Creativity and Collaboration in the Classroom

with Amanda Huotari
2011 - 2012 School Year

Elementary, middle and high school residencies and workshops with Amanda Huotari are available for the 2011-2012 school year.

Theater is a powerful tool for empowering students to communicate with confidence and clarity in a voice that is their own. Mandy's workshops focus on designing classroom projects to help students work with curriculum actively. Theater games and exercises are designed to provoke dynamic interaction and collaboration among students. As students employ their focus and energy to develop skills in listening, activating their imaginations and communicating their ideas, the result is strengthened presence and confidence, both on stage and in every day life!

AMANDA HUOTARI is an actress, teaching-artist, and the Executive Director of Celebration Barn Theater in South Paris, Maine. With a BFA in acting from Emerson College, she also studied physical theater at the Lecoq School in Paris, France and trained with Antonia Fava in Reggio Emilia, Italy.   Since 2003, she has toured Add Verb Productions one woman show, The Thin Line. Mandy wrote and performs her solo show, The Soiree,  directed by Broadway's Avner "the Eccentric" Eisenberg.  Her original theater has been featured at Seattle's Moisture Festival, The Orlando Fringe Festival, NY Clown-Theatre Festival, Teatro R101 in Bogota, Colombia.   As a residency artist, Mandy has worked with diverse middle and high school students through the Maine Alliance of Arts Education, Children's Theater of Maine,  Portland's PROP, and organizations statewide.  She currently performs in the Colombian/American collaboration, the Fabulous Problemas.   As a member of The Celebration Ensemble, she'll premiere the company's first original full-length play, Thumbs Up, at the Portland Performing Arts Festival in June. read more / visit Amanda Huotari's website

Workshops include practical tools to develop the following skills:

-Turning ideas into action
-Brainstorming fresh ideas
-Team building
-Problem solving
-Strengthening communication skills, verbal and nonverbal
-Overcoming stage fright
-Developing presence both on and off stage
-Exploring and respecting new and different perspectives

Responses from Administrators and Students:

"Amanda's talent, ideas and vivacious personality make her highly effective with students. She is full of creative ideas, and able to elicit powerful and compelling dramatic work from students who may have had no previous experience - or even interest! - in theater. She is an outstanding artist-in-residence."

Susan Potters
Education Director, Maine Alliance for Arts Education
Project Director for Building Community Through the Arts

"The results are IN and it's unanimous: the girls LOVED their time with you! Even those for whom it's a bit of a stretch to 'perform' loved this workshop. I'm convinced it's the amazing skills of the teacher! I loved how obvious it was that you were having fun yourself all the while respecting each girl's individual place in the universe. Thank you!"

Tania Jo Hathaway
Yarmouth Adventure Girls Coordinator
Yarmouth, Maine

"I didn't think I'd enjoy it, but I really loved it. Mandy was awesome! I'm not a performance arts type of person, but Mandy made it fun. I thought I would hate having to do improv because I'm not creative, but I enjoyed it and I excelled!"

Brewer High School Sophomore, 2008

Previous Residencies Include:

Leavitt Area High School
Guy E. Rowe Elementary
Brewer High School
Manawcook Academy
Lee Academy
Schenck High School
Stearns High School
King Elementary
Carrabasset Academy
Penobscot Valley High School
Dexter High School
Nokomis High School
Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School

Teaching Experience

Heartwood Theater, Newcastle, Maine
Maine Alliance of Arts Education, Augusta, Maine
Foothills Arts, Farmington, Maine
Children's Theater of Maine, Portland, Maine
P.R.O.P., Portland, Maine
Adventure Girls, Yarmouth, Maine
Marin Theater Company, Mill Valley, California

For more information about how to bring a theater residency or workshop to your students, email Mandy@CelebrationBarn.com or call Mandy at (207) 743-8452.

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