PEACE-ING OUR WORLD TOGETHER

[Adam Blatner]

Dear Peter

Are you talking about Augusto Boal and his Theatre of the Oppressed?

       For instance that chap from Brazil with the drama stuff whose  
name escapes me, was appalling with both groups and individuals - not  
always but I did witness some extremely clumsy large group work that  
was nevertheless entertaining and in some ways quite profound. So as a  
dramatist he was excellent.
            ab: in which role component ?  Drama therapy? group  
worker? Boal generally rejects psychodrama though his wife (or first  
wife?) was a psychodramatist in the 1960s.  Nevertheless, I find his  
major format to be simply a kind of role playing
             Set up situation, have actors auxiliaries play it, heat  
it up, stop it: Ask audience how they'd do it. Invite them up to  
confront one of the players, model. Ask others to show how they'd do  
it... that kind of thing. Which is okay. But I'd like to hear more of  
your anecdote, because I don't know that Boal himself did it that way.
         On the other hand, the movies of Moreno conducting  
psychodrama make me cringe. Have you ever seen them?


  The group work aspects are often absent in the specialised training  
becasue it is not core to what they are on about. Gestalt has been  
like this in the past in Australia - an individual process done in  
groups but it is beginning to change from what I hear. Or else the  
training is delivered as of a children's pedagogical sort - like the  
ways teachers teach children and young adults. And often the way adult  
educators teach adults. Often recognition of group effects or that  
practitioners are working in groups is absent. Then again I have run  
into teachers who denied they were leaders in any way. I find it quite  
distressing as these practitioners both work in groups and hate them  
at the same time while loving the ways they work.

       AB: I agree with your desire to see more awareness of group  
dynamics in leaders of groups! Yay!
                I'm not sure that many psychodramatists get sufficent  
training in this way. If one learns all the sociometry in the world,  
that is not the same as all the group dynamics training. I don't doubt  
that knowledge of sociometry informs group leadership---and I'd like  
to see that angle developed and integrated into group leader training;  
but neither does it constitute the whole of group work.

Group work is all sociometry. That doesn't get taught.
            ab: Do you think this? I think it's too reductionistic.

I hope you have a ball. I am encouraging ANZPA members to act in a  
more coherent fashion when presenting at conferences as you are doing  
and as Adam and others have been encouraging. Do it with colleagues  
and don't act like the mob you are presenting for already know this  
stuff because they don't.

