Day One

Sunday, January 3, 2010

My flight was delayed by an hour so I missed the opening reception. Fortunately we had been assigned a noisy corner of a bar/lounge area so we retreated to a conference room for introductions, at which point I joined the group. The activity occurring upon my arrival involved random paring with a group member whom you did not know and getting to know them in a short amount of time. Thereafter, we went around the group and everyone introduced their partner. A typical Ed Theatre ice breaker, this activity allowed us to begin to learn each others’ names and, more importantly, appreciate the diversity of experience that we have all brought to the group.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Taylor spoke about the long history of study abroad programs in the Educational Theatre, focusing specifically on our work here in San Juan, inaugurated in 2005 and continuing every year since, excepting 2008 when the program was retired for an experience in Pueblo, Mexico. Dr. Taylor recognized our returning faculty and particularly acknowledged the contributions of Dr. Rosa Luisa Marquez of the University of Puerto Rico who has been with the program since its inception.

Dr. Marquez briefly spoke to us about the importance of the group participants taking advantage of the culture and rhythms that we find here on our program, as they are truly different from what we would normally encounter back in New York. These sentiments were then echoed both by faculty members Jessica Gaspar* and Javier Cardona** who have also been with the program since 2005. They pointed to the unique connection that we will make with the community here and among our own group and encouraged us to be exploit that as best we can.

I am particularly moved by this notion of paying special attention to the rhythm of the people as it speaks one of my guiding questions—How can the facilitator negotiate language and cultural barriers when working with new populations? From working with Dr. Taylor and Dr. Cecily O’Neill, I am very familiar with the necessity to pay close attention to the people you are working with as they hold all answers to guide you through the drama process, and this rhythm of the people seems to align well with that. I’ve been here twice before, so I have some idea of what they may be alluding to, but I will allow this to guide my observations in the coming weeks, eyes wide open, taking it all in.

Quotes from the evening worth highlighting include:

Pay attention to the rhythm of the people; enjoy the people. – Javier Cardona

Be in it to win it; be fully involved; be fully present. – Dr. Taylor



*Jessica Gaspar has written a study of Dr. Marquez’ work titled, “The Other Puerto Rican Theatre”. Further information is available here.


**Javier Cardona will present a performance of his experiences growing up in Puerto Rico at the NYU Forum on Citizenship and Applied Theatre, April 23-25, 2009. Further information is available here.