A Viral Skills Transfer
One hope for the Us and Them project is to give people in Metro Vancouver the tools to see, analyze, and work on this issue in their own contexts, and also to pass the tools along themselves. People do not have to be "theatre practitioners" to speak the language of theatre; it is a language that belongs to humanity.
As the public inquiry events happened in Oct/Nov 2010, audiences had the possibility to sign up for a two day, very focused training in Rainbow of Desire, during February 2011. The training was highly subsidized at $100 for the two days.
We asked all applicants to describe where and how they would use their new skill to create their own Us and Them event. It was not on a first come, first serve basis. We were looking for a diverse group, who were both committed to and capable of following through.
26 people participated in the training. As of February 2011, they are off to do their own Us and Them event using Rainbow of Desire. Keep your eyes and ears peeled - sometime within the next 4 months it might happen in your community...
"Participating in the Us and Them Skills Transfer Workshop was a truly rewarding experience on numerous levels. The multi-layered approach to learning the process simultaneously from the perspectives of Rainbow of Desire participant, workshop participant and Joker-in-training provided a richness and depth in learning as much about the process and how to lead it as about ourselves, our own lives and the world around us. The remarkable group of people that Headlines Theatre brought together into the workshop made for an equally rich experience in terms of what each person also contributed to the concepts in the workshp, as well as personal and professional networking. I would highly recommend this kind of workshop to other community-based artists and practitioners."
Sarah Van Borek, Skills Transfer Workshop Participant