AlterTheater Partnership Expands Workshop, Internship Opportunities

Dominican's Department of English and Creative Writing has entered a partnership with the Alternative Theater Ensemble (ATE), a San Rafael-based company focused on supporting the creative growth of theater artists from historically underrepresented communities throughout the Bay Area.

Over the last two years, Dr. Amy Wong, chair of the Department of English and Creative Writing, and Dr. Vivian Wolf, assistant professor of English, have been developing the partnership to expand the department's connections to local community arts organizations.

"A partnership with AlterTheater reflects our department's curricular emphasis on plural literatures in English, which departs from a traditional curriculum to recognize the diversity of literary and artistic production in English or in translation across the globe and in local communities," says Dr. Wong,

"I think it's possible that we have one of the most exciting and progressive programs in the country. This is especially important given the diverse makeup of the student population we serve at Dominican."

AlterTheater reflects the goals of Dominican's Performing Arts and Social Change minor, notes Dr. Wolf.

"The performing arts and social change minor prepares students to express themselves confidently and courageously and to rehearse the act of taking action. AlterTheater ensemble members really thrive at leading interactive activities that build joyful communities and encourage participants to question oppressive systems," Wolf says. "This partnership between Dominican and ATE offers an opportunity for all of us to center QTBIPOC knowledge and foster creative modes of resistance."

AlterTheater enhances student learning by offering theater workshops, performances, community engagement opportunities, internships, and service-learning courses.

On September 18, in partnership with Marin Shakespeare Company, Dominican will host a performance of "Bridging Turtle Island," produced by ATE and ITMéxico. The performance, free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. in Forest Meadows Amphitheatre. The event features a staged reading series of works by playwrights who participated in ITM's artist residency in Sahuayo, Michoacan. Members of the public may register below.

Register for Bridging Turtle Island
Recently, ATE's Eric Avery and Leah Sanginiti worked with Dominican students in courses that support the Performing Arts and Social Change minor. Students in the "Shakespeare for Social Change" and "Theater for Social Change" courses, for example, learned interactive performance using techniques from Augusto Boal's Theater of the Oppressed. These accessible workshops included warm-ups, performance games and exercises, and short scenes co-created by the participants.

Last semester, ATE served as internship site for Dominican student Hunter Candrian-Velez. Students Hannah Saray, Sarah Gilchrist, and Melissa Poblano worked with Alter as part of Theater for Social Change.

"My internship with Alter allowed me to apply the research skills I had learned at Dominican to what Alter was doing for their productions," Hunter says. " Applying these skills enabled me to gain confidence and experience in my research abilities. Working with Leah and the ATE team was such a blast, as they are all so welcoming and fun to work with!"

Pictured: Dr. Vivian Wolf (left) and Dr. Amy Wong

Tags:

• School of Liberal Arts and Education
• English
• English Literature