Project Funded by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 10/00 – 9/05(US4/CCU319009-01)
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NuWorld Art Ensemble
Violence Prevention Theatre Project
The NuWorld Art Ensemble Violence Prevention Theatre Project began it's operation through the Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition, Inc. (HEBCAC). HEBCAC is a non-profit, community based organization composed of community members, city and state agencies, institutions and business. It is an umbrella organization dedicated to facilitating cooperation and communication, brokering services and advocating for change to promote physical and human development for all of its citizens.
In 1996, HEBCAC's Domestic Violence Prevention Initiative developed the idea of a summer youth theatre group as a creative mechanism for heightening awareness/providing education to the community about issues related to domestic/family violence. We partnered with the Baltimore Youthworks Program and recruited twenty (20) teens, ages 14-21, who was seeking summer jobs. We also hired two professional artists to direct the project. The teens spent eight (8) weeks participating in an intensive artistic/self development process that included instruction in acting techniques, psychodrama, meditation, sound therapy, spirituals, Native American chants and African songs. They also learned about issues related to violence and were taught conflict resolution skills, ways to control impulses, problem solving skills and anger management strategies. With this new knowledge, drawing from their own personal experience and a gifted staff, the teens were able to break through their "emotional armor" and create an original production that was performed for the community. The project was a great success and we have been able to repeat it for the past three summers, each time with additional participants and a new production.
The goal of the program is to reduce youth violence in East Baltimore through increased awareness, education, and outreach for at risk teens. The program includes employment opportunities and an employment readiness component. It provides education on violence and related topics while developing skills through participation in development of a theater production. At the end of the project, three performances are given; last summer 2000 persons attended.
We have targeted our recruitment to young people who reside within the HEBCAC boundaries, which is inclusive of Hopkins Middle East and most of Clifton Berea/Madison East End and Greenmount East. Because of the unique opportunity that this summer project has offered, we have been flexible in accepting interested young people who may reside outside our designated boundaries.
NuWorld is a unique theatre initiative that is community based and provides an innovative project dealing with issues that youth face. It is the only such project in Baltimore City that deals with these issues through dramatization. The Summer Theatre project provides youth with: · a meaningful work experience in a supervised setting · the tools to be leaders, not victims, · the means to participate in improving the quality of their own lives · a means to participate in reducing the fear in the community and · the knowledge to become a resource in preventing violence and crime.
By the end of the program, the youth will have developed theatre skills, learned songs in different languages as well as African dance, and understand the importance of traditional ceremonies. They will have also learned coping skills, how to work as part of an ensemble, how to work creatively with peers, self-discipline, team building skills and anger management/conflict resolution techniques. Further, their communication skills will be enhanced.
Kay Lawal - Muhammad
Laugh Therapist, Actress, DirectorWombWork Productions
http://www.wombwork.com
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