Convocations Voice Network (CVN) Update

“You’re going to sit in our seats and like it” may seem like quite a flippant thing for an ushering club to say, but this line, found in the “About Me” section of the Facebook for CVN (The Ushering Club), is actually a pretty apt description of our main mission: To provide quality customer service to the patrons of Convocations. However, this is not our only goal. While many may only see the students showing them to their seats at shows such as Spamalot or Blue Man Group, there is much more going on behind the scenes.

Historically, CVN (which stands for Convocations Voice Network) was a club of students set out to publicize Convocations. This was, of course, before we had our lovely Convocations staff who have thankfully antiquated the need for our rather scary mascot, Artie the Culture Vulture. Presently, we still strive to raise awareness and exposure to the arts through other means such as assisting the Convocations staff in publicity events and making donations the Convocations educational outreach program. In addition to this we work to train new student leaders to work in teams, think on their feet, and act professionally. Finally, and most important of all, we do our best to make your Convocations experience a pleasurable one. We have a wonderful team of student volunteers, who are always glad to put on a smile, share their enthusiasm for the performing arts, and help you find your seat. So next time you hear “Can I help you find your seat today?” please, sit in our seats and like it.

Amy K. Tannahill, Convocations Voice Network

"MY HEART IN A SUITCASE"

Life influences art. If there is any question of this, one need only tour a museum, listen to music, read a book or, for those of us who prefer the comfort of our homes, a simple Google search will yield a plethora of results pertaining to art influenced by life. Yet, art is not limited to life’s influences. In fact, one form of art can often influence other forms of art. Convocation’s presentation of My Heart in a Suitcase will help demonstrate this cycle of art influencing art.

For those unfamiliar with My Heart in a Suitcase, the play, which will be performed by the ArtsPower National Touring Theater, tells the story of a 12-year-old girl growing up in Nazi Germany and the struggles she must face when her parents make the decision to send her to the safety of England on the kindertransport when it becomes too dangerous for her to stay in Germany.

Although the story is wonderfully adapted to the stage, it was originally written in the form of a memoir by the author Anne L. Fox. Like all memoirs, My Heart in a Suitcase focuses the author’s recollections of a period in her life, specifically, her youth. The ArtsPower staging of My Heart in a Suitcase is a theatrical retelling of the memories Fox recounts in her memoir.

Because the play is based off of Fox’s memoir, the characters brought to life on stage are based on real people and events Fox experienced as a young girl. For example, the character Dorit, was truly a friend of Fox in her youth. Dorit Sasse is still alive and has even conducted interviews about her past friendship with the author. Even the author herself is represented as her young self on stage through the main character Anne Lehmann.

There are thousands of memoirs in print today, so what is it about My Heart in a Suitcase that influenced ArtsPower to adapt it for the stage? For one, Fox’s memoir is presented through the view of 12-year-old Anne. Anne’