To trade goods or services without the exchange of money.
A tagline to a newspaper article caught my eye: “Uninsured Can Exchange Talents for Care.” Lincoln Hospital, in The Bronx, is offering artists in that borough of NYC a chance to get health care; they get credits for each hour worked that can be used towards a variety of medical treatments & prescriptions. Their program, Lincoln Arts Exchange, is modeled after the Artist Access program at Brooklyn’s Woodhull Medical Center.
Bartering is nothing new. It is used in markets across the world, trading goods. Services may have taken a back seat, but the idea works for me. I have no “goods” to barter, but I do have a “service,” and that is my art, whether it’s a performance (Storytelling or Interactive Theater), workshop, or Editing/Copy writing service. With money tight, if I can exchange some of my time and energy to get something I need…bartering is a great idea.
When I ran my theater company (The Brothers Grinn: 1994-2006), I rarely paid for rehearsal space (until the need for an abundance of NYC members of the company). I bartered with a few places (Two churches and a couple of other locations), offering them either free group performances or solo workshops for weekly rehearsal space. This was a huge savings for a company that was young and toured an average of 120 performances a year. We had no “home” space to perform/work out of but the spaces I found worked for us on many levels; the money I saved that way was put into many things the company needed (costumes; sound equipment; insurance; etc).
What Creative Service Do You Have To Barter?
Health Care, rehearsal space, food…what can you add to the list? I’ve only just started a very small section of what could be possible if more would open their minds to the idea: Artists have something to offer.
I had the misfortune of meeting a very ugly woman. Outwardly, she was dressed very well. She was put together. Some of you, if you looked at her, would’ve found this woman in her early 30s to be physically attractive. The ugliness came from inside.
I was at the courthouse parking lot in White Plains, which also serves as the parking lot for the White Plains Library. It waiting our turn to pay for the meter, somehow some conversation started at wound up about what was going on in New York City Wall Street occupation. I know that I mentioned, more under my breath than anything else, that 100 of the protesters had been arrested instead of giving up the space in the Park.
Her next comment: ” I know. Those lazy bastards need to get a job.”
Are you stunned?
My comment: ” Are you kidding me!? I am out of work. I can’t find a job. You… get me a job? Huh? I need a job?” And she just walked away from me as fast as her pointy expensive shoes could take her.
The haves and the have nots.
I had just had a discussion with some one the previous night (someone whose opinion and knowledge I respect and admire: NOTE – all facts that I am going to present are from this person. She presented this information while I was discussing my feeling feelings and opinions; so, I am supporting what she presented to me in total accord) about the occupation of Wall Street and in other areas of our country. It is costing the municipalities a tremendous amount of money for a protest that, while semi-peaceful, has absolutely no purpose other than to say ” I don’t like what you’re doing.” There is absolutely no clear concise agenda or, in my mind, anything that deals with solving the problem. Any problem.
I have railed here often about that fact; if you going to complain, come up with some solutions and do something about it. Playing the complain complain complain game is a total waste of time and it completely diffuses and obfuscates the real problems. Case in point: the Bank of America withdrawal of personal accounts when they decided they just wanted to make more money off of the common person. An action was decided on, it was enacted, and Bank of America backed off.
I believe in protest, but I believe in problem solving more.
I do not believe in violence and nonsensical rhetoric. It gets us nowhere.
Why do I feel that this is part of the creativity series?
It is time all of us to find creative solutions to the problems that we face is very un-united United States. If you think that this country is not a laughing stock to the rest of the world, imo, you are sadly mistaken.
What we are doing right now is not working. Doing the same old again and again and again is putting this into a spiral that goes far beyond the financial crisis of the world. I am not sure I have the intelligence or the finesse to offer any problem solving myself. I do feel that we do need extreme critical and creative team work to take care of the problems that we face.
