Ignition Theatre Training and Display Workshop
New experiences — dramatic outcomes
Introduction
I want to create an environment where people with disabilities
are challenged to create cutting-edge work, where the expectations are
high and there is competition to get in the course because it is for people
who are talented and passionate about theatre.
Katrine Gabb, Teacher/Coordinator, Ignition Theatre Training
Not only was [the Fish project] an outstanding visual art project,
but the collaborative approach between agencies, the incredible social
outcomes, dramatic personal development from the participants and great
group spirit and bonding was evident.
Denise Walker and Lorel Woodhouse, Display Workshop
Opening doors to education and employment is vital to increasing the
involvement of people with a disability in the arts, but is perhaps more
easily said than done. Across all areas of vocational education and employment,
people with a disability are poorly represented.
Two examples of taking up these issues in relation to the arts sector
are courses for young people with a disability at Technical and Further
Education (TAFE) campuses — Ignition Theatre Training in Melbourne,
and Display Workshop in Broome.
Ignition Theatre Training
My mum asked me what I wanted to do and I said acting and she rang
around.
Emily Ardley, Student
Ignition Theatre Training is Australia’s first formal theatre
training course for people with intellectual disabilities. It is provided
jointly by the Drama department and the Work Education Unit at the North
Melbourne Institute of TAFE (NMIT). Together these departments give students
access to professional theatre-makers, theatre industry opportunities
and equipment of a performance industry standard, as well as specialist
support in relation to work and disability issues.
The Ignition course is taught by experienced theatre practitioners and
teachers who have a long-term, ongoing involvement in developing performance
work with people with a disability.
Ignition began in 2002 with three students. In 2003, the group grew
to eight. In order to give students individual attention, course capacity
is 13 and in 2004 all places were filled.
The course runs three days a week from 10 am to 4 pm over a period of
two years. Students study production, performance and theory. Production
subjects cover lighting, stage management, costume and set design, while
performance subjects include movement, voice, yoga and theatre-making.
Theory subjects cover Australian and international theatre in addition
to theatre and disability. These subjects are chosen from the Entertainment
Training Package but will be eventually replaced by others drawn from
the new Performing Arts Training Package which has national accreditation.
The methods used by the teachers engage multiple learning styles and
abilities, taking into account that many students do not read and some
do not use spoken language as their main form of communication. For example,
the theory subjects introduce important Australian plays by using images
and videos to create their historical and geographical contexts and by
workshopping segments of the plays themselves, while stage management
classes use role-plays to enable students to experience decision-making
in the position of stage manager.
An integral part of Ignition performance training is the creation of one
minor and one major piece of theatre per year. Students are allowed sufficient
time to explore the material, and different methods of devising dramatic
scenarios are used to encourage them to fully participate in the development
process. In their major work for 2003, The Lounge, students worked closely
with Katrine Gabb, a teacher and director, as well as a professional musician
and singer, costume designer, lighting designer and artist. Through improvisation,
they decided on material and developed dialogue which Katrine edited and
shaped to create the final piece. The students also designed the set and
costumes, wrote song lyrics and sang live as part of their performance.
Students performed three shows of The Lounge at the Mechanics Institute
Performing Arts Centre.
Staff assess the students’ work through direct observation and
demonstration. They conduct review meetings with students and their families
or support workers twice a year. On graduation, students receive an NMIT-accredited
certificate. When the subjects from the Performing Arts Training package
are in place, they will receive a nationally recognised Certificate I.
The best thing about the course has been:
- Working on The Lounge and finding my singing voice.
- Meeting people and doing Club Wild stuff.
- Meeting new friends and lighting the stage.
- Working with other students.
- Different odd jobs — we are a high-tech crew, just like
a theatre company.
Erin Pocervina, Matthew Ward, Ruth Ben Danan, Aaron Gaunt and David
Baker, Students
Ignition — access and opportunities
To be eligible for Ignition, students must be funded by a relevant government
program. Each student must also have someone who can help them to get
to and from places as required by the course.
The entry process consists of a group-based audition and individual
interviews with an Ignition staff member. Successful applicants do not
need to have reading skills or fine mobility skills but they must demonstrate
their ability to understand instructions, a capacity to work alone or
in a group and a passion for performing arts.
