Who Wants to Perform (with me and 499 Others)?

26 Sep Who Wants to Perform (with me and 499 Others)?

September 24, 2012

Today I’m going to do some more promotion for Performing the World 2012 (PTW 2012)—because I’m so excited about it!

The opening reception on Thursday evening October 4 will be a community welcome to New York—featuring food prepared by dozens of New York City friends; greetings by myself and Gabrielle Kurlander, the president and CEO of the All Stars Project, and some dignitaries; registration; some improv fun; and a meet-up of participants and their hundred or so housing hosts.

From Thursday through Sunday, October 5-7, there will be over 100 concurrent sessions (panel presentations, workshops, demonstrations and performances) and three plenary sessions.

The first plenary is “The Therapeutic Power of Performance.” I’ll be moderating a conversation on the “performance turn” in therapy and the “therapeutic turn” in performance. I’ve gathered some of the most creative and successful therapists and performance activists that I know who work in the US and internationally—Hector Aristizábal, Lenora Fulani, Artin Göncü, Lin Ching Hsia, Christine LaCerva, and Charles Rojzman—to explore personally and professionally how performance can create emotional development.

In the second plenary, “What Are We Performing and How Do We Know That?” Dan Friedman, artistic director of the Castillo Theater, and Richard Schechner, University Professor of Performance Studies at New York University, will share their histories and understandings of Performance Activism and Performance Studies. They’ll be joined by an international group of distinguished discussants—Marcelo Bratke, Chang Januprakal Chandruang, David Diamond, Kevin Moore and Helen White—in addressing the interface between these two performance approaches.

The final plenary is a favorite of mine and others from previous PTWs. It’s where we all get to “perform PTW.” Professional improvisors assist those participants who volunteer to get up on the stage and improvisationally share their impressions, thoughts and reactions to Performing the World 2012.

You can read about the conference sessions and the amazing presenters, view the full program ,and register at performingtheworld.org.

“Can performance save the world?” Join the conversation!