Workshop: "Ya Dig?" - Theater Art
(Directly Inspired by a play she is creating)
We are an accumulation of many identities, experiences, and stories. The act of expressing our personal stories in a safe communal space is a human need and human right that we all deserve. By expressing ourselves we create an ownership and agency within our own experiences, which allows us to process and decide who we are. Historically, outside powers have decided who African Americans are and what our cultures look and sound like. The purpose of “Ya Dig?“ is to use theatre creation to explore and empower ourselves as complex layered human beings. Too often African Americans and young people of color are drowned in stereotypes and surface representations ourselves. These stereotypes suffocate and dehumanize who are. We are rarely allowed to take space and be complex humans. During the workshop, theatre games and tableau exercises will be used to explore the art of communicating a story.
Sisi has been writing/performing poetry and acting for about 10 years. As a spoken word artist she has performed her original spoken word at open mics in D.C. and at the University of Maryland, Forum Theatre, and as an Artist In Residence for The Social Innovation Festival. While studying abroad in London in 2013, she competed in an open mic competition and won the audience favorite vote. Then going on to perform as a featured performer for another event. She earned her B.A. in theatre Performance from the University of Maryland. As an actor, she has performed in several University of Maryland’s mainstage productions, at the National Portrait Gallery as Gwendolyn Brooks, at the Kennedy Center, and with Wild Women Theatre, as well as the Discovery Theatre. This summer Sisi teaches at an arts camp where she co-teaches two, 4 week performance poetry classes and teaches two, 4 week theatre classes as the lead teacher.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5AQ4CBhxYg