All Stars Project INC.

450 artists, activists, young people, educators, scholars and practitioners from 30 countries, all who use performance in their work as a new way of relating to, transforming and understanding the world, gathered from September 30th through October 3rd at the All Stars Project headquarters on 42^nd Street for the Performing the World Conference; the theme was Can Performance Change the World?  The All Stars Project was a co-sponsor of the conference. 

One hundred presentations over the three-day conference showcased work being done with performance in the fields of health, wellness, education, mental health and theatre.

Workshops included:

Performing Change - One morning a group of young people fan out through the downtown streets stopping people at random to engage them in conversations about problems in their community and what they think needs to be changed in the world.  A few days later this group of young people presented a performance illustrative of the concerns raised on the streets.  Members of the Street Spirits Theatre Company, based in British Columbia shared their play-creation process.

Patch Adams - the Clown Laureate of Medicine, shared his work from around the world, bringing performance and hope to the sick and suffering.  In addition to his own workshop, Patch joined Jim Mangia, executive director of St. John's Well Child and Family Center in Los Angeles, and other innovative doctors on a panel entitled, "What is Health?

Performing on the Platform - In India tens of thousands of children and youth live on their own on the country's numerous railroad platforms (stations).  Without community or family support or a formal education, they often wind up in prison, prostitution, or dead.  Sanjay Kumar presented on his work involving platform youth in performance as a way of re-engaging them and connecting them to a wider world and new possibilities.

Theatre and Reconciliation - Frédérique Lecomte specializes in creating theatre with people in conflict zones.  She will show a film about a devised play she created with victims of torture in Burundi and share the approach she uses to provide people with an environment in which they can perform through - and beyond - their victimization.

Plenary Sessions:

Theory/Practice: Culture and Psychology, Therapy and Theatre

This session brought together a distinguished grouping of performance activists from a broad range of professions, disciplines, and cultural and political traditions to discuss the relationship between theory and practice in their work - and how their various theories and practices address PTW's over arching question, Can Performance Change the World?  The session began with a performed excerpt from the Castillo Theatre production Playing with Heiner Muller directed by All Stars President and CEO Gabrielle L. Kurlander, and was moderated by Dan Friedman, Artistic Director of the Castillo Theatre. The session featured: Patch Adams, Founder and Director, Gesundhiet Institute; Andrew Burton, Founder and Artistic Director, Street Spirits; Lois Holzman, Co-Founder and Director, East Side Institute for Group and Short Term Psychotherapy; Woodie King, Jr., Founder and Producing Director, New Federal Theatre; Fernanda Liberali, Catholic University of Sao Paulo and SIAC - Simposio Acao Cidad; and Judith Malina, Co-Founder and Artistic Director, The Living Theatre.

The Performance of Blackness 

This performatory conversation with a broad cross section of New York City's African American community explored the historical and social forces that have shaped various performances of blackness in the United States.  It featured performances by young people from the All Stars Project, designed to serve as catalysts for further dialogue.  The session was facilitated by Dr. Lenora Fulani, co-founder, All Stars Project; Alvaader Frazier, Esq., Pamela A. Lewis, Director of Youth Programs of the All Stars Project and Gloria Strickland, Director, All Stars Project of New Jersey.

The Performance of Performing the World

PTW's final plenary session brought everyone together to play with their impressions, thoughts, reactions to and emotionality about Performing the World 2010, through performance, creating skits, dances and songs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: WWW.PERFORMINGTHEWORLD.ORG