More Believable

This post is from our "Diana", Danielle Rennalls. Danielle is a graduate of the UNCSA School of Drama with an emphasis on directing.

Our second residency brought more confidence in my abilities as a teaching artist. It's probably been around Day 3 of the 1st week of Wendell's residency before it occurred to me that the classroom space (i.e. maintaining order, keeping students engaged, holding myself accountable for how well they understood/processed the material) wasn't all that different from directing a play in the theater. Like actors, if you gave the student(s) a role, a purpose and/or reason, the activities/task at hand instantly blossomed. I observed this happen time and time again with each grade level- most often with students considered behaviorally or mentally challenged. In fact, during the same residency at Wendell, we learned our 4th grade block would have 4 or 5 behaviorally challenged and 2 developmentally challenged children, whom all learned separately from most of the students. Yet it became apparent during the movement improvisations exploring landforms (and later types of fossilization) these "challenged" were always "in the moment," and hungry for guidance on how to make it more believable.

Artist + Teaching + (…) = Teaching Artist

This post is from Ulung Tanoto. It's always fun to see which instruments Ulung brings into a classroom - guitar, drums, flute, saxophone, harmonica, and instruments from his native Indonesia have made appearances thus far -- and we still have a dozen days of residency work to go!


We are actors, musicians and dancers. And we are also teachers. Is that what makes us teaching artists? It's not that simple. After our first residency at Shuford Elementary, our manager, Rebecca Nussbaum brought us a piece of paper that, I have to admit, shocked me a little. That paper (contains information) about levels of art integration - how deep does art integration can reach the effectiveness of learning. (A lot of questions appeared in my mind. Have I done everything right? It seemed so difficult to achieve the top level of art integration in just 2 weeks of residency. Will the kids ever get it? I knew that (the point of showing us that paper) is to encourage us to be a better teaching artist team. And that's, to me, is the key that define teaching artist. Teaching artist has to know the art of teaching and keep exploring the way of art integration. I believe that we are a good teaching artist team because we have strong art background (and we are always challenged to always explore our artistry???). And, I feel more and more confident doing what I do as days gone by, thinking that I'm not pursuing an immediate result. (Instead, we are) planting seeds of creative learning to these young minds in a fun way.

Season Update and Stay Tuned!

This post is from the lovely Danielle Rennalls, a recent graduate of the UNCSA School of Drama. She is pictured here, battling Demeter, in the role of Diana.


We began on August 8th, dividing our 9 am to 5 pm workday between the two projects: "Peril..." and the beloved "Adventures of the Open Dream Ensemble" web series.

In between the table work, music rehearsals, and fight choreography tutorials (3 years of combat training at UNCSA and I'm STILL getting the hang of it (0: ), we devoted any spare time to transition rehearsals and introductory teaching artistry training.

If this sounds like a lot, it was!

And yet, having recently graduated with a degree in Directing, I couldn't have been happier diving in to it all: To get the opportunity to finally get up from behind the table, to leave my analytical brain behind and to just, as Caroline Kava would say, "do the doing!" I must say it provided a renewed sense of confidence in my craft as well as in my ability to work hard in a group setting. Before the month of August came to an end, Open Dream Ensemble had pieced together two very different, very lively pieces.

After wrapping filming for the web series our attentions turned to teacher artistry. And trust me, they call it artistry for a reason. Our group learned about multiple intelligences, stages of child development by grade level, and classroom etiquette prior to any lesson planning. Along with the "mini" T.A. sessions during August rehearsals, these concepts helped form a solid foundation for new cast members like myself.

While I initially harbored some anxiety I soon learned (with reassurance/encouragement from my cast mates and Rebecca) that this, like every other craft, would take practice and it was okay if I didn't get something perfect the very first time my teaching artist partner and I taught a class. There would always be room for growth. Our 1st residency of the season took place in Conover, NC at Shuford Elementary. William and I constantly worked toward finding what kept our students engaged and what didn't, tossing out activities or tweaking them. One major challenge I faced, and still face, was relaying the science content in a manner that meets essential standards while simultaneously engaging with the students on a fun, creative level. We were lucky to observe some of the other teaching artist groups in action, using any helpful tidbits or ideas they'd have to match creativity and educational standards. By the end of Week 2, not only did we gain another member to our teaching artist team (Mr. Adrian aka Dr. Boogie), we managed to budget activity time more efficiently within the classroom without sacrificing content or fun.

