Sigfrido Aguilar

The project includes a variety of activities:

1) A General MEETING for all partners

Ljubljana and Koper, Slovenia
June 29 – July 13, 2009

The General Meeting involved 3 separate sets of activities:

A) CONFERENCE

The mentors from the six partner countries offered conferences and workshops for local teachers and related professionals.

The basic purpose of the conference was to demonstrate the wide variety of methods at our disposal and the value of theater for educational purposes.

Chang Janaprakal Chandruang (Thailand)
Children Need Models rather than Critics

Sigfrido Aguilar (Mexico)
Pantomime Theater as an Interdisciplinary Form

Argyro Skista (Greece
The Role of Theatre Activities in the Classroom

Adam Bethlenfalvy (Hungary)
Theatre in Education and Child Development

B) YOUTH EXCHANGE:

Three youth (14- 17 years old) from each partner country attended the general meeting with their mentors and took part in a variety of activities:

Workshops lead by the participating mentors.

Seven Day Workshop led by the Kompania Theater Studio, from Budapest, Hungary, focused on physical theater while addressing current issues which effect each individual country’s youth as well as the group as a whole. The workshop concluded with a interactive performance involving all the General Meeting’s participants – students and mentors.

Cultural Activities, fieldtrips included sightseeing within Slovenia, visiting waterfalls, alpine lakes, monumental caves, traditional coastal salt production and medieval Venetian seaports.

C) PEDAGOGIC THEATER WORKSHOPS

The Workshop Pedagogic Theater
consisted of five independent one-day-long workshops
in Koper, July 6th – 11, 2009.

They dealt with different aspects of teaching theater and being taught by theater. Among the techniques presented were methods of movement theater, traditional ethnic theater, tradition ethnic dance and music, as well as an introduction to DIE (Drama in Education) methods,

All the above methods share common goals.

They do not focus on a final performance but strive to enable the young to be a part of a creative process of personal growth, to gain experience on an intellectual as well as emotional level, develop creativity, learn to solve problems and take into consideration the way other people think, to gain self-confidence, practice verbal skills and detailed listening and to encourage positive social interaction.

Each workshop lasted one day and were led by internationally recognized mentors of pedagogic theater and theater for children and young adults.

The various methods enhance academic programs Focused on the humanities as well as sciences, ensuring the personal interest and involvement of the student with the subject matter.

Photos of Sigfrido’s workshop in Koper.

Harrison Muleya - Zambia

Harrison Muleya is a Music teacher at Rhodes Park School. Their theater club is a part of Zambian center ASSITEJ (Association of International Theatres for Children and Youth). The club organizes workshops for children and mentors of children's theatre groups; they also participate in numerous international festivals of children's theater at home and abroad.

Chang Janaprakal Chandruang, Thailand

Chang Janaprakal Chandruang is an actor, theater and film director, playwright and founder of the Moradokmai Troupe: The Society for Dramatic Arts and Development. He graduated from the University of Montana, USA. He taught theater at the University of Chulalongkorn for 20 years. During his career he has dealt with the classics of world drama, integrating traditional Thai cultural elements with more modern themes.

Argyro Skista - Greece

Argyri Skitsa is a teacher of Greek and Music. Since 2000 she has worked as a youth pedagogue in the area of intercultural acceptance with the help of theater methods. She is the CEO of an art and education organization for children and youngsters "Sxedia stin poli" ("Raft in town"). By means of theater methods and art related activities for children, their goal is to raise awareness in the local community regarding human rights, racism, equal opportunities, and intercultural dialogue.

Veronika Gaber Korbar - Slovenia

Veronika Gaber Korbar is a childcare worker/teacher at the Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Ljubljana and has been incorporating theater activities for educational purposes for several years.

Veronika was one of the founders, as well as president of the Section of Culture at the Association of Deaf and Hard of Hearing until 2003, when she founded the Taka Tuka Club She has participated in various festivals in Slovenia and abroad. The Taka Tuka Club has been co-operating with the Hungarian group Kava for several years. Together they strive to establish the method Drama in Education (DIE) within Slovenia.

Sigfrido Aguilar - Mexico

Sigfrido Aguilar is a Mime-Clown, Creator and Director. Sigfrido founded the Estudio Bùsqueda de Pantomima-Teatro in Guanajuato, Mexico in 1972. The Estudio has since established itself as a center of contemporary pantomime, clowning and Movement Theater, as well as an international non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of popular theater arts.

2) STUDY VISITS:

In 2009, two mentors from each of the involved countries will participate in a study visit in another partner country.

The purpose of the study visit is for the mentors to become acquainted with the work of another organization: their creative process, organizational structure, method of interacting with youth and their networking with related institutions. Visiting mentors also be prepared to participate, offering workshops for the children and youth of the hosting country.

The first Study Visit took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia in May 2009.

Four mentors of The Estudio Bùsqueda de Pantomima-Teatro from Guanajuato, Mexico conducted workshops for the Taka Tuka students,
the students of the ZGNL --The Ljubljana School for the Deaf and the members of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Clubs Association of Slovenia ZDGNS in Nova Gorica.

They also observed the teaching methods of the TAKA TUKA mentors.

Impressions of their Experience

Our experience
with the Taka Tuka Club
was extremely rewarding.
Communication,
while not simple,
was an intricate and interesting process:
Sigfrido started with translating his physical vocabulary
into his native Spanish.
Then he translated Spanish to English.
The interpreter translated from English to Slovene
while simultaneously translating into sign language.
The students then,
on receiving their instructions,
completed the cycle by translating signed directions
back into the broader gestures of physical theater.

In many cases, the gestures of sign language
resembled those of the mime.
It is as if the mime simple takes the simple "sign"
and expands on the same idea,
developing its narrative quality into a story.

The students were extremely capable of developing
the complicated sequences of Sigfrido
and enjoying themselves in the process.
They were obviously accustomed
to working as a group,
accepting their differences
and converting them into strengths.

In the evenings we take long walks in Tivoli Park
near our apartment
the air full of spring flowers
the snow covered Alps
in the distance
amazed by the adventures
that find their way
to us.

We would be honored to continue working with them in the future.