Workshop Descriptions

Join us for a work-in-progress showing of an excerpt from Haunted. Share your feedback and tell your ghost stories. Move, dance and explore "What possess you?" in this participatory open studio session. This event is part of Dance is the Answer.

Please call (301) 779-6383 or send Laura and Stephen an email for more information.

Portals/The Open Door Project
For all ages & levels

Portals/The Open Door Project is a series of community events in which Schandelmeier & Clapp facilitate a creative process based on their 3rd evening-length work, Portals. Participants gather in the studio/theater to experience a performance (or excerpts) of Portals which examines the transformative process of evolution, rites of passage, crossing thresholds and looking back. Participants become a part of the work by offering feedback, sharing stories, and participating in arts-based experiences in a supportive, safe and creative environment.
Open Door events are designed to be a supportive, safe and creative environment for artists and non-artists, students, teachers, administrators, parents, teens and individuals at any and all levels of creative practice. Please call (301) 779-6383 or send Laura and Stephen an email for more information.

Taking Chances Making Dances:
Strategies for Emergent Literacy Through Stories and Movement
A Professional Development Workshops for Teachers facilitated by Laura Schandelmeier.

How can you jump like a rabbit? Can you "jump" with your hands? How can you use your body to jump on a low level? In this interactive workshop, participants will investigate the answers to these questions and learn strategies to tell a story through Interactive Movement Experiences - experiences that explore one or more open-ended physical problems. Through dance, participants will create experiences that connect to emergent literacy skills and explore the use of Descriptive Language Strategy. Includes handout. Goal: Participants will explore movement-based strategies that aid in the development of emergent literacy skills in the early childhood classroom..

Laura Schandelmeier is a Master Teaching Artist with The Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts. For more information, please call Laura at (301) 779-6383, send us an email or visit the Wolf Trap Institute Website.

Transitions to Middle School
For 6th grade students transitioning from Elementary to Middle School

There are a number of transitions in life, each representing a "rite of passage." One transition that does not often get the attention it deserves is the one from elementary to middle school. This transition tends to destabilize many students, requiring them to re-establish a sense of their identity. In smoothing the transition from elementary to middle school, parents and educators need to provide youth with inspiration, imagination, joy, optimism, humor, love, support, firmness, safety, clear values, and—perhaps most important—respect. The purpose of this workshop series, which was created as part of Portals/The Open Door Project, is to offer arts-based experiences such as movement problems, theater explorations, story circles, visual art expression and writing through which youth participants may explore the issues around transitioning from elementary to middle school. Goals for this workshop include: learning how to identify responses to transition and learning how to communicate ideas through arts-based strategies that boost self-esteem, encourage empathy, foster collaboration and stimulate the imagination.

The Dragons Project: Dragons In Our Midst
For all ages and levels

Through movement and theatre techniques, small group discussion and problem solving, creative dialogue and consensus, this workshop explores responses to the questions: Who are the dragons in contemporary culture, and how do they affect our individual experiences? How do dragons manifest within ourselves, reflecting oppressive power structures and contributing to an overall culture of war? This 90-minute workshop offers participants an opportunity for deep personal inquiry and creative dialogue among peers as well as movement-based experiences and art-making strategies that can be applied to education, political activism, and healthy living. Workshop activities aim to foster an acute awareness of power and its role within communities. The goal is to uncover an alternative model based on partnership, justice, creativity and the rejection of oppressive social structures. This workshop is appropriate for persons of all abilities and age groups and requires no prior movement or theatre experience. Comfortable clothing is recommended and participants may be asked to take off their shoes.

Fieldwork for Mixed Discipline
For artists of any discipline
A partnership with Dance Place, The Field/DC and Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Fieldwork supports the development of new work. At each workshop session, artists show works-in-progress and exchange feedback with their peers in a format designed by artists. Facilitated by Laura Schandelmeier and Stephen Clapp, the Fieldwork structure reveals how each work is perceived by the other participants and provides detailed information that helps artists to hone their creative vision. Rather than instructing, Fieldwork supports the vision and authorship of each artist.
For more information about Fieldwork, please call Laura Schandelmeier and Stephen Clapp at (301) 779-6383.

For more information about The Field, please contact us or visit www.thefield.org.

