Vilma Saloj and Chelsea Hackett Leading Vocal Exercises

Vilma explains the best posture for voice.

Vilma Saloj and Chelsea Hackett Leading Vocal Exercises

The group begins to roll down the spine.

Vilma Saloj and Chelsea Hackett Leading A Shake Out

Vilma Saloj and Chelsea Hackett Leading Vocal Exercises

The group yawns to one side to open the back of the throat.

Chelsea Hackett Introduces the Concept of Frozen Images

Large Group Image

The group created an image of an ideal future for girls.

Small Group Image

This group showed a future where women are supporting each other.

Small Group Image

This group showed an image of the ideal classroom. "Collaborative, student-centered, engaging"

Small Group Image

This group showed an image where women were "supported on all levels."

Small Group Image

This group chose to keep their image silent and made a simple gesture of supporting each others hands.

One of the challenges and joys of working in Applied Theatre comes in sharing the work with those who do not initially understand or appreciate it's value. In fulfillment of the "Arts Dialogue" requirement of my application for candidacy, and in order to further expand the work that Dr. Osnes, Starfish and I have conducted in Guatemala, my partners and I presented at the NGO CSW Parallel Event in March 2016.

According to their website, "the Commission on the Status of Women is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women" - UN Women

The CSW holds an annual forum gathering leaders from around the world to discuss the state of global affairs as they pertain to women. According to their site, "nearly 4,000 NGO representatives participate in the UN Commission on the Status of Women each year. It is the largest annual gathering of the international women’s movement at the UN—a time for renewal of collective purpose and action."

While this event is happening within the UN, NGO's from around the globe hold a series of "parallel events," aimed to provide spaces for representatives who have traveled to the conference to present their work. According to the NGO CSW Forum Guide: "The NGO CSW 60 Forum is a place for women activists to gather to speak and learn from each other and to advocate" (NGO CSW Handbook, p.6)

This year, Dr. Beth Osnes, Vilma Saloj (a partner from Starfish), and I submitted to present at the CSW NGO side conference. We were selected. Dr. Osnes could not attend due to inclement weather that shut down the Denver International Airport. Despite this setback, Vilma Saloj and I presented a 1.5 hour workshop to a series of CSW NGO attendees. Above, you will find images of that workshop, as well as our promotional flyer and a post-survey we distributed. Below, you will find my outline of our session, as well as Dr. Amy Cordileone's feedback after watching the presentation.