I’d be in a rap crew
Working in a theatre overseas
A movie star or something
James Chee, Jimmy Vouthas and Matthew Ward, Students
During the course, work placements at Club Wild and the Art of Difference
Festival link students with potential performance opportunities in the
future. One of Ignition’s first graduates has become a performer
with Rawcus, a theatre company of actors with disabilities. Another is
a volunteer assistant at Ignition. One of the aims of staff is to explore
greater integration with NMIT’s Drama department as a way of widening
students’ future options and encouraging greater understanding of
what they have to offer the world of theatre.
Display Workshop — the course
I remember watching Denise work with a student with an intellectual
disability and vision impairment … She sat with him working through
the colours, explaining how red or blue might feel to him … Another
man was working at the Cable Beach Resort as the confidential paper shredder.
Denise asked him to ask his employer if he could take the paper he had
shredded to use on the fish program. To think how important it was for
him to get the paper shredding to the next class — he could hardly
wait.
Lorel Woodhouse, Kimberley Personnel
Display Workshop is a training program in design, model-making, workshop
practice and painting. It is the result of a partnership between Kimberley
Personnel, an open employment service, and the Kimberley College of TAFE
in Broome. It was first established in 2000 to offer training to Kimberley
Personnel service users who could not meet the entry criteria for courses
at TAFE. Up to nine places are offered for Kimberley Personnel clients
and disadvantaged youth. Course fees are paid by the students or programs
which support them.
The course content is based around an accredited training program. Skills
in making papier-mâché, sawing, painting, welding, nailing,
gluing, printing, tie-dying, sewing and construction are learnt alongside
team-building and timekeeping. The course also offers students an introduction
to post-secondary learning and opportunities for socialisation and wider
community participation.
An important part of the course is designing and making work for a large
public project. The design and construction of a float, the Fish, which
won the award for the best float in the 2000 Shinju Matsuri Festival parade,
provided the course and its vision with an extremely successful beginning.
It was an amazing project to coordinate and be involved in, seeing
the students develop both socially and artistically while working within
very tight time constraints. It was truly an inspiration to watch.
Denise Walker, Art and Design Lecturer
The Shinju Matsuri Festival (Festival of the Pearl) in Broome is a ten-day
cultural festival celebration held around the August full moon. It features
a wide range of cultural activities and one of its biggest events is a
float parade through the streets of Broome. The Fish has continued to
embody the spirit of the collaboration between the employment agency and
the College of TAFE, as well as the achievements of the students. It was
on the road for four years, appearing at festivals and conferences from
Broome to Perth.
Display Workshop — opportunities and outcomes
- I think it was realy great do the welding constrution with Mr
Eddy Logan and Mr Ron. Eddy Logan and Ron help put the papper masha
and I did most of painting.
- Got to make lots of friends and we won.
Students' written feedback
Three important outcomes for the students in Display Workshop are enrolment
in further TAFE courses, participation in community activities and recognition
of skills by employers.
Some students have taken up one or more of the TAFE courses available
to Kimberley Personnel service users: general education for adults, computing,
business studies, and welding and construction. In these courses they
participate in integrated classes but are given extra individual assistance.
Some have gained the confidence to get involved in a local community activity
that meets their interest, such as surf-lifesaving, Speedway and Lionesses.
A number have found employment on the basis of their accredited skills
in areas such as car detailing, laundry, housekeeping and welding.
Alongside these broader outcomes, less quantifiable outcomes which are
specific to individual students are equally important to Kimberley Personnel
and the College.
For Lorel Woodhouse, the desire of one participant to stay with the Fish
and finish the whole two-kilometre parade, outweighing his dislike of
walking anywhere on any occasion, was as significant as the acquisition
of employable skills.
Conclusion
In different ways, Ignition Theatre Training and Display Workshop highlight
the extent to which vocational education and training is a gateway to
employment and satisfying community participation for people with a disability.
In the case of Display Workshop, the partnership between the Kimberley
College of TAFE and Kimberley Personnel means that there is a dedicated
agency to support students in finding vocational activities. In fact,
the role of Display Workshop is to develop the work-related skills and
self-confidence of the agency’s clients.
Ignition is in a different position. As it is driven from within NMIT,
post-training resources are not within the course’s ambit. In this
context, one approach to create more options for graduates is closer integration
with the general Drama course at NMIT. Such a step would encourage wider
awareness of what Ignition students bring to theatre and increase their
opportunities to practise and contribute to the artform.
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