Home Artist Notes Dance Projects Workshops Artist Bios Press Videos Music Links Holly Rae's Art Contact Us Laura Schandelmeier Stephen Clapp 3311 Rhode Island Ave #305 Mount Rainer, MD 20712 (301) 779-6383 www.dancenow.org
	Laura Schandelmeier & Stephen Clapp Workshop Descriptions Please note that all residency activities will be tailored to the specific communities being served.
	Haunted/The Open Door Project A series of open studios, workshop sessions and excerpt performances of Haunted. Tuesday, April 1, 2008 @ 6:30pm-8:30pm at Joe's Movement Emporium. An Open Studio community event in which Laura Schandelmeier & Stephen Clapp, in partnership with Leah and Chloe Smith of Rising Appalachia and Kofi Dennis, will facilitate a creative process based on Schandelmeier & Clapp's latest evening-length work, Haunted. Participants will gather in the studio/theater to experience a work-in-progress showing of Haunted and become a part of the process by offering feedback, sharing stories, and participating in arts-based experiences. Open Door events are designed to be a supportive, safe and creative environment for artists and non-artists, students, teachers, administrators, parents and individuals at any and all levels of creative practice. Please call (301) 779-6383 or send Laura and Stephen an email for more information. This Open Door event is made possible, in part with funding from Meet The Composer’s MetLife Creative Connections Program. Sunday, April 20, 2008 @ 1:00pm-5:00pm in the MRAL Community Room. An Open Door community event in which Laura Schandelmeier & Stephen Clapp in partnership with Valerie Theberge and Shahin Shikhaliyev will host a set construction workshop for Haunted, Laura & Stephen's 4th evening-length performance work. For this Open Door event, Valerie will lead community participants in painting a 29' x 23' Ouija board that will be the dance floor and performance set for Haunted. Both Schandelmeier & Therberge are grant recipients of the 2006 Creative Communities Initiative. This Open Door event welcomes artists and non-artists, students, teachers, administrators, parents, teens and individuals at any and all levels of creative practice. Please call (301) 779-6383 or send Laura and Stephen an email for more information. Tuesday, April 29, 2008 @ 6:30pm-8:30pm at Joe's Movement Emporium. Join us for a work-in-progress showing of an excerpt from Haunted. Share your feedback and tell your ghost stories. Move, dance and explore "What possess you?" in this participatory open studio session. This event is part of Dance is the Answer. Please call (301) 779-6383 or send Laura and Stephen an email for more information. Portals/The Open Door Project For all ages & levels Portals/The Open Door Project is a series of community events in which Schandelmeier & Clapp facilitate a creative process based on their 3rd evening-length work, Portals. Participants gather in the studio/theater to experience a performance (or excerpts) of Portals* which examines the transformative process of evolution, rites of passage, crossing thresholds and looking back. Participants become a part of the work by offering feedback, sharing stories, and participating in arts-based experiences in a supportive, safe and creative environment. Open Door events are designed to be a supportive, safe and creative environment for artists and non-artists, students, teachers, administrators, parents, teens and individuals at any and all levels of creative practice. Please call (301) 779-6383 or send Laura and Stephen an email for more information. Taking Chances Making Dances: Strategies for Emergent Literacy Through Stories and Movement A Professional Development Workshops for Teachers facilitated by Laura Schandelmeier. How can you jump like a rabbit? Can you "jump" with your hands? How can you use your body to jump on a low level? In this interactive workshop, participants will investigate the answers to these questions and learn strategies to tell a story through Interactive Movement Experiences - experiences that explore one or more open-ended physical problems. Through dance, participants will create experiences that connect to emergent literacy skills and explore the use of Descriptive Language Strategy. Includes handout. Goal: Participants will explore movement-based strategies that aid in the development of emergent literacy skills in the early childhood classroom.. Laura Schandelmeier is a Master Teaching Artist with The Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts. For more information, please call Laura at (301) 779-6383, send us an email or visit the Wolf Trap Institute Website. Transitions to Middle School For 6th grade students transitioning from Elementary to Middle School There are a number of transitions in life, each representing a "rite of passage." One transition that does not often get the attention it deserves is the one from elementary to middle school. This transition tends to destabilize many students, requiring them to re-establish a sense of their identity. In smoothing the transition from elementary to middle school, parents and educators need to provide youth with inspiration, imagination, joy, optimism, humor, love, support, firmness, safety, clear values, and—perhaps most important—respect. The purpose of this workshop series, which was created as part of Portals/The Open Door Project, is to offer arts-based experiences such as movement problems, theater explorations, story circles, visual art expression and writing through which youth participants may explore the issues around transitioning from elementary to middle school. Goals for this workshop include: learning how to identify responses to transition and learning how to communicate ideas through arts-based strategies that boost self-esteem, encourage empathy, foster collaboration and stimulate the imagination. The Dragons Project: Dragons In Our Midst For all ages and levels Through movement and theatre techniques, small group discussion and problem solving, creative dialogue and consensus, this workshop explores responses to the questions: Who are the dragons in contemporary culture, and how do they affect our individual experiences? How do dragons manifest within ourselves, reflecting oppressive power structures and contributing to an overall culture of war? This 90-minute workshop offers participants an opportunity for deep personal inquiry and creative dialogue among peers as well as movement-based experiences and art-making strategies that can be applied to education, political activism, and healthy living. Workshop activities aim to foster an acute awareness of power and its role within communities. The goal is to uncover an alternative model based on partnership, justice, creativity and the rejection of oppressive social structures. This workshop is appropriate for persons of all abilities and age groups and requires no prior movement or theatre experience. Comfortable clothing is recommended and participants may be asked to take off their shoes. Fieldwork for Mixed Discipline For artists of any discipline A partnership with Dance Place, The Field/DC and Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Fieldwork supports the development of new work. At each workshop session, artists show works-in-progress and exchange feedback with their peers in a format designed by artists. Facilitated by Laura Schandelmeier and Stephen Clapp, the Fieldwork structure reveals how each work is perceived by the other participants and provides detailed information that helps artists to hone their creative vision. Rather than instructing, Fieldwork supports the vision and authorship of each artist. For more information about Fieldwork, please call Laura Schandelmeier and Stephen Clapp at (301) 779-6383. For more information about The Field, please contact us or visit www.thefield.org.
	For information about upcoming performances, workshops or for booking information, please Contact Us. Laura Schandelmeier & Stephen Clapp 3311 Rhode Island Avenue #305 Mount Rainier, MD 20712 (301) 779-6383
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Laura Schandelmeier & Stephen Clapp