Annie G. Levy

TEACHING ARTIST

Annie Levy has worked as a teaching artist with students ranging in age from pre kindergarten through college, developing curriculum that utilizes the Multiple Intelligences and creative process as a planning/teaching tool. She has also worked with educators interested in using Theatre techniques and tools in their classrooms.

Annie’s objective as a Teaching Artist is to use the creation of theatre not only as a means of personal and group expression; but also as a way to engage in active interdisciplinary learning about community, politics, literature and history. She facilitates the creation of collaboratively developed theatre pieces by combining the skills and experiences brought to the rehearsal room by each individual with existing tools and methodologies for devising theatre.

Annie has extensive training in Ensemble Creation methods, Composition, Viewpoints, Ritual Theatre and working with found and generated texts, as well as training in Shakespeare in Performance, Improvisation, Puppetry and Production. She teaches a wide range of classes and workshops from the fundamentals of acting to creating devised work. She can create and facilitate programming for all ages, grades, and skill levels, whether it is a single session or a long-term workshop.

Here are some ideas for Theatre residency programs and workshops:

Acting Out History:
History is not dead! This residency provides a fun and active look into why. Using the historical period that students are already studying as part of their social studies curriculum, students explore a time period or a significant event by creating a piece of collaborative theatre. Through research and examining photographs and/or paintings of the time period/event, students will craft a story, develop characters and write their own script, connecting them to history in a dynamic way.

Oral History, Performing the Past:
Everyone has a story and knows a story that is worth preserving. Oral History is an exercise in remembering, in listening and in observing. This residency focusing on giving students the opportunity to tell the stories that are important to them and who they are as individuals, as well as to seek out the stories of their families and their communities -- discovering, recording and sharing the stories that have shaped and are shaping their experience. Students will read the oral histories taken by other oral historians, learn what makes a good interview question and how to write good interview questions. Armed with the power of good questions, we will identify our own story that needs to be retold and preserved, serving as oral historians to each other.

Where Does The Moon Come From? Learning about Myth:
In this residency, students will study and write Myths to answers the question: "Where do I come from?" Students will be introduced to six Creation Myths from three different cultures (Greek Mythology, Native American Folktale and African Legend) and will sharpen their fiction writing skills by writing myths individually and collaboratively. While exploring different myths, students also learn and demonstrate a variety of different literary terms. The residency culminates in a performance of a collaborative classroom myth, "Where Are We From?"

Annie's teaching artist affiliations include:
o Community Word Project (CWP)
o Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL)
o Manhattan New Music Project (MNMP)