ASYV Project

Project Overview

International-based devised theatre initiative/project in Rwanda Africa with Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village and the In[HEIR]itance Project as part of an artistic delegation from the United States.

Our final project was titled 'AHAZAZA: Looking to the Future'.

A new devised project in development. The In[HEIR]itance Project will be working with students and staff at ASYV to create a brand new piece of theater that will focus on exploring the ways collective creativity has the power to build relationships and community. The focus of the workshops will be utilizing art for equity, confidence, and healing mirroring the values of ASYV and inviting the students to determine what those words mean to them.

This process will also support skill building for participants in public speaking, storytelling, and confidence in communicating in English.

Co-Director(s) & Devisers: Brittney S. Harris & Ariel Warmflash (In[HEIR]itance Project)

About ASYV

Each year, the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) provides over 500 orphaned and vulnerable Rwandan youth with the secondary school education, medical and mental health services, extracurricular activities, and loving family environment they need to heal from past traumas, access higher education and employment opportunities, and build a brighter future for themselves and their communities.

“Agahozo Shalom” which means (in Kinyarwanda & Hebrew) “a peaceful place where tears are dried.”

Project Approach & Statement

Project Approach(es):

Mirroring the values of ASYV by focusing on how art can be utilized for equity, confidence, and healing and will help participants hone their public speaking and storytelling skills and build confidence communicating in English.

Adopting The Inheritance Theater project's pedological approach for community engagement by identifying the people, place, and cultural touchstone (s), we intended to create a devised theater piece to build relationships across many societal divides.

The content of AHAZAZA was determined by three interconnected elements, in this case; the place (ASYV), the people who call it home (the students and staff), and a cultural touchstone (a sacred story, a song, etc.) that resonates with the community. Three main aspects (people, place, and a cultural touchstone) inspire conversations, writing workshops, and open rehearsals, culminating in an original theater piece that is collaboratively created with and performed by the community. This participatory process is co-created by local artists, empowering a national network of talented individuals working at the intersection of art, activism and community engagement.

Program Overview

Week 1: Introductions, Skill Building, Creative Sharing

Week 2: Generating Content, Shaping Material

Week 3: Clarifying Material, Rehearsal, Performance & Close Out

Outcome Measures

Over our three weeks living and working at ASYV we were privileged enough to create new relationships that offered facilitators and participants alike the opportunity to see things from a different perspective and reminded us that the act of being human is the most unifying experience of all. The collaboration between ASYV and In[HEIR]itance will be evaluated throughout the process through qualitative interviews with participants and leadership from both institutions as well as through quantitative surveys with participants and community members at ASYV to assess impact.

Check out ASYV x IHP | Student Impact video below!

About the Work

Intent

Tools: Group Tableaux

Tools: Sheet Work

We wanted to be sure to offer the students tools and techniques that supported their self expression, and catered to each as an individual with their own skills and talents.

Tools: Sheet Work

Tools: Group Tableaux

Tools: Sheet Work

We introduced ‘Sheet Work’ , a technique that originated from Brittney's research with personal narratives and objects that utilizes a simple white sheet. Sheet work is a transformation tool to support creative expression through the use of props, fluid motion, and endowment. Prior to our exploration with this tool, we invited the students to reflect on what they hold close to them: an item, a memory, a story, etc. One by one, each took to the center of the space to explore using the sheet as a guide to “flow” and express their recollection with words, movements, and imagination.

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Tools: Group Tableaux

The individual images they created with the sheet, coupled with the 'group tableaux' they created to convey UNITY, SUPPORT, and ROLE MODEL, absolutely blew us away. We spent the rest of the week implementing that tool, and beginning to divide them into the groups they will be a part of for our final sharing. We utilized a “graffiti wall,” a tool that asked students to brainstorm together without speaking, but rather by responding to written prompts on papers on the wall. Each paper was filled with thoughtful and creative responses to the questions and both the students and staff were delighted with this new tool that they could use in other areas of the village.

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02/2023 - 06/2023

AHAZAZA: AGAHOZO-SHALOM YOUTH VILLAGE INTERNATIONAL PROJECT

Project Overview

Project Approach & Statement

Impact Video

About the Work

Intent

Tools: Group Tableaux

Tools: Sheet Work

Tools: Sheet Work

Tools: Group Tableaux

Tools: Sheet Work

Tools: Group Tableaux

Tools: Group Tableaux

Tools: Group Tableaux

Image Gallery