As a certified Drama teacher in New York State (yes, there IS certification for it!) and as a Teaching Artist, I have used Storytelling in my classrooms for years. It’s part of my creative make-up, and it is part of the performing arts.It has been an extremely effective educational tool, as it has so many levels to reach, engage, and enables good things in students. Storytelling is not just the teacher reading a picture book to the students and then getting some responses from them. It IS part of it, but, again, it’s so much more.
I have seen so much growth over the years in my students, whether I saw them over a long period of time or just once. You can see that moment when they get it, when it really clicks for them. It’s personal growth, life lessons, as well as the educational, assessment driven part of the process.
I’ve used storytelling in my process dramas, in Storytelling Clubs, Festivals in schools, presentations at student conferences, creative writing, and more.
Below are only a few links about Arts In Education. Please take a look and support all Arts-in-Ed.
Not a very good one, I can tell you with absolute true authority. I might break something while attempting to dance, but, well, that goes back to my second blog post for this Ultimate Blog Challenge thingy (“What kind of klutz am I?”).
I am, though, a pretty good Performance Storyteller. I know how to engage an audience, I find the lighter moments when I can, the laughter through characterization and “special” moments, and I normally work the stage area. I don’t like standing still at a mic to tell. I don’t really enjoy Telling from reading a book (librarian/early elementary school style), but I can do it when I have to.
I was part of a group of 26 or 27 storytellers who told the entirety of “Journey To The West”, the ancient tale of the Monkey King’s trials and tribulations as he ventured to find the Buddha and enlightenment. 100 chapters, split among four books, and we had two and a half days to tell the story to our audience. I had been given the task of having to read, and edit in performance, 4 chapters, close to 100 pages, that had a LOT going on. Oh..not sure if I told you, but I only had a half hour to cram and spew it all out. 100 pages. Action packed. Yeah. Right.
(Aside: Did I mention that I’m often irreverent? No? Pity. My friend, Sam, who came to my performance on Saturday, asked me: “Can’t you ever tell a story straight?” My answer: “Why should I? ANYONE can read a story, word for word, not deviate from what the author wrote, and do it pretty well. Some very, very well. I don’t do that. I tell the story and mix it with my personality and the energy/vibe/magic juju that the audience provides.” Now, I know this pisses some “purists” off to NO ends. I should be treating THE SACRED WORD as sacrosanct. Pish tosh, I say. Pish to the ULTIMATE Tosh. Do it as you see fit, as it fits the restraints and style you hold for yourself, and I shall do the same. Pish I say. Pish…and a great big Tosh too. End of rambled aside)
Back to the Monkey King. I added some humor and energy to the event, and boy, did I get some dirty looks from some. The rest laughed and clapped and joined in the fun as I brought into the story: the old guardian of the bridge from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (What is your favorite color?); puppetry (using googly eyes to do a scene where the Monkey King, impersonating a goblin, meets a goblin sentry); made some social commentary of the time, as it fit the storyline, and basically had FUN telling the tale. I can’t tell you how many people came up to me on the next break and thanked me for the infectious fun, waking the proceedings up, and for this and that. So…purist fascists:
As to why Sam asked the question WAY above, I got to tell two Hans Christian Andersen stories: “The Emperor’s New Suit” and “The Ugly Duckling.” The first I planned, the second one I was asked to-GASP!-READ FROM THE BOOK by a great group of PACE University students, as they acted out the story on the small stage. Again, I did mention in my aside, that I am basically irreverent, and even though I was there to celebrate Hans Christian Andersen’s Birthday, I was really there for the audience and to engage them in storytelling, and hopefully encourage them to read more traditional folk and fairy tales.