We've spent the last two weeks touring "Peril" at schools around NC and VA, working on Kindergarten and Grade One lesson plans, and presented a staged reading of Michaela Morton's "Big Shoes."

These days we're in our second residency at Wendell Creative Arts and Science Magnet Elementary School in Wendell, NC. Stay tuned!

“Ses-Ame and Carry-Away Mixed Vegetables with Angel Hair”: A Recipe for Teaching Artistry

This post comes from our very own Iron Chef, Bryn Harris. A director, actress and fight choreographer, Bryn has filled the shoes of Diana in our production of Peril on the Red Planet.



Even if you think you don’t care for tiny human Brussels sprouts, give them a try in this recipe for Teaching Artistry. The flavors of nutty artists yelling “I say Ago, You Ses Ame” and anise-like carry away seeds of curriculum are a wonderful accent to these tiny bite sized humans.

1 tablespoon “Ses Ame” seeds (Classroom Management)
2 teaspoons carry away seeds (Fun Activities and Theater Games)
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil (School Appropriate Curriculum)
6 scallions, chopped (Colorful Vocabulary Words: Post on the Wall)
3 cups Brussels sprout halves (Classroom full of excited children)
½ cup chicken broth (Various sized pieces of Orange cloth)
2 cups snow peas, trimmed (Handheld Instruments)
½ teaspoons ground black pepper (Verbal Discipline for out of line Sprouts)
½ teaspoon low-sodium seasoning (Airborne, Zycam, Hand sanitizer: after contact)
1 package Angel Hair Pasta (Supportive, Specific Reflections and Review)

Make sure you have a clean clear kitchen to prep your lesson otherwise the sprouts could become bruised or lost. Combine the “Ses Ame” seeds and “Carry-Away” seeds in a large open nonstick skillet over medium heat. Toast the seeds with “Circle Etiquette” by stirring at various tempos. Some like to stir to musical terms such as Andante (walking), Presto (fast), and Largo (long and slow). Use “Uh Oh” to shake the pan up and make sure all the little seeds are toasting on both sides evenly. Stir for 2 minutes, or until the seeds start to ZIP ZAP ZOP out of the pan with glee. Remove to a seated circular bowl.
Heat the appropriate EVOO in the same skillet over medium-high heat by introducing the essential questions of the lesson. Add the scallions and stir-fry for 1 minute (this smell will stay in the room after you leave). Add the Brussels sprouts own flavorful opinions and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Separate into groups. Note: Some sprouts will cook right away while others will need more attention. Keep rotating the sprouts over the center of the heat. Add the broth, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the sprouts are just tender.
Add the snow peas and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes, or until the vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in the seeds, pepper, and herb seasoning and cook for 1 minute.
Prepare the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and place in a large serving bowl.

Makes 4 Servings:
Serve on a bed of carefully swirled angel hair pasta with a garnish of applause. Top it off with a little Magic Sword and you have a complex and flavorful scaffolding of multi-intelligences.

NUTRITION (THIS WEEK) AT A GLANCE
Per Serving:
610 calories (3 classes a day at this weeks residency),
25 g fat (4:45 a.m. call time),
4 g saturated fat (“Wohh, was that an Earthquake or did Peter just hit the passenger van door with the Ryder truck?”),
21 g protein (still dark, cold, heavy load in at new gym),
76 g carbohydrate (Run Peril to 400 Brussels sprouts at 8:30 a.m.),
4 1/2g dietary fiber (Load out; “Oh My Gosh the stairs just collapsed underneath Jon and Sonny and Jon might have broken his ankle),
5 mg cholesterol (Teach with disabled Jon 5th, 2nd, 3rd grades),
250 mg sodium (Take Jon to Prime Care, “You’ve bruised your Achilles tendon, wow your very lucky”).

SIDE EFFECTS
Haydee gets sick, loses her voice, out for the rest of the week. Between Sonny, Brandon, and Ian, Haydee is covered. Jon can’t walk and might have to do the show in a chair, everyone picks up transitions, which are longer with no waving flagger therefore less interesting, so we up the anti on comedy technique and truthful talking and listening, and we make it through to double show day on Friday.
Now we are home free; Jon’s Achilles is feeling better, One Take sounds like Kathleen Turner, but at least there is sound coming out of her mouth. No residencies next week and we get to go through Asheville. So the only worry now is that Julianne and I have been calling Demeter ‘him’ because Sonny took over for Haydee, and now that she’s back we may slip and call her ‘him’. Ahhhh days off, I think I’m in a Food Coma!