Summer Dawn Reyes: APLI 2021 Welcome Event
Photo Caption: The view from Summer’s desk - a Zoom meeting, a Soundtrack of your Life worksheet, and wooden spoons.
Artist: Liz Climo
At the top of our welcome orientation, APLI Manager Samantha Clarke shares a cartoon by artist Liz Climo. A bunny looks on as a bear draws smiley faces on a cheerfully decorated globe. When asked what he's doing, the bear simply says, "Just trying to make the world a little nicer."
It's an adorable mission statement, but one that resonates deeper and longer the more you explore what a "nicer world" really means.
For the 28 educators and teaching artists part of this year's Arts Professional Learning Institute, it's a mission we take seriously -- and that apparently requires lots of caffeine and crying.
We start our Saturday morning by introducing ourselves. The diverse group includes newbies like myself (I'm a first-year theater teaching artist with Young Audiences) as well as seasoned educators with decades of experience. We are all teachers who are also artists and artists who are also teachers. We are spread out all over New Jersey and Pennsylvania, teaching in suburbia and big cities. Our disciplines range from modern dance to modern clown.
We share "class superlatives," from Most Likely to Be Starting Side Convos in the Chat (me) to Biggest Family (one fellow artist said we'd likely see appearances from their seven kids!). Many of us confess the most superlative things about us are our abilities to drink copious amounts of coffee and tend to our fur babies. And while I am admittedly most excited to meet the crazy critters popping in and out of their owners' Zoom backgrounds, I am pretty psyched to meet their delightful humans, too. Little did I know, we'd be getting to know each other pretty well, and pretty fast.
The highlight of the day was a workshop by percussionist Josh Robinson, who got his start as an angry kid taking out his aggression on pots, pans, and buckets in his basement. (Fortunately his motto is "Beat drums, not people," as his T-shirt proudly declares.)
Teaching Artist Josh Robinson leads a workshop on connection and empathy.
Getting sent to the principal's office too many times and dealing with the slow passing of his grandfather gave Josh plenty of angst to take out on his drums.
What started as a critical outlet for Josh blossomed into a greater passion, and today he works with at-risk youth and grieving children going through similar experiences. He led us in an exercise he often shares with his mentees. With drumsticks, wooden spoons and whatever we could get our hands on, we drummed together -- even while apart. We drummed out everything negative -- we exhaled anxiety, we rejected self-doubt, and we released our stress. We let go of loved ones.
I didn't think I would find myself beating a pillow with spoons on Saturday morning, much less crying in front of 30 folx I more or less just met. But we were all feeling it. I looked at some of the tiny faces on my screen and knew I was not alone.
Photo caption: Summer participates in Josh Robinson’s activity by drumming with wooden spoons into a pillow.
And then Josh had us drum in positive emotions. This unique application of rhythm was enrapturing. Now I found myself beating my pillow with a renewed vigor, eager to beat in prosperity, energy, and love into my 2021. I looked up at the tiny faces, and again, I was not alone.
We spent the rest of the time in complete community. We were all invited to share a song from the Soundtracks of our Lives. We shared a story about why our song was special, and Josh would play it for us. In our diverse cohort, the songs ranged from “Tea for Two” and Mozart to Jimmy Buffett and Johnny Cash. We also had many Hispanic/Latinx folx sharing everything from Tito Puente to La Charanga 76. (I myself shared "No Me Queda Más" by Selena, my go-to karaoke joint.)
The rest of the afternoon was spent going over shop talk and creating community agreements, and while we weren't exactly compelled to dance or cry or shout as we were sharing songs with each other, we definitely still felt united. We certainly were not alone, and we certainly had made at least each other's worlds a little nicer -- and we are only just beginning.
Participants for the Arts Professional Learning Institute smile during the Welcome Event and Orientation held on January 9, 2021.
About the 2021 Voice of APLI: Summer Dawn Reyes
Photo credit: Acid Test Photo
Summer Dawn Reyes is a playwright, director, production manager, teaching artist and actor. Her work has been highlighted in numerous festivals including the Downtown Urban Theater Festival, the New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival, FringeNYC and more. She is also the founder and director of Thinking In Full Color, an organization that empowers women of color through education and the arts. TIFC has received two commendations from the New Jersey State Assembly and the inaugural Jersey City Arts Council's Performing Arts Award. Summer is also the co-founder of 68 Productions and the winner of the Permanent Career Award in Literature from the Society of Arts and Letters-NJ and the N.J. Governor's Award in Arts Education. Summer loves karaoke, rubber duckies and crosswords. She's also a big fan of modern dance and genetics. She is married to a very tall Greg and the proud stepmom of a slightly smaller one. For more information, visit ThinkingInFullColor.com or follow her @thinkinginfullcolor
Summer will be sharing her experiences throughout the APLI program year.
The Arts Professional Learning Institute is a co-sponsored project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA. It is generously supported by the Grunin Foundation and Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
