The Jewish Arts Institute - A two-year training program for Jewish artists and Jewish arts educators June 16, 2008

Join a community of artists and Jewish professionals dedicated to advancing the evolution of Jewish arts education in this country and abroad. The Jewish Arts Institute (JAI), a series of weeklong retreats conducted over the course of two years, offers instruction in effective, integrated teaching methodologies that utilize the arts as a way to make Jewish learning more compelling, relevant and fun. Designed to give artists, teaching professionals and novice practitioners the tools to successfully integrate their art with their Jewish identities and spiritual journeys, the interdisciplinary curriculum includes music, theater, visual arts and creative writing.

JAI’s participant cohort will form a national network of leaders in the arts and arts education within the Jewish Community. A list-serve, blog and other virtual community building technologies will support participant collaboration and connection between retreats and after the institute is completed. Unlike other ECCJS institutes, participants of JAI only have to commit to one retreat at a time.

Week 3: Jewish Identity and Ensemble Theatre-Making
June 16 - 22, 2008

The third week of JAI, which is open to new participants, focuses on Jewish identity as it is lived within story. Using found and generated texts, participants will explore the theatrical vocabulary of ensemble storytelling. Movement and vocal improvisation will support the work. Sense of play, poetry of the body and spontaneity all are important elements in ensemble theatre-making. Text will be a point of departure, and then we’ll move beyond intellectual interpretation to discover what meaning may lie beneath it and how the dynamics of the group can bring forward the unexpected. Great theatre is meaningful and is made up of surprises! The workshop will be a working environment where meaning and surprises can flourish. The exploration will be challenging, fun and rooted in the community that we will build throughout the week.

Official Website: http://isabellafreedman.org/jai