Location: PNX140
Abstract:
It was a combination of of receiving difficult feedback from former students and a strong desire to integrate training and understandings of social justice education in tangible ways which led University of Windsor, School of Dramatic Art, Professors Meaghen Quinn and Lionel Walsh, in collaboration with independent consultant and University of Windsor BFA graduate, Sedina Fiati, to embark upon a study to examine anti-Black racism to revise the curriculum for the BFA Acting program.
The study, research, and consultation, conducted over a four year period, included interviews with ten Black Canadian theatre practitioners who have worked in post-secondary institutions, as well as surveys completed by over ninety Black artists who work in live performance, which involved questions on systemic racism in performance-based curriculum in theatre schools. The recommendations that emerged did not advocate for “throwing everything out,” but rather for closely examining how we do things, whose voices are in the room, and how we might transition toward new models and practices. The materials gathered through this research have helped begin the process of identifying and challenging anti-Black racist approaches within performance-based curriculum, while also encouraging us to learn how to incorporate inclusive and Afrocentric approaches to how we train performers for a dynamic twenty-first century landscape.
This workshop co-led by Professor Meaghen Quinn and consultant, Geovonday Jones, will share insights drawn directly from this process. Participants can expect to engage directly with the recommendations from the study, reflect upon their own practices, and explore how these ideas may apply to their teaching, training, or creative processes. Through discussion, shared reflection, and case studies, participants will be invited to consider how tradition and transformation can coexist in theatre training environments.
Requirements
This is a participatory session for 5 to 30 participants and no preparation is required.
This session is recommended for post-secondary practitioners who engage directly with performance training through directing plays and performance work, and teaching courses grounded in voice, movement, devising, scene study and other performance methodologies.
We also welcome those who have a deep interest and investment in performance training or desire to engage with methodologies more deeply.
We will use a consensus model for observers, allowing the group to decide their comfort level and to consent for how the work could be shared outside of the workshop.
Biographies:
Meaghen Quinn is an actor, intimacy director, movement coach, and theatre professor based in Windsor, Ontario. With over 15 years of experience in the industry, she holds an MFA from Penn State and a BFA from the University of Windsor where she now teaches in the Drama Department. Meaghen specializes in physical storytelling, ensemble creation, and psychophysical acting techniques.
Geovonday Jones is an actor, director, teacher, and Cultural Sensitivity Specialist. As an actor, he worked at The Black Rep, Barter Theatre, NBC, Law & Order: Organized Crime, JAG Productions, Irondale Theatre, Waterwell, Ancram Center for the Arts, New Works Brooklyn, several shows at Tent Theatre, and more. Most recently, he directed the world premiere of Trains at Barter Theatre, Fat Ham Coconut Cake, Wedding Band, and Skeleton Crew at The Black Rep, Breath & Imagination at the Penguin Rep, many shows at SIUE, Barter Theatre’s Appalachian Play Festival, River & Rail Theatre Company, The Tank, and other places. His film Ten Years Later: Talking While Black premiered to great acclaim at the Saint Louis Film Festival’s He is a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and SDC. His film Ten Years Later: Talking While Black premiered with high acclaim in the Ten Years Project at the STL International Film Festival. He is an Artistic Associate of The Black Rep and Co Director of Barter’s Black Stories Black Voices initiative. Previously, he taught Acting and Theatre & Racism at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where he served as the Head of Performance, Brooklyn College, and The City College of NY. Currently, he’s an Assistant Professor of Acting at University of Illinois Urbana—Champaign’s Illinois Theatre. He’s a certified teacher of the Chekhov Acting technique through the Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium (where he is also an Associate Teacher), has an MFA in Acting from Brooklyn College, and a BFA in Acting from Missouri State University. www.geovondayjones.com