Orlando Adventure: ATHE 2019

It’s that season; theatre professionals, performers, researchers, and artists from around the world gather at the Association of Theatre in Higher Education annual conference. This year’s conference, themed Scene Changes, was held in Orlando, and we discussed not only shifts from one set to another during shows but the changing scenery of our political landscape, especially as it related to the setting of Orlando after the Pulse shooting and Florida more broadly after Parkland, Trayvon, and the ongoing violence occurring regularly in the U.S and elsewhere.

We don’t claim to have answers; instead, we call hope the hill that we’ll make a stand upon. Through insisting upon continuing to gather, collaborate, and create, we fight to reconnect our fractured communities and begin setting what has been broken.

I met with the editorial staff of PARtake: the journal of Performance as Research, pictured below, to plan upcoming issues on anti-racist practices and accessible pedagogy, and gathered with LGBTQ+ arts educators from around the nation (also below) to discuss the potential of radical queer pedagogy for promoting socially engaged and community-based arts. I also met with the other faculty and assistants of Theatrical Intimacy Education to exchange new discoveries and ideas around supporting students and performers at all levels in staging intimacy safely.

The world around us may feel dire, but the exchange and momentum of the ideas and passions within this space served as a reminder that we are not isolated; others around us are striving to create, to inspire, and to enact healing upon our communities.

And when all else fails, Merlot the Macaw was there to add a blast of color to our days.