For the 2018-2019 season and academic year, I had the immense privilege of serving on a team of teaching artists on The Public Theater/Hunts Point Children’s Shakespeare Ensemble production of The Tempest. We spent the year delving into the text, working on comprehension and analysis, as well as voice, dance, and acting skills. Over the course of the year, I focused on building strong relationships with my students and getting to know them as people first, which led to a more enjoyable and effortless collaboration as well as a more successful performance.

I will never forget watching one of the fifth grade ensemble members who, at the very beginning of our process would not read out loud in front of her peers, stand on the stage of the Newman Theater, where the world first saw A Chorus Line, Fun Home, and Hamilton, and give the entire audience the pre-show announcement in English and Spanish. She was shaking like a leaf backstage beforehand, but when she walked offstage she was standing tall, confident and unafraid.

Collaborators