"the market" -- workshop #1

workshop #1 for "the market" from Ethan Philbrick on Vimeo.

here's a short movie of some of the fun we had during our first workshop for "the market".

83 juniors at clark montessori built movement pieces and talked about issues in cincinnati. the students supported each other, challenged each other, and began some deep questioning about their roles and places in cincinnati. get excited for march 13th at findlay market!

Here We Go!

Our work creating performances for Findlay Market has begun!

Here's a note reflecting on the first workshop from Kira Neel, the out-of-this-world theater artist who is working with the students at Clark to create these performances:

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"We just completed our first workshop of "the market" project with the entire Junior class at Clark Montessori High School! I'm so excited. And full of ever-more respect for full time teachers and high school students. We played games with each other, got people working with people they don't usually work with, made images with our bodies of ideas and issues, and had tons of fun. One of my favorite parts of our first workshop was the moment where we all stand in a circle and share questions, any questions at all, with each other about the project. How do you get to Findlay Market? What if I'm the only one performing and really into and everyone else is acting lame and they don't do anything and then I look really lame? Can we dance? Is there going to be food there? What are we going to do? Are you going to come? What are you going to perform about? Are you nervous? What do I want to say? How will I make my performance interesting? What do I want to communicate to people in Cincinnati? Is anybody going to come?

To answer the last one . . . yeah!. . . who would want to miss this? 83 high school students taking over one of the dopest markets in Cincinnati with their original public art pieces? What do you have to do on a Saturday, on ANY day, that's more important than being a part of that?"
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What about you? If you had a chance to express something to a whole bunch of Cincinnatians from all over the city, what would you want to express?

Share your ideas as a comment!

An Introductory Video for Clark Montessori Participants

Here's a short video that serves as an introduction to "the market" for junior English students at Clark Montessori. It features thoughts and advice from local writer, playwright, cultural critical, and public intellectual Kathy Y. Wilson, an overview of what we'll be doing over the next three weeks, some pieces of performance to think about, and a sneak peak at Kira Neel, the international theater artist who will be facilitating our work.

the market--an introduction for participating students at Clark Montessori from Ethan Philbrick on Vimeo.

If the video is having trouble playing, try pausing it and letting it load completely before you watch...

the market, an introduction

the market is the first stage of project cincinnatUS. In this project, cincinnati's historic findlay market will be transformed into a space for interaction and conversation through a collaboration between international theater artists and cincinnati public school students.

kira neel, a performer and facilitator who works with youth around the world to document the effects of globalization and the happenings of an increasingly connected world, will be working with 83 students at clark montessori high school from february 23rd to march 13th. the students will be creating original pieces of socially engaged performance that will address a wide range of issues in cincinnati. the project will culminate in a day of street performance at findlay market on MARCH 13th beginning at NOON!

follow this blog for updates as the project progresses!