I did a lot of call and response, brought some of the kids on stage to be characters. Sadly, Sam, who was taping this for me, kept turning off the video when a kid was on stage. I have no record of the wonderfulness of what the children did at all, the special moments, and nothing from the second performance. I can only tell you that working with kids & adults in an interactive space is really where magic happens. It happened yesterday, and you only have my word for it. If I had known he was squeamish about taping the kids (we had a “warning” from someone in charge at the location: I would have ignored and later asked if I had the parents permission or not, and then edit appropriately. When you look at the photos others took, they had the kids in almost all the shots. Oh…)..well, that’s another blog, somewhere, another day.
Weaving and ducking and veering around and through the tales, I brought them to life in a number of ways: silly voices and faces, references both current and obscure, swatting the tushy of the Ugly Duckling (NOT in the book!), turning a not very ferocious dog into one who was Mildly Perturbed, and other things. Overall, it was a blast of fun for the audience and for me. Passion and love of what you do wins out every time, in my book.
So, I’m not a break-dancer at all. I wish I had the body for it, but I still think it’d not be my thing. I’d waltz, tango, cha cha, and rumba my way in my OWN way…and I’d piss off the purist dancers. But, my dancing partner and I would have fun.
Anyone want to dance?
Here are a couple of vids of the proceedings. Hope you like ‘em.
Came across this on FB, and thought it’d be a fun challenge: post one blog a day for the entire month of April. It’s open to anyone, doesn’t cost anything but the time it would take to write at least a 100 word blog, and it might help increase traffic on this site and my website? Put me in coach, I’m ready to play. (Not sure what that line keeps coming up for me…I’m not a sports person by any means).
So, I’ll be rambling on about being a Teaching Artist, about Arts in Education, about the silly things students say and do, about the wonderful things students say and do, the injustice in the world, joining global communities, why diversifying in today’s market is important for an artist, trying to book shows, why sometimes it just feels like I’m just hitting my head against the wall, why I still like traditional stories over true stories, and whatever is necessary to make the Blog Every Day In April a reality.
I JUST found this posting on a site called Zoom. I did not even see the write up that they posted until just now. Almost twelve years later, and I still can’t figure out why I and others let this drop by the wayside. Maybe now, more then ever, with all the rampant hatred going on, it’s time to revive the idea. “Grass Roots” performers all over, not just the celebs.
BTW..the article got it a bit wrong. There were 54 troupes in 24 States who joined in on the benefit. Not a big deal, but…think of it then. This was all started through the alt.com newsgroups, and then we all moved to a chat room I hosted on AOL way back when. I was ranting about the shooting of a Jewish Day Care Center in CA and the face of evil (only way I saw it) on the news of the captured gunman. For those who don’t remember, or weren’t born yet: he did not kill anyone, he only thought so. He was SMIRKING to the cameras, and he thought he killed 2-5 year olds and the staff. If that’s not evil…
So…read away. Contact me if you want to revive this idea. It’s easy for us to mouth off on FB or whatever. What are you willing to do to fight it? Albert Einstein said it best:
The world is a dangerous place to live – not because of the people who are evil but because of the people who don’t do anything about it. – Albert Einstein
Here’s the article. I guess it’s better late then never: Thank you!
In fact, it was the smirk on his face that outraged a New York man, Stuart Nager, into action.
Stuart Nager, director and founder of The Brothers Grinn, a New York State based improv company, took action the best way he knew how… by contacting his colleagues across the country and asking them to participate in a benefit for violence prevention.He named the event “Don’t Hate Us Because We’re Funny: The Improv Theater Community’s Benefit Against Violence & Hate Crimes.” Seventy troupes across the country did benefit performances in mid-November and sent their proceeds to violence prevention projects.
The five troupes shown below selected Turn Off the Violence as the organization to which their funds would go.We have used their contributions to purchase Adobe Acrobat software that will enable us to make our Educators Guide and other materials available on this website. This is another example of how all of us can use our time and talents to help “turn off the violence.”Thank you to Stuart Nager and the following improv troupes!
The Brody Theater in Portland, Oregon
The Chainsaw Boys in Brooklyn, New York
The Sunday Night Improv in New York City, New York
