2003
New Strategies

An intra-district exchange was designed for Hopkins, the most-wired [yet sadly underutilized] school district in the state. A training tape was shot and shown to all participants. Subsequently, two elementary schools participated in 3 interactive sessions in order to devise a collaborative choreography. Children in the two schools had never met. They came together for the first time at a post-exchange performance for friends and family, where their interactive choreography was performed in one space on a stage.

WEB design
Design interns from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design joined the staff for the fall and the first few months of 2003. They guided staff in the redesign of the TPL website to accommodate a streamlined history of the project and an extensive “how-to” component, part of the “Tool Kit” envisaged at the outset of the project; a guide for the field.

Critique
22 Senior Dance Majors at GCIT/Southern New Jersey Academy for Performing Arts presented final choreographic compositions for Mary Harding, coach from the Perpich Center for Arts Education. After critique, the pieces were performed again for the coach. Each piece was presented for the public accompanied by a video commentary edited by each student. Seven interactive sessions in all were held prior to performance. One final session critiqued performance and brought the exchange to a close. This project had built on similar exchanges among peers and coaches in 2002.

Master Coaches
Risa Steinberg and Gus Solomons, Jr. coached interactive sessions from New York City for Springboard pre-professional dancers [Ballet Arts Minnesota] as demonstrations for new partners on the East Coast. Observers included the Manhattan Theatre Club, dance Theatre Workshop, National Dance Intitue, and the Juilliard Dance Initiative.

Hawkins Technique
Gloria McLean, a Hawkins coach, worked interactively for the first time and created a spontaneous interactive dance with dancers from the University of Minnesota, Springboard DANCE and the Perpich Center. The occasion was the AAPHERD Conference held annually, this year in Philadelphia. The demonstration aimed to develop new partnerships; over 75 educators from across America attended.

Drama
An innovative interactive Drama Exchange called “Building A Character” was conducted. Participants were 19 Sophomore and Junior Drama Majors at the Southern New Jersey Academy and 19 International Baccalaureate students [including Freshmen] from Southwest High School, Minneapolis. Students first chose a character name, then designed an icon that metaphorically represented a character. An interactive session was held that featured improvisation across space and introduced the characters to partners across the country. Then, students exchanged letters on the TPL Bulletin Board with a partner across the country. The exchanges were refined by improvisation in subsequent interactive sessions, resulting eventually in a written script that was played out interactively across space. The entire process can be tracked on the TPL website.

Puppetry
Interactive training sessions for educators continue under the direction of the Perpich Center.