Performing Arts Educator
LIGHTS UP ON THEATER, MUSIC, AND DANCE
WHAT ARE THE ROLES AND PURPOSES of the performing arts on your school campus? How can your best practices in the rehearsal studio and on stage be strategically developed in service of those roles and purposes? Stemming from the 2024 Institute in Arts Education, this five-day residential program is designed to examine these questions in a practical, lab-style structure. Looking at performing arts programs in a wide range of scopes and scales — from single-person departments to those encompassing multiple programs and disciplines — participants will leave campus with a mission statement and a template for monthly maps serving individual programs. Institute facilitators will also conduct ongoing connection points for participants throughout the upcoming school year.
Monday
Settling In and Setting Goals
Register, get set up in your dorm room, tour campus, and meet the cohort to discuss goals and challenges within your programs. Then head to a cocktail hour and gourmet dinner at Pomfret's dining hall.
Tuesday
Energizing and Brainstorming
Start the day with Performing Arts exercises to spark creativity, followed by a brainstorm session focused on two identified areas of growth.
Wednesday
Sharing Missions and Maps
Partner with other cohorts for a “Share and Tell” of mission statements and monthly maps, fostering cross-cohort collaboration.
Thursday
Creating and Presenting
Dedicate the morning to individual and small group work, then present your mission statements and monthly maps in the afternoon.
Friday
Time for Reflection
Revisit your goals, reflect on the week, and prepare to carry your insights into the upcoming school year.
Meet Your Facilitator
Elizabeth Patterson
Dr. Patterson is the Theatre Program Director at Severn School outside Annapolis, Maryland and Artistic Director for the Upper School’s theatre production company. Prior to coming to Severn, she held the same position at Northfield Mount Hermon School in western Massachusetts, and taught Theatre Studies at Elon University and University of Colorado at Boulder. She holds a Ph.D. in Theatre Studies and an MFA in Theatre for Youth from CU Boulder and Arizona State University respectively. She has published articles in Youth Theatre Journal and guest edited an issue of Contemporary Theatre Review, and was a guest on the theatre education podcast THEDTalks last summer. She is a past Board Member of American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE) and PortFringe: Maine’s Fringe Festival.