This winter, we were lucky to be supported by a fabulous Programming Intern Meg Bradley (click here to read Meg’s bio). Meg’s primary role was supporting our brand new Creative Associates program. In this Guest Post, Meg recounts her time with our CA’s to share what both they and she learned through the CA Training program.
On January 23rd A.B.L.E. launched our Creative Associate’s training program, taking 6 actors through a 6-week program to build facilitation skills. Upon completion, they will be employed by ABLE to co-teach workshops, lead professional development sessions, and help with administrative duties. I was lucky enough to be ABLE’s Program Intern in the lead up to the launch and throughout the training academy. This was my first time working with the A.B.L.E. Actors, and Colleen, Matt, Sam, Andrew, Lucas and Rachel made SURE it was a good time! Here’s what we got up to:
WEEK 1- Leadership
COVID rates meant that our first few sessions were Zoom, but we didn’t let that stop us. I was a bit nervous for this first session (my first ever ABLE rehearsal…) but WOW the Creative Associates weren't! They understood the assignment! About 10 minutes in, Lucas was asking if he could lead dance party and continued to be our time-manager telling us when we needed to move on.
All of our sessions always followed the same format:
Warm-Up
Check-In
Ensemble Games
Discussion & Targeted Activities
Reflection
Katie and I were present for every session, and different Teaching Artists from A.B.L.E. stepped in to support each week. This week, Teaching Artists led the session in order to ease the Creative Associates into the process. Leadership is at the center of being a CA, so we set the standards by talking about what behaviors are expected of leaders and how we can show these qualities.
ID: the 12 core qualities of leadership we outlined with the CA’s. Which 3 do you think are your strongest qualities. What are you working on?
This week, we also introduced an important reflection question. Usually, A.B.L.E.’s check out just asks for “Roses” (our favorite part of the session” and “thorns” (our least favorite part of the session). But the CA’s are asked to go deeper and reflect on something they did well, something they want to work on, and, most importantly, “I saw____ be a leader today when they___”. This was something we concluded with every week, and I thought it was great seeing everyone notice their peers achievements and solidifying their leadership strengths. From this session, I recognised just how supportive these actors were and the hyped energy was infectious. My favorite moment was definitely when we were playing “Yes, Lets” and Colleen suggested “Lets eat a sandwich” whilst proceeding to literally eat her lunch on camera.
WEEK 2- Representation
This week was a big discussion surrounding disability representation within the media. We discussed examples of positive representation (Jamie Brewer, an actor with Down Syndrome in American Horror Story). And also some examples of negative representation (Tom Hanks playing a character with an intellectual disability in Forrest Gump). I was proud of us all for engaging in difficult conversations about the lack of accurate representation and opportunities for actors with disabilities. I was even more proud of our CA’s for sharing their own experiences navigating this. I am very passionate about representation in this industry and have done a lot of work throughout my time at University studying and sharing works that are inclusive but I had never been in a space like this before where that passion is equally shared. We compiled a list of our favorite shows that feature people with disabilities; click the button below so you can download and watch with us:
This week, the Creative Associates led activities for the first time! Each person was assigned a different warm up activity or ensemble game every week throughout the course. It was amazing seeing all of the obvious preparation and practice people put in before this rehearsal. Sam, Lucas, Andrew and Matt all led an element of the warm-up. Whilst Colleen and Rachel led an ensemble game. This week, we implemented a feedback portion to our peers that led. Again, I loved hearing the compliments everyone handed to each other as well as constructive feedback we gave to make the leaders even better. Matt was especially good at giving feedback this week, not only in our check-out but also during his activity when he would encourage us that we were doing it well.
WEEK 3- Behavior
This was a busy rehearsal. All 10 of A.B.L.E.’s Teaching Artists joined our CA’s for a joint session on understanding behavior. We spent time recognizing WHY participants might act a certain way during rehearsal, and how we can help. We acted out potential scenarios for challenging behavior in rehearsals. One was “You notice an actor is sitting down a lot during activities. They don’t talk much and they are yawning a lot”. We shared our scenes and offered ways in which we can help this person. I was really engaged when learning about everyone’s coping skills for bad behavior. Colleen shared good ideas around talking things through and encouraging self-soothing.
In our CA led ensemble game, Rachel directed “Over There!”- I was really impressed as Rachel implemented feedback she’d heard the week before and used it to make her activity really strong. She took on the role of ‘director’ and would slate all of our performances. Not to mention Rachel brings incredible energy and enthusiasm! You can catch a glimpse in this Instagram post.
With the big group, we also got to give lots of compliments during our Check Out and reflection time. I felt really proud when hearing from the visiting TA’s that they thought the CA’s took feedback well and were very confident leaders as it affirmed to them their skills and success in taking on responsibility.
WEEK 4- Objectives
We were In-Person!!! Finally!!! I definitely had some nerves this week being the ‘new face’ in the room, but the dance-party instantly put those to bed. I was swept into doing ballroom moves with Lucas and break-dancing with Sam.
