Rainbow of Desire: Confronting Concepts of Us Vs. Them
Facilitated by David Diamond (Theatre for Living), presented by ImagiNation Miscellany
Workshop description:
In this four-day workshop, participants will be introduced to the Rainbow of Desire, and the philosophies behind Theatre for Living. After 2 days of warm ups, group building work, and Image Theatre, the Rainbow of Desire explores our own internal voices that complicate our relationships with other people and stop us from achieving our goals. This series of transformative techniques allows us to see how we contain many different desires and fears at any one time. The exercise is not a psychoanalysis of an individual, but rather an exploration of a metaphor that reflects the group consciousness as the particular relationship offered becomes a symbol for the entire workshop group to investigate blockages around a certain issue. By learning to identify these internal voices, we begin the process of understanding ourselves and each other. We learn how to navigate multi-layered moments in complex relationships. Both ‘sides’ of a conflict are honoured in order to get beyond symptoms (the fact that a conflict is occurring) and into root causes.
The following are encouraged to attend:
- Artists, of any discipline, who do work and/or have an interest in community-engaged arts;
- Facilitators, educators, human service workers, activists interested in exploring complex social issues through theatre; and/or
- Anyone who is interested in using theatre as a part of their everyday vocabulary
Dates:
Thurs, November 16, 5:00-9:00pm
Fri, November 17, 5:00-9:00pm
Sat, November 18, 9:00am-5:00pm
Sun, November 19, 9:00am-5:00pm
Where: Workshop West Playwrights’ Theatre, Main Hall, 11516-103 St NW, Edmonton, AB
Fees: $185 for 4-day workshop (with TIX fees), includes drinks and light snacks. Bring your own lunch.
Register by November 14 at: https://www.tixonthesquare.ca/performances/4538 Payments can be made in person, over phone, or online. Note: $2 web order fee will be waived for in person payments. 30 participants max.
For more info: email imaginationmiscellany@gmail.com or call 780-807-0494 / 780-504-0597
Refund Policy: Cancellations before: Nov. 5, 2017 (full refunds); Nov. 5, 2017 or after (no refunds).
Theatre for Living
Founded in 1981, Vancouver’s Theatre for Living (formerly Headlines Theatre) uses THEATRE FOR LIVING to help living communities tell their stories. THEATRE FOR LIVING has evolved from Augusto Boal’s “Theatre of the Oppressed”. Since 1989 Theatre for Living work has slowly moved away from the binary language and model of “oppressor/oppressed” and now approaches community-based cultural work from a systems-based perspective; understanding that a community is a complexly integrated, living organism. Theatre for Living’s work is a worldwide leading example of theatre for social change; theatre for dialogue creation and conflict resolution; theatre for community healing and empowerment. Projects have taken place in collaboration with First Nations and multicultural communities through hundreds of theatre workshops, Power Plays and Forum Theatre events around the world on issues such as violence and suicide prevention, anti-racism workshops, youth empowerment, homelessness and mental health, othering, bullying and community development.
Theatre for Living invites communities to engage in constructive social change, moving from various forms of violence to respectful engagement.
David Diamond is a 1975 BFA Theatre graduate of the University of Alberta. He was a founding member of Vancouver’s Headlines Theatre (1981) and has been Artistic Director since 1984. In 2013 the theatre company took on a “new” name and started calling itself Theatre for Living.
David has directed over 550 community-specific projects on issues such as racism, civic engagement, violence, addiction, street youth, intergenerational conflict and homelessness. He has worked throughout Canada, the USA and Europe, as well as in Namibia, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Rwanda, Palestine, India and Singapore, and has pioneered the development of live, interactive Forum television and web casting.
This workshop is sponsored by Theatre Alberta with funding from The Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and Christie Lites Sales, as part of the ‘Workshops by Request: Hometown Series.’
