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Cross-Cultural Dialogue through the Arts, develops and creates collaborations betweeen disparate communities. Conceived and directed by Judith Sloan, Cross-Cultural Dialogue Through the Arts (CCDTA) is a training and mentorship program for high school students to work under the direction of professional artists. The program offers a unique hands-on opportunity for graduate and undergraduate college students to work in teams as mentors and performance collaborators with new immigrant teenagers through a multi-media arts and theatre project at the International High School at LaGuardia Community College in Queens. Students from 50 different countries, speaking almost as many languages and dialects, populate the international high school. A sister project to Crossing the BLVD, (CCDTA) is currently avialable to all New York City area college students to participate as interns. In additional to classroom visits with individual teachers, Sloan has developed a focused weekly workshop, Transforming Trauma into Art providing theatre, writing and music training for teenagers from war-zones or who have been displaced due to economic or natural disastgers. The dialogue and writing classes culminate in EarSay's public performances in the spring. College students receive training in theatre, writing, oral history, community organizing, interviewing techniques, performance and documentary art. High School students benefit from the mentorship process. This unique collaboration across cultures also gives immigrant teenagers exposure to a world of higher education which is often closed to them. Theatre exercises in improvisation, characterization, humor, storytelling, and conflict resolution are used to develop monologues and scenes. All participants form creative teams to produce and document the final performances and public dialogues. The workshops take place in a theatre at La Guardia Community College in Queens. For young people interested in performing and multi-media arts as well as human rights and community organizing. The spring 2009 semester is being led by Judith Sloan and hip hop musician and producer Chenits Pettigrew (CHEN LO) and drummer and percussionist Ken White. Cross-Cultural Dialogue Through the Arts is a partnership between EarSay, the International High School at LaGuardia Community College, and the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center. The project currently receives partial funding from the New York State Council on the Arts. For the first 9 years, CCDTA has been funded by the Independence Community Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, the Center for Arts Education, the Laura B. Vogel Foundation, Citibank, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. THE PROJECT IS FACING SEVERE FUNDING SHORTAGE FOR THE SPRING AND FALL 2009. IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT THE PROJECT, ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE AND WILL GO TO FURTHER THE ARTISTIC EDUCATION OF FUTURE GENERATIONS! Contact: info@earsay.org GO TO EARSAY WEBSITE FOR ALL EVENTS AND PROJECTS www.earsay.org
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Booking Contact: info@earsay.org
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Booking Contact: info@earsay.org
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