Techniques for Performance Art:

Through this dramatic arts workshop, the artist engages the participating students in an interactive exchange to explore such techniques as movement, improvisation, incantations, visual rituals, and conceptual activity used to stage performance works. The workshop can last from one to three hours, depending on the class period that is available. Students are encouraged to bring in monologues or poems to be workshopped for stage presentations.

Exploring the Personal to Comment on the Political in Performance Art:

Through this interactive workshop, the artist investigates the usage of autobiographical material as subject matter to explore larger issues concerning race, religion, gender and politics within performance art. The personal story is discussed as an imprint of a particular place in time and as valuable information that is part of an oral tradition. The personal is viewed as a catalyst for healing, for one's particular experience will always have universal resonance. The students or community participants are led through a series of text and movement exercises designed to create a nurturing space for the sharing of such personal experiences. Techniques that exemplify creative invention and aesthetic choices are discussed. This workshop can last from two to three hours (or more if necessary).

Art as a Tool for Social Change:

Through this multimedia lecture that includes video, slides and sound art, the artist explores the development of performance art works with social content that aspire to initiate change concerning issues of race, gender, the AIDS crisis, homelessness, etc. The artist sites the work of performance artists that have focused a creative eye on the difficult issues affecting our national communities. The audience is encouraged to participate in a discussion of such art that crosses into the territory of the social and its effectiveness as a tool for change. (A large video projector, slide projector, and CD/cassette player are needed.)

Marketing the Visual & Performing Arts:

Through this program, multidisciplinary artist Jose Torres Tama conducts a hands-on workshop that introduces various marketing strategies for individual artists and arts collectives. Introducing the basics, from writing press releases to forming a database, he discusses the fundamentals in public relations and how to achieve the best results while marketing one's work on a limited budget. In addition, he demonstrates how to package a professional image through printed material and how to get critics to review your work. (The artist has presented this workshop for the Louisiana Division of the Arts and the Arts Council of New Orleans among others.)

 

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