Friday: Meeting Sara Crosby

I started Tales of a Female Nomad last night. So far I enjoy learning about the author's adventure; in all honesty I think she seems a bit kooky, but then again, who isn't? It does seem pretty interesting though, and I think it would be a blast to travel the world like the author is :)
This morning Dom, Holly, and I met Sara Crosby, the artistic director of DAPA Plays for Living. DAPA is the Dakota Academy of Performing Arts, and it is a branch of a group from New York called Plays for Living. It is a non-profit organization that travels to local middle and high schools to show students plays that broach serious subjects such as drugs, discrimination, and suicide. From 4th grade through 9th grade students see a performance every year by the group; Sara strongly believes that the students greatly benefit from the plays. After the performance by student actors, the school kids have an open group discussion. Imagine: an entire class, complete with its differences, cliques, and minorities, together in one room with a microphone, immediately after watching an emotional performance. Sara told us that every single time her group performed a show called The Survivors that discusses suicide, a student has admitted their suicidal plans and pursued help.
The performances are often controversial. Some teachers and parents feel that students do not struggle with drugs, etc. until the idea is instilled in their impressionable minds by DAPA's plays. Sara disagrees, sharing statistics of lowered suicide rates, etc. since the last 9-10 years of performing in the area. She has 3 children of her own and from her motherly experience she knows that kids are exposed to these issues; having an open discussion allows them to talk about their thoughts, learn to express themselves, and realize that controversial issues should not be avoided. Facing them, figuring out where one stands, and taking action (like we learned at Trail Ridge Chapel the other day when encountering addictions) will impact students positively; avoiding the subjects will not.
I enjoyed listening to Sara tell us about DAPA. She is a very passionate woman who has acted professionally in NYC and worked with social-change theatre around the Midwest. She knows that students in South Dakota can have amazing talent, but unless a teacher pushes them to really grow as an actor, they may not really blossom in the industry. Since she has worked in NYC she knows what is needed to have big-time success, so she earns satisfaction from encouraging young actors in SD to really strive and develop their talents. Sara invited us to watch one of the performances. Hopefully it works out to make it to one.
This was an interesting morning, and I'm looking forward to some more reading tonight. I better start getting ready for practice now. Have a great weekend :)