My Arts Dialogue section proved to be the most challenging. I have spent the last few years of research and education honing in on my practice and hoping to create an intriguing presentation at an Arts Conference. In July, I was accepted to the New Guard Debut Panel in AATE’s 2021 National Conference using verbatim theatre in the high school setting. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this conference because it was on the same day as my sister's wedding. 

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In 2018, with the guidance of Peter Avery, Head of Theatre for NYCDOE, I presented work in a professional development for drama teachers across NYC. Facilitators met once a month to create and respond to lesson plans and new artistic ideas. I assisted Alexander Santiago-Jirau in his presentation on Theatre of the Oppressed and led a talk-back and a question-and-answer session with both new and seasoned NYC Theatre teachers. This experience gave me the confidence I needed to apply for the EdD program at NYU. I am grateful for these workshops and what I have learned and absorbed from my peers in Drama Education. 

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The following presentation that I am including here for my Arts Dialogue is one that happened within the walls of NYU. In spring 2020, I took Dr. Nan's Smnither's Images of Women in Theatre class and was tasked with the concept of an open-ended, but artistic, final project on feminism. I wanted to find something that combined my love and passion for verbatim theatre while sticking to the confines of feminist theory. I immediately thought of my father. Although he is a wonderful and supportive man, he has some antiquated and old-fashioned opinions on feminism. I am a mother of two sons, and I wondered how much influence generational misogyny would have on them. I began this research project with a survey to all the male members of my family who would interact with my boys. I then interviewed and investigated my father and asked him pointed and direct questions about his feelings on feminism and hoped to elicit stories and background information. 

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This project, backed in feminist theory and ethnodramatic research, culminated in a verbatim performance of my father where I interviewed him and then embodied his mannerisms and speech patterns in a 10-minute performance/monologue.  I presented it to the class to demonstrate the value of verbatim theatre in the context of disrupting and challenging biases. I also proved the form to be a unique tool in conflict resolution and empathy building when it led to open dialogue with my sisters and other family members.  I am proud of this project, not only because of the positive feedback from my peers and my professor, but also because it ties in nicely with my culminating idea of writing an ethnodrama on the NYPD.

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Below is the performance video and final paper accompanying my presentation, as well as Dr. Nan Smithner's written feedback in fulfillment of the Arts Dialogue requirement for Candidacy, with permission from Dr. Smithner and Dr. Jonathan Jones.