Theatre for the Very Young....

Before I became a High School drama teacher, I had other plans.

Not that teaching is a secondary choice for me.
Life literally steered me in that direction and I haven't looked back.

I wanted to get my MFA in Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) and maybe be an education director of a professional theatre someday.

Now I am an education director in so many ways. 

I pride myself that my students look forward to our school visits and our performances for elementary students. 

I always thought "Elementary school is where we have to get them to become lifelong theatre goers"

Then I learned about Theatre for the Very Young (TVY) at the Alliance during  a Georgia Thespian Conference when I was pregnant  from Rosemary Newcott who I knew from an internship I did with the Collision Project (another amazing educational theatre program in Atlanta).

Our first TVY- "Little Raindrop Songs"

It sounded amazing. I don't remember exactly how the conversation went but she described to us how they were doing the tortoise and the hare. She said that if a child crawled or walked out into the space they would become a part of the performance and that developmentally and for the purposes of the performances that was importance for that audience member to approach the space. She also said a four month old watching that child enter the space would be as important as the story itself. 

I knew this would be something we would take our sons to. 

I waited until they were over the age of one to take them.

I purchased my first ever season tickets for their TVY season.

Show #2 "The Lizard and El Sol"

Today we finished our first season with "Roob and Noob". Lots of my friends have or are having babies and need to bring your babies to this! I will walk you through what a performance is like and then tell you why it is important! 

So you arrive at the Woodruff Arts Center- which is pretty exciting for toddlers

Then you go upstairs to a room where you do some prep for the performance. For "Little Rain Drop Songs" we colored a rain drop and listened to a book, for "The Lizard and El Sol" we colored a picture of the Lizard and the Sun. Roob and Noob was my favorite experience in this room. There was a map to color but the best part.....blocks and balls to play with!

What is great about this "experience room" is that it is an important element of the performance. It gets the children used to each other for one thing and (for Roob and Noob especially) it introduces elements of the show. The children today were building things just like the characters! 

Then you are led (very much like cattle because we all have babies) to the performance space. Each time when we've entered we've received something or exchanged something. For "Raindrop Songs" it was a cloud pillow for our raindrop picture, for "Lizard" we gave a rock ticket, and today we got some pillows (cushions for the booty).

Then the performance starts. 

There is always music and a inclusive environment is created. 

Each show has a fairly simple plot but one that is engaging for the children. 

Children are able to enter the playing space (as you can see our obnoxious boys are here) and they become a part of the performance seamlessly. Usually they will return to their parents. Not all children explore during this time (and I often worry Fletcher and Finley shouldn't) but some do and it is usually pretty awesome. 

Then there are times when all children are included. Today they were given egg shakers to help water a flower and to play with leaves (they went through all the seasons). "Raindrop Songs"  they swam and during "Lizard" they helped find the sun and then even were a part of a fiesta! 

Each performance is so special and unique. As they become used to it they also become more confident. I've seen it over this season with my boys. Fletcher is usually very timid and shy and still starts out that way but becomes confident. 

According to Lynne Kingsley there is  lot of research that shows dramatic play is important in development. She mentions Vygotsky and his beliefs that imaginative play and exploration help children learn how their world works and how to interact with other people. 

So people bring your babies to the theatre. To this theatre. 

Check out Toddler Take Over with me this May and their season next year. 

It is seriously the best.