crimes on the community. Joao Pessoa ranks in the top 10 most violent cities in the world. The workshop was designed to shed light on and create solution based dialog between the community and law makers. There were two performances of the production titled "For Whom We Cry" ("Por Quem Choramos"). Since Henderson departed the group has revived the play for new audiences in Joao Pessoa.
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PASC & MEntal health |
PASC is teaming up with the Mental Health Association of Tompkins County to address the stigma surrounding issues related to mental health. Working with a team of Ithaca College students, psychologists and administrators at the Mental Health Association, the team will gather the stories of community members to create a play that gives voice to those who feel lost in a cycle of need and the stigma of seeking help.
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trust |
In May and June of 2015 PASC brought police officers and civilians from the Ithaca community together in order to conduct a workshop focused on beginning a dialog of understanding in order to foster better interactions between them. Trust is a play created by Performing Arts for Social Change founder/director Cynthia Henderson, police officers and civilians in Ithaca, NY. The stories developed from 30+ interviews, stories and improvisations was crafted into a play by international playwright Saviana Stanescu. The staged reading of "Trust" will be performed by Officer JB Nelson, Officer Mayra Colon, Micah Martorell, Harmony Malone, Lee-Ellen Marvin, Ella Mead-Vancort, Rebecca Simpson Wallack, Edward Yankow, Oghie Gbaje, Micah Martorell Jr. and Cassie Walker.
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outside
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In April of 2015 PASC and Acting Out NY collaborated once again to produce Outside the Lines which was part of Little Black Dress Ink's 4th Annual Female Playwrights Onstage Project. Which is a national theatre festival celebrating the work of new women playwrights.
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la podarosa media project |
June through July of 2014 PASC worked with the La Podarosa Media Project in Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador! Cynthia Henderson taught an acting workshop for community members to create a play that focused on issues affecting the town of Bahía de Caráquez. The one act play "Voces de Bahía" was be presented at a city wide festival at the end of July.
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beijing new oriental school |
From June 21 through August 1, 2013 PASC founder and director Cynthia Henderson worked with the Beijing New Oriental School and workshopped scenes from the play "Proof" by David Auburn. The project, co-developed by Henderson, was part of an English immersion program designed to not only teach conversational English but also introduce Chinese participants to aspects of American culture.
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performing your body |
Performing Your Body: An Exploration of Identity via Theatre of the Oppressed, a Workshop created by PASC volunteer and Ithaca College graduate, Sarah Herbert-Johnson. Over the course of three weeks a group of students, under the guidance of Sarah Hebert-Johnson, used Augusto Boal’s methods of Theatre of the Oppressed to explore self esteem and body issues. Sarah used Theatre of the Oppressed techniques combined with the PASC techniques to workshop and create a short play about the challenges students face on the college campus dealing with body image and self esteem. After the on campus performance they explored, with the audience, ways of working through these issues.
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rainbow
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This project is under the direction of PASC co-founder Amanda LaForge, who returned to Ithaca in to organize this engaging workshop. Theatre of the Oppressed: A Workshop in Rainbow of Desire was facilitated by Laine Forman & Jamie Samowitz for the benefit and education of Ithaca College students, professors as well as other City of Ithaca community members on how to use theatre as a venue for empowerment, justice and giving voice to those who otherwise may not be heard. Click to learn more about Theatre of the Oppressed: A Workshop in Rainbow of Desire.
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for colored
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The Cameroonian/American production of for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf by Ntosake Shange, which PASC founder Cynthia Henderson directed in Cameroon, West Africa, was revived through a grant from the U.S. Embassy in Yaounde! The production revival was directed by Emelda Samba and featured members of the cast from Henderson's original production!
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no child |
PASC founder Cynthia Henderson starred in the one woman production of No Child by Nilaja Sun, which was produced by a local theatre in Ithaca, NY. Henderson played 16 characters in the play which focused on the numerous challenges faced by students and teachers in an underfunded school in Bronx, NY during the "No Child Left Behind" law put in place by the Bush administration. The law has been replaced by the "Race to the Top" initiative by the Obama administration.There were talk backs after three performances for members of the Ithaca community with Mayor Svante Myrick, Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, Cynthia Henderson and musician Elisa Sciscioli. These illuminating talks focused on community and education issues in the Ithaca City School District.
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ruminations |
PASC and Lehman Alternative Community School collaborated on a project to raise awareness about the challenges faced by students with visible and invisible disabilities attempting to navigate a world created for and by the able bodied. The production, Ruminations, was performed to over 400 people at the Hangar Theatre and at the LACS Black Box Theatre! There were open discussions after the performances that allowed students, teachers, administrators and Ithaca community members to explore ways to deal with the challenges faced by the students. Other learning outcomes dealt with the writing aspect of the project as well as self empowerment tools worked on during the creation/rehearsal/performance sections of this project.
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the veterans' sanctuary |
PASC’s Beth Henderson facilitated and directed a gorilla theatre project with The Veterans' Sanctuary. The project dealt with soldiers’ perception of their place in society upon returning from the war in Iraq. Veteran’s shared their stories through a series of personal monologues, touring the city of Ithaca and the campuses of Cornell University as well as Ithaca College.
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plumfield, iraq |
PASC founder Cynthia Henderson directed the Ithaca College Department of Theatre Arts' production of Plumfield, Iraq by Barbara LeBow. The play focused on a teenaged soldier's journey through post traumatic stress disorder after his experiences in Iraq. Current soldiers and veteran's dealing with the disorder participated in talk backs after two of the performances. They also worked with actors and the design team during the research process. PASC thanks the Veterans' Sanctuary of Ithaca for their insight during the development of this moving and enlightening production.
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operation international children |
PASC's Alyssa Stoeckl facilitated a school supply drive to benefit children in Iraq whose schools were damaged or destroyed in the war. The supplies were sent to Iraq through the organization Operation International Children.
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ithaca nutritional clinic |
PASC brought interactive theatre to the Ithaca Nutritional Clinic. This program was a collaboration with clinic councilors to help clients of the clinic to find different methods of self evaluation. The project focused on theatre games and character research as a way for clients to further explore and discuss eating disorders and the challenges they face on their journey to recovery.
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zumbathon |
PASC sponsored Felipe Rivera's ZUMBATHON® at City Health Club in Ithaca, NY. The event was a fundraiser for the American Heart Association, and was a total success. Through donations and a raffle at the event, we were able to raise over $600, breaking our goal of $500. Check out pictures from the event and look for other Zumba®/PASC related events in the future!
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correctional facilities |
PASC has created many self evaluation through theatre projects with area correctional facilities where Cynthia Henderson and PASC volunteers have worked with staff and facility residents to help them come to terms with their past through the writing and performance of monologues, poems and improvisational scenes.
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problems or possibilites? |
PASC created a new play titled Problems or Possibilities?: The Story of Rose. The play was inspired by a mother and daughter dealing with the challenges and triumphs of the daughter’s journey as a “problem or at risk teen.” It was a great success and was performed at Boynton Middle School in the Ithaca Area. The project was a collaboration with the Racker Center’s Expanding Possibilities Project in Ithaca NY.
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