Canvas E-Newsletter Summer 2019 - Creative Connections

Dear Friends,

In our last Canvas, I shared details of the first part of Community Connecting Heritage Program (CCH), a US State Department-funded exchange Creative Connections facilitated between performing arts students at the Mandala Theatre in Kathmandu, Nepal and their counterparts at the Regional Center for the Arts (RCA) in Trumbull, CT.

The grant project challenged the participants to use the power of the arts to engage in cultural heritage preservation. Once the students conducted and recorded oral histories of their family members, they shared them with their international peers through a virtual exchange of art, videoconferencing, and the creation of videotaped performance pieces.

…In February, the real excitement began as some of the Americans travelled from the US to Nepal for a 2-week working visit (detailed in the March Canvas).

…In late March, five Nepali students and leaders came to the USA.

Arrival at JFK 3/31/19

While the Nepali students stayed with host families each evening, their days featured introductions to “American” culture(s) with visits that first week to:

The Keeler Tavern in Ridgefield, CT (Colonial US culture)
Mashantucket Pequot Museum in Ledyard, CT (Native American culture)
Yale’s Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, New Haven, CT (scientific approach to preservation)
Rene Soto Gallery, Norwalk, CT (Hispanic culture)
And finally, NYC, for a full day of sightseeing

Yale’s Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage

Most afternoons, the Mandala students worked with the 13 RCA students to prepare for their joint cultural performance and the workshops they would deliver in local schools.

The Nepalis and Americans came to Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norwalk at the end of the week to introduce their culture and artistry to friends of Creative Connections.

They performed songs and dances, watched a documentary film (by Abbie Steckler) entitled, “Look Back, Look Forward,” of their time together in Nepal (see below), shared ideas and fielded questions in a panel discussion, and demonstrated “playback theatre” for the audience based on their oral histories.

Look Back, Look Forward (click above to view)

During the second week, the Mandala/RCA student team visited local middle and high schools to perform their original play and give workshops on the importance of valuing and preserving cultural heritage. CCH participants worked with the local students to produce and share aspects of their own oral histories through music, dance, theatre, and video performances. The group visited CT schools:

Cesar Batalla School, Bridgeport, CT
Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT
Center for Global Studies, Norwalk, CT
Central High School, Bridgeport, CT

At Cesar Batalla School

Finally, the Nepali and American students presented their theatre production at RCA-wide and community performances.

And then it was time to say goodbye before boarding their Cathay Pacific plane for the 25 hour flight back to Kathmandu.

This was an incredible experience for all of the student participants, their leaders, and for Creative Connections. For the students, the vast majority of whom had never traveled out of Nepal, nor even been on airplane, the global perspective they gained was empowering and life-changing. For Creative Connections, the opportunity to facilitate a comprehensive virtual and in-person travel exchange was a dream-come-true. We gained many new insights into elements of meaningful student exchange that we are eager to use in our current art, performance, and videoconference programming.

And we all discovered anew the power of the arts to impact the lives of the young people we work with here and abroad.

We couldn’t have done it without our donors, and all those who volunteered their time and expertise. Thank you!

Please join us for our latest art exhibition and our Latin Dance Night VIP Experience (see below).

All the best,