ID: ABLE’s 6 Creative Associates and 4 members of the teaching team strike wild and silly poses for the camera. They are in an open dance studio with black Marley floors and exposed brick walls. They are wearing masks that cover their noses and mouths, but you can imagine their smiles.
This was a perfect time to get back in-person as we were talking about lesson planning. We split into small groups and spent time mapping out lessons around different objectives. Matt, Lucas and I were planning a session with the aim of “Welcoming new actors.” We worked with our CA Activity Guide to find activities that emphasized skills like working together, listening, and energy.
We also got to play some great games this week! There are some games we can’t play on Zoom. Andrew led ‘Center’ this week which was a very physical game involving us following his directions like Go, Stop, Jump, Clap, Center (meaning we run to the center of the room), and Clear (meaning we run to the walls of the room). This was so much fun. Andrew would try and trick us by giving us directions quickly and the game was constant movement and laughter.
My favorite thing about this week was seeing the huge growth in confidence that all of the CA’s had when taking on even more duties. Sam volunteered to lead our introductory ensemble pact and Matt offered to stay for a bit to help pack away. We truly felt like an ensemble this week.
WEEK 5- Preparation
This week we were talking about how to prepare for rehearsals, this included: our morning routines, safety checks in the space, and checking that our materials and studio are ready to go. We also worked together to film a social story that we will use to introduce new facilitators and actors to the space at orientation week.
This week I really saw all of the leadership skills the CA’s had been working on: Matt showed Initiative leading Schedule Review; Sam was adaptable when still leading his activity through Zoom as he wasn’t physically with us; Lucas was caring when encouraging the actors in his activity giving constant praise like “Nice Job Guys…you’re looking beautiful people”; Andrew was responsible leading his own activity as well as the Ensemble Pact; Rachel was friendly and patient when pairing with Sam on Zoom and Colleen was Confident making eye contact and gestures during social story filming. It’s hard to believe this was our penultimate week - I feel like we were just getting started!
WEEK 6- Resilience
Talking about resilience felt like the perfect way to conclude our training, as it's a skill we all need to master if we want to be leaders and role models. During our check-in everyone shared that they were excited to be Creative Associates so they can be those role-models and friendly faces. One of my favorite parts of our session was sharing our “Mantras”. We shared our strengths and affirmed each other. Sam said “I am strong” to which the ensemble affirmed “Yes you are!”. Matt said “I can do hard things”, and we responded “Yes you can!”. I instantly felt boosted and supported and I would love to implement this in other aspects of my life too.
As part of the preparation for today, the CA’s also complied their “Ultimate Coping Playlist” full of songs that speak to them at different points/moods in their lives. You can listen to the series here (they are AWESOME!) and you can also click here to download a template to make your own playlist.
A big part of this final session was sharing our ‘ABLE Stories’ that we started writing in week 2! Each Creative Associate wrote a speech sharing their journey at ABLE and why they love performing. Colleen chose ME to drop her in and this was the first time I had ever done this! I really felt like part of the ensemble and I was so proud of the confidence, charisma (and sass) that we saw shine through the performances.
We finished this week with a small award ceremony, in which the CA’s received a certificate, a name badge to wear to their shifts, a tote bag to carry their materials to shifts, a feedback form of their progress and….. a ‘special recognition’ title that I came up with for each of them:
Andrew
The CEO of Communication always ensuring everyone understands and is feeling positive
Colleen
The Independent Warm-Up Queen
for introducing different warm up activities and trying new things
Lucas
ABLE Cheer Captain
for constantly lifting up his peers and giving positive encouragement
Matthew
The Mayor of Responsibility
for being the only CA to lead 3 extra elements of rehearsal and consistently helping to pack up.
Rachel
The Dynamo Director
For leading giving stellar directions and clear cues leading “Over There”
Sam
The Lion King
for being the only CA to lead “Lemon/Lion” and encouraging us all to be more expressive.
ID: ABLE’s 6 Creative Associates pose infront of a black curtain. They are striking dramatic poses with their hands up in the air, showing off their Certificates of Completion for their training course
One of my favorite moments from these 6 weeks was in our final week, playing ‘On the Spot’ with Lucas as the leader. We all had to become different elements of a scene. The energy was THE BEST. Everyone thought of imaginative things. At ‘The Park’ Sam became a slide, I became a person falling off the slide and Colleen then became the person who pushed me off the slide! We were all using each other's ideas to create our own, building an image from scratch. I felt that this perfectly encompassed the whole training process.
I am really excited to continue following all of ABLE’s work once I return home to the UK and I especially can not wait to see what the Creative Associate’s get up to next! It seems very fitting that they are starting their employment at ABLE during March- which is National Disability Employment Awareness Month and I feel so fortunate that I was a part of this experience.
Good Luck CA’s and Thank You ABLE!
- Meg x
Thank you Meg for all of your support during your 8-week stint with us! We appreciate your curiosity, focus, new ideas, and stellar dance moves. Best wishes as you move back across the pond!!!
The pilot year of the Creative Associates program was funded by a grant from the Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development. Thank you for helping us develop this unique training and employment opportunity.