Cheers for the moment

Peter in Brisbane



On 16/04/2009, at 9:14 PM, Edward Schreiber wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
>
> I pass along an upcoming conference that brings Psychodrama,  
> Sociodrama, Sociatry, Sociometry together with many other Expressive  
> Arts in Social Action and therapy.   Rosalie Minkin and I have been  
> invited to present and this will be woven into the fabric of this  
> conference.   The conference web site is:
>
> http://www.ieata.org/conference.html
>
> This is an example of a good conference structure.
>
> Best,
>
>
>
> EdP
>
> 2009 Conference
> 8th Biennial International Conference
>
> August 12-15, 2009
>
> Hosted by Lesley University
> Cambridge, MA
>
>
>
> <conference_logo.jpg>
>
>
> Online registration begins in mid-April. Check back soon!
>
> Overview
> Fees
> Location
> Scholarships
> Social action project (August 10-11)
> Volunteers
> Pre-conference workshops and celebration
> Lodging
> Conference schedule
> Travel
> Post-conference workshops
> Vendor applications
> Registration
> Download program, lodging and
> travel information (PDF)>
>
> The International Expressive Arts Therapy Association invites you to  
> be part of an exciting and inspiring international gathering as  
> expressive arts therapists, educators, consultants, artists and  
> activists, and innovators of expressive arts modalities from around  
> the world converge to celebrate the journey of Expressive Arts and  
> Social Action: Peace-ing our World Together.
>
> In keeping with our theme, we will explore the transformative power  
> of the arts to:
>
> • Break down cultural barriers and misperceptions
>
> • Encourage community participation and growth
>
> • Provide opportunities for empowerment and social change/healing
>
> • Promote social justice locally and internationally
>
> We also will address the interdisciplinary use of the arts in  
> therapy, and the interface between expressive arts therapy and  
> social transformation. We’ll examine the role of the arts for social  
> change within individual relationships, families and communities,  
> and as a bridge among diverse communities.
>
> Location
>
> Cambridge’s vibrant Harvard Square area will provide the backdrop  
> for the 2009 conference, which will be hosted by the Expressive  
> Therapy program at Lesley University’s Porter Square campus.
>
> The conference will feature programming in several venues designed  
> to connect participants to the vibrant Cambridge community, the  
> larger community of expressive arts modalities, a rich academic  
> community, and the global community.
>
> Cambridge, MA, just across the Charles River from Boston, is home to  
> Lesley University where pioneers of the Expressive Arts founded an  
> Institute for Arts and Human Development in the mid-1970s. Cambridge  
> is renowned for its prestigious schools, rich cultural resources,  
> diverse population, and an extraordinary array of social gathering  
> places - from restaurants to clubs to parks.
>
> top
>
> Social action project
>
> MONDAY AND TUESDAY, AUGUST 10-11
>
> Prior to the start of the conference, attendees are invited to  
> participate in a two-day intergenerational Social Action Project,  
> titled Peace-Arts Zone: Peace-ing our Communities Together. The  
> project is an extension of a call to communities in the greater  
> Boston area to come together and utilize the arts for peace-making.  
> Materials fee of $25 applies. Learn more >
>
> Pre-conference workshops and celebration
>
> WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12
>
> The conference begins with several all-day pre-conference workshops,  
> featuring many familiar and new presenters including Shaun McNiff,  
> Vivien-Marcow Speiser and Phillip Speiser, Robert Macy and Dicki  
> Macy, Stephen K. Levine and Ellen Levine, Kate Powers, Jason Cruz  
> and RAW Art Works, Natalie Rogers and Mukti Khanna, and Kathleen  
> Horne, Victoria Domenichello-Anderson and the Expressive Arts  
> Florida team.
>
> Wednesday evening, Lesley University, in conjunction with the IEATA  
> conference, will kick off its Centennial Celebration with free  
> performances by Expressive Arts community groups run by Lesley’s  
> Expressive Therapy Alumni, and with special recognition of the  
> founder of Lesley’s program, Shaun McNiff.
>
> Conference schedule
>
> See schedule at-a-glance >
> See workshop descriptions >
>
> THURSDAY, AUGUST 13
>
> The morning begins with a gathering of our IEATA community by our  
> Executive Co-Chairs and Conference Committee. Thursday’s keynote  
> speakers Robert and Dicki Macy are world-renowned for the arts-based  
> trauma interventions they have shared with communities around the  
> globe through their individual work and their work with the Center  
> for Trauma Psychology. Join them for a discussion of the ways they  
> have been able to implement expressive arts interventions for a more  
> just world.
>
> In the afternoon, participants can choose from a wide variety of  
> 1.5- and 3-hour workshops dealing with a plethora of topics on  
> harnessing the creative arts and arts therapies to facilitate  
> peacemaking, growth, change and social action. Workshop options  
> include panels, experiential programs, lectures and performances  
> that cover a broad range of modalities and methodologies.
>
> Thursday evening features a free performance by Paolo Knill and  
> Elizabeth McKim, followed by an Open Mic event. Why just talk about  
> the transformative power of making and sharing creative work, when  
> you have the opportunity to do it? The conference Open Mic will  
> provide participants with an opportunity to share and perform their  
> creative work for/with their peers.
>
> FRIDAY, AUGUST 14
>
> The morning features IEATA Committee reports and a keynote address  
> by David Gere. As Project Director of Make Art/Stop AIDS, Dr. Gere  
> has utilized the arts to mobilize academics, artists, activists and  
> citizens against the global AIDS epidemic. Beginning his work with  
> this initiative in India in 2003, Dr. Gere has used the universal  
> language of the arts to spearhead AIDS prevention and education  
> interventions around the world.
>
> In the afternoon, we will continue with workshops.
>
> Friday evening starts with an Educational Fair and Poster Session.  
> New work is being added to the body of Expressive Arts research all  
> the time. Come and check out innovative new research, writing and  
> therapeutic interventions by students and professionals in the field.
>
> An Awards Banquet and Community Dance with live music will follow  
> for an additional $25 fee. After all the conference sessions, idea  
> sharing, and art making, you’re going to need some time to relax!  
> Join your friends from the IEATA community—and make some new ones— 
> for an evening of dining, dancing and socializing at the beautiful  
> Sheraton Commander hotel, in the heart of Cambridge!
>
> SATURDAY, AUGUST 15
>
> Our conference ends with a celebration of IEATA and a closing ritual.
>
> top
>
> Post-conference workshops
>
> SATURDAY, AUGUST 15
>
> For participants wanting one last chance to connect with familiar  
> and new faces, we will offer a menu of half-day post-conference  
> workshops. Presenters will include Sally Atkins and the Appalachian  
> Expressive Arts Collective, Kyoko Ono, Anin Utigaard, Graciela  
> Bottini and Maria Gonzalez-Blue, Julia Byers, and Adriana Marchione.
>
> Registration
>
> Online registration coming soon! Check back in mid-April.
>
> Fees
>
> The conference fee includes lunches on Thursday and Friday, all  
> keynote addresses and workshops, Lesley Centennial Celebration,  
> Educational Fair, Poster Session, entertainment, morning yoga and  
> warm-ups, and opportunities to network and connect with a community  
> of like-minded and creative souls.
>
> If you are not yet an IEATA member, join now and SAVE on your  
> conference fee. (This is also a great time to renew your IEATA  
> membership and SAVE!)
>
> Register by June 30 to receive your early registration discount.
>
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