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Shadow Theatre
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A highly interactive, 90 minute workshop, this program will assist educators in applying the beautiful and ancient art of shadow theatre as part of the teaching of language arts, history-social science, or science. Participants will work as small, collaborative teams and will rotate through a number of work stations using table-top shadow stages and simple shadow puppets constructed out of accessible materials. At each station, participants will explore short performance vignettes based on familiar literature and themes connected with the regular curriculum. Some of the pieces will also allow exploration of the art form for the sheer beauty of expression and the dramatic potential inherent in it. The emphasis will be on practical classroom application of the art form and on becoming familiar with using light and shadow as an accessible and doable, yet highly effective and dramatic, performance medium in the classroom. Though we will not have time to make shadow puppets for participants immediate use, the workshop materials will provide samples and patterns for many of the puppets presented. It is recommended that the participants plan on having a follow-up workshop during which they can work collaboratively to construct their own table-top stages and at least one set of shadow puppets The workshop is designed for:
MaryEllen O'Malley is the K-12 Arts Curriculum Coordinator at the San Diego County Office of Education. She has many years of classroom teaching experience as regular elementary teacher, as elementary and middle school drama specialist, and as resident artist-puppeteer while working with grants from the California Arts Council, grades K-8. MaryEllen has spent three summers studying in Bali, Indonesia under the auspices of the Center for World Music. She has studied shadow puppetry, mask dance, language and culture. Her work as professional puppeteer in the community and as classroom teacher have inspired her to find ways of blending traditional art forms with practical classroom situations so that children will have access to these powerful modalities of expression. This workshop is part of the Center for World Music "World Music in the Schools" program.
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