We the Griot: Devised Performance for Community Engagement 

THERE IS A LIMIT OF 25 Participants, if you want to get on the waitlist please contact Jane O'Leary.

In traditional African societies, the griot or djeli is the community storyteller, historian, and archive for communal knowledge. In this workshop, participants are asked to consider what it would mean to live in a society where the artist is seen and valued as the conduit for community healing and health.

In We the Griot, Daniel will guide participants through the progression DNAWORKS uses in their work to think about the role and function of the griot. Using movement, storytelling, improvisation, writing, group dialogue, song, and games, participants will explore the power of their own experiences and stories as they relate to important issues in their communities. They will then consider how these stories interrelate and, finally, begin to think about composition and staging the community's voices.

Out of this workshop will come an understanding of devising theatre from one's own personal source material. Participants will also learn a model for generating community dialogue and story circles in order to explore the relationship between art-making and community building.  

 Daniel will also offer approaches and exercises tailored for use in the M.A. in Applied Theatre Project Thesis.Daniel is a faculty member of the M.A. in Applied Theatre and co-founder of DNAWORKS, a company dedicated to dialogue and healing through the arts. For more information,www.dnaworks.org.

 The workshop is open to students and alumni.  Admission is free.