Dear LUTSF 27th
February 2007
Re: Assistance
of the artistic director of Festland e.V., Steffen Tast, for the theatre
production Romeo and Juliet in July
2006 (Klein Leppin/Germany)
Enclosed you can find my
report of my work with Festland e.V. in July 2006. I’m very sorry for the delay
of my response. As I already mentioned in my email I have not received any
letters or emails, which I can partly explain with my moving house. I know that
this still does not excuse sending my report so late. I have been looking at my
diary and the only excuse I can offer is a very traumatic time in October; I
spent that month … and my professional life was effectively derailed for some
time. I do apologise for the extreme lateness of this report and I hope you
find it up to your expected standard.
The work with Festland e.V.
has given me great experience in leading a group of young people to a
performance of high artistic standard. It was very helpful for my future work
to witness the work of someone as experienced as Steffen Tast and I feel now
much more confident to lead a group by myself. It also opened up the
possibility for me to work in the community sector alongside my work with
professionals. This will enrich my work as a choreographer and workshop leader
and will also give me further future employment possibilities. Since the
project in July 2006 I have been leading several community dance projects in
The highlights of the
project were, against any expectations, not the performances at the end, but
the small moments experienced during the working process. It was beautiful to
see how the young people benefited from the creative work, how they could find
strengths they never thought of and how these people from deprived backgrounds
gained in confidence and social skills.
I can highly recommended to
all artists to work abroad, gain new experiences from other cultures and
working contexts. It broadens the artistic view and challenges opinions about
the own work and creative approach. For future awardees assisting someone’s
work I would suggest to keep an open attitude to all the different work
including the process and to try to take on as much responsibility as the work
allows.
The Lisa Ullmann Travelling
Scholarship Fund offers a great opportunity every artist should try to take
advantage of to explore and develop his artistic work.
Report:
Description of my work with Festland e.V. in July
2006
Festland e.V. is an
organisation founded in 2001 by Christina Tast, which works with socially
disadvantaged young people. Tast, an event manager for cultural activities,
organises regular events in Klein Leppin, a small village in
Over the years Festland e.V.
has developed into a professional organisation, providing contemporary dance
experiences for even greater numbers of mixed-age group people. As a result of
their successful work they now receive funding from private and public
institutions and their collaborative working relationship to the Berlin Radio
Symphony Orchestra is since 2005 officially part of the orchestra’s educational
program.
In July 2006 I was invited
to assist the artistic director Steffen Tast for their new project, a theatre
production of Romeo and Juliet, which
also included different dance scenes. This project was in collaboration with
the secondary school, Gesamtschule Gloewen and the Radio Symphony Orchestra
In July 2006 I was assisting
Steffen Tast in leading a workshop for forty pupils age fourteen at the
Gesamtschule Gloewen. This workshop was about introducing contemporary dance
and specific classical music pieces by Ravel, Gluck and Bernstein chosen for
this theatre production, and creating different dance scenes for the Romeo and Juliet performance to this
music. Apart from the creative demand to make dance scenes for forty children
there was also a pedagogic challenge. This secondary school is the school for
the children from the different villages in the area. In the school are many
socially disadvantaged pupils with difficult family backgrounds due to the
economic problems of this part of Eastern Germany since the German Reunion
(October 1990). The percentage of unemployment and alcohol addiction is high
amongst adults and many pupils are not getting the necessary attention from
their parents.
Experiences
Leading this workshop
together with Steffen Tast gave me a great insight into all the aspects of
working creatively with young people. It was a fantastic opportunity to witness
someone who is as experienced as Steffen Tast and to learn so much by working
together with him. Steffen Tast lead both the music and dance workshops; my
role was to assist throughout, leading some sessions, and specifically to make
my choreographic skills and dance knowledge available to the group. This
developed my musical understanding and how to incorporate it into my creative
dance classes. But mainly I gained knowledge on the pedagogic skills when
working with young people. After every workshop day we evaluate the day and
exchanged our ideas and observations. These daily evaluation sessions helped me
to become more sensitive to different pedagogic aspects of the work and made me
more confident for future dance projects with young people. Here are a few
examples:
I was very impressed with
how all the children worked, with their sustained levels of concentration, and
their involvement in the creative process. I was particularly struck by the
great commitment given to the rehearsal work by children with otherwise poor
attention in everyday schooling and by those regarded as ‘difficult pupils’
with (often quite severe) behavioural problems. I realised that this workshop
gave them the opportunity to show different strengths and gave the academically
weaker pupils the chance to shine and succeed in the creative and physical
tasks.
