Community of Embodied Practice (CoEP)
A Professional & Career Development Program
October 2021-June 2022 (9 months)-ONLINE
FACILITATORS: THERESA RONQUILLO & TIKKA SEARS
Program Overview
The last couple of years has been challenging on so many levels, and we continue to navigate the impacts of such monumental shifts. It is important to get back to ourselves. To each other. To our bodies. To our mind-body connection. To our lifelong learning. To our personal and professional relationships.
Through a cohort model, we will co-create a community of embodied and creative practice focusing on: skill building, career and portfolio development, embodied and creative learning, personal and collective wellness, joy and fun. Our commitment to working on these integrated practices simultaneously (no silos! no afterthoughts!) makes our program unique and timely. If you’re curious about this kind of individual and collective practice, sign up! No previous theater experience necessary.
The work of this cohort will advance our individual and group aspirations for personal, interpersonal, and systemic change. We will explore:
Community building, relationships, and mutual support
Sharing stories, strengths, and struggles
Learning and practicing new skills, e.g., in embodiment and applied theater approaches, facilitation and teaching, collaboration, leadership
Staying present and healthy in our current environment(s)
What it means to bring our whole selves into the change process
Joy, laughter, togetherness, and fun
Our tools will include:
Embodiment, Theatre of the Oppressed and other applied theater approaches
Writing, journaling, drawing, and other creative practices
Applications of new learning, e.g., through facilitation practice and constructive feedback loops
Small and large group conversations
Multi-level praxis (reflection + action)
Educational and facilitation resources/materials
Optional consultations with facilitators
Dates & Venue: We will meet as a whole cohort once per month for two hours on Zoom, on the first Wednesday of the month (*except for April and June 2022), 1:00pm-3:00pm EST/10:00am-12:00pm PST.
In 2021: October 6, November 3, December 1
In 2022: January 5, February 2, March 2, April 20*, May 4, June 8*
Benefits
Cohort members are invited to facilitate a portion of our Playground Spaces. These are online sessions where we can practice facilitating something--an embodied warm-up, a reflection exercise, an applied theatre activity-- and receive constructive feedback from a larger audience. We plan to hold four playground spaces during the 9-month program. Starting this Fall 2021, our playgrounds will become a fee-based program for the public; CoEP members can play for free.
Playground Dates (subject to change):
#1=Wednesday November 17, 2021
#2=Wednesday Feb 16, 2022
#3=Wednesday March 30, 2022
#4=Wednesday May 18, 2022
Time: 1:00pm-3:00pm EST/10:00am-12:00pm PST
In June 2022, we will hold a public event and celebration and engage a larger audience. Cohort members will have the opportunity to create an experience together and co-facilitate the event.
As an integral part of our program, Theresa & Tikka will be available for 1:1 consultations by request, to provide support, guidance, and feedback on your practice.
Cost & Payment Options*
*We offer three fee tiers for the 9-month program. We ask that those with more financial capacity pay as much as you are able to; this payment can support the access of others.
We offer two payment options. Please note the different costs associated with each payment option:
Payment Option 1: Direct Deposit or Checks. Please contact Theresa (theresa@embody-change) to discuss this option.
Tier 1: $1000 ($110/month)
Tier 2: $850 ($94/month)
Tier 3: $675 ($75/month)
Payment Option 2: Paypal (see payment button below)**
**please note processing fees of 2.9% + .30 cents USD added to each tier; as such, these rates are slightly higher than those listed above.
Contact theresa@embody-change.com to arrange payment installments or discuss other payment options.
Space is limited. Not ready to pay the full selected amount? A $200 deposit holds your spot.
Zoom information provided upon receipt up payment
FACILITATOR BIOS
Dr. Theresa Ronquillo (she/her) is an educator, facilitator, and consultant specializing in creative approaches to community building and multi-level change. She has many years of experience as a social worker, teacher, faculty/educational developer, and social justice theatre facilitator. In 2020, Dr. Ronquillo founded Embody Change LLC, centering applied theater and storytelling approaches in her collaborations with higher education faculty, nonprofit and community organizations, and learners from all ages and backgrounds.
Tikka Sears (she/her) is director of Theater for Change at the University of Washington and artistic director of Memory War Theater. As a theater director, performer, facilitator and teaching artist, she creates original works weaving Theatre of the Oppressed, physical theater, Indonesian puppetry, and devised and community-based performance. She uses oral history projects as a way to listen and learn, and she is dedicated to storytelling that amplifies marginalized voices. She leads workshops and residencies at conferences, nonprofits, universities, K-12 schools, arts organizations and government agencies. Tikka was a Fulbright Artist grantee in Indonesia and has received performing arts and teaching grants from the US Embassy, the American-Indonesian Exchange Foundation, Artist Trust, the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Humanities Washington, 4Culture and the National Science Foundation.
Team Bio: Theresa and Tikka have been collaborating on social justice theater projects, programming, and events for the last 13 years. In 2008-2009, they co-developed and co-taught a yearlong course exploring and amplifying stories from the Southeast Asian immigrant community in Seattle, WA. This devised theater project culminated in public performances and community conversations. In 2012, they co-founded the Interactive Theater as Pedagogy Project--later re-named “Theater for Change UW.” A program of the University of Washington Center for Teaching and Learning, TfC UW uses interactive, participatory theater approaches to spark community dialogue and action to address classroom and institutional climate issues.
Although Theresa left Seattle for Richmond, VA in 2016, Tikka and Theresa continue to collaborate and co-offer virtual workshops, guest teaching, and programs like the Community of Embodied Practice. The applied, social justice theater space we have been able to co-create has nourished our own team-building, fun, and joy. As long-time practitioners of this movement building, we are excited to “pay it forward” and nurture emerging practitioners of this important work.
Listen to our guest appearance on the Nothing Never Happens podcast to learn more about us and our work.
Tikka and Theresa at the Professional & Organizational Development (POD) Network Conference in Portland, OR (2018)