Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2001 14:22:30 EST
Subject: Changing Everything


I want to bring your attention to an important and unique event I (my 
colleagues) are organizing.  It's a conference entitled Performing the World: 
Communication, Improvisation and Societal Practice, to be held October 12-14, 
2001 in Montauk, NY, on the eastern tip of Long Island. The event will bring 
together scholars, therapists, health and helping professionals, educators, 
business professionals, community builders, performers and theater artists, 
and others to explore the rich potential of performance for social change. 

The initiators of Performing the World are members of Performance of a 
Lifetime, a training and consulting firm with a unique performance approach 
to personal, professional and organizational development, and The Taos 
Institute, a community of scholars and practitioners who use social 
constructionist ideas to design and promote creative, appreciative and 
relational practices in families, communities and organizations around the 
world. 

The organizers of the event are hoping to create a performance space for 
academics, activists, practitioners, educators and performers to do and 
discuss performance, play and creativity. 

Invitations to present (perform) are being extended to innovators in diverse 
fields . . . 
  All Stars Talent Show Network, youth development program
  Frank Barrett, organizational theorist, jazz musician and consultant, 
Fielding Institute 
  Castillo Theatre, off-off Broadway postmodern political theatre
  Arthur Penn, film and theater director 
  Peggy Penn, family therapist, Ackerman Institute 
  Kay Picart, cultural studies and dance, Florida State University
  Osvaldo Romberg, multimedia artist
  Raquel Romberg, folklorist, University of Pennsylvania
  Richard Schechner, performance studies, New York University
  Karl Scheibe, dramaturgical psychologist, therapist, Wesleyan University 
  Plus others 
Members of Performance of a Lifetime and the Taos Institute will also 
contribute . . . 
  Harlene Anderson, postmodern therapist, Houston Galveston Institute
  Kenneth Gergen, performative psychologist, theorist, Swarthmore College
  Mary Gergen, performative psychologist, feminist theorist, Penn State 
University
  Lois Holzman, developmental psychologist and learning strategist 
  Sheila McNamee, communication educator and community developer, University 
of 
New Hampshire
  David Nackman, actor, imrpov comedian and performance trainer 
  Fred Newman, therapist, playwright and philosopher
  Patient Collaboration Project, American Academy on Physician and Patient, 
McLean, 
            Virginia
  Cathy Salit, actor, improv comedian and performance trainer

The announcement and registration information can be viewed at 
www.performanceofalifetime.com/ptwa.htm.  The page will be updated frequently 
with announcements of presenters and schedule of events.  Please pass this 
message on to colleagues and lists that would be interested.  

Mary Fridley, East Side Institute, NY, NY