The pupils also got to know
each other better and the teamwork provided valuable bonding experiences and
generally strengthened the group feeling of the class. A high degree of
physical contact, for example used in lifts, developed mutual trust and
feelings of responsibility for each other. Even at the age of fourteen, girls
and boys were working together with a strong focus on the work. In other
activities, concerned with more conventionally academic subjects, they would
become disrupted by adolescent insecurities or disruptive behaviour, whilst during
the more physically directed workshop, there was only a pervading and attentive
engagement. Throughout the workshop, as well as the development of their
physical skills and coordination, the children’s ability to remain focussed on
one task improved.
At the beginning of the
workshop session we set specific behavioural rules such as respect for one
another, focus and pushing oneself to an unknown territory. By repeating these
instructions, we created a system of rules, which guided the children. Trying
something new can cause a feeling of insecurity and therefore can lead to
disruptive behaviour. To avoid this it is important that an atmosphere is
created where everyone feels safe and free to step into the unknown field. I
have learnt that a structure with rules for the whole group can help to give
this security and support.
For the creative work it was
important to split the class of 40 pupils into groups of 10-15. The attention
is higher in smaller groups and quieter children find it easier to contribute
to the working process. Also it was necessary to have alternative activities
prepared for those who were unable to concentrate for the five hours session.
Sometimes socially disadvantaged children, who have not had a continuous and
constant education, can find it very difficult to concentrate over a longer
period. Their attention level can sometimes only last for one hour and then
they start looking for another stimulus. In the same time as it is frustrating
for them this behaviour can be disruptive for the other children and the class
work. Therefore it is important to have an alternative activity available,
which these children can do whilst the rest of the group can carry on working
without disruption. To make sure that doing the alternative activity is not a
form of punishment it is important that it is related to the workshop activity,
for example making props or costumes so that the children still feel included
in the overall working process.
I realised during this work
just how important it is to communicate well with the other teachers, and
learning assistants in general. I found at the Gesamtschule Gloewen that the
teachers needed to be clear about our way of working, our creative and teaching
aims and especially their role in the working process. In this workshop their
role was more about observing and supporting smaller groups in their
independent work and did not have a disciplinary function within the class. We
wanted to use our advantage - that we did not know the children - and could
meet them very openly and without any preconceptions. Also we did not want to
make any compromises in the way of how we would lead the class. This could give
the pupils the chance to act differently and try out new roles within the
working process. Meetings before the workshop and an evaluation afterwards were
necessary for the teachers to prepare the pupils and integrate the workshop
into a longer learning process. I realised that both the visiting dance artist
and the teacher, have to acknowledge each other’s expertise and it should be
clear who is responsible for what within the creative process. 
Conclusion
I am very happy that I had
the chance to work on this project with Festland e.V. and that I gained more
experiences of working with young people. I’m feeling very honoured to have
been given the chance to assist Steffen Tast and to learn from his experiences
of leading a group of young people and developing their creative skills. This
makes me feel more confident to take on future educational work and I want to
run more projects with young people besides my work with professional dancers.
Steffen Tast and Festland
e.V. have been very happy with my work. They have already invited me to take
part in their 2007 project in July, this time as the autonomous leader for the
dance workshops.
I found it very rewarding to
witness the social and emotional affect the workshop and performance had on the
children. Their self-esteem grew, their social skills developed and it was
beautiful how they enjoyed and appreciated the creative work. At the end of the
workshop week one boy came up to me and told me that this week had been the
best one at school for him. He found a new friend and for the first time at
school he felt like somebody believed in him. How rewarding creative dance with
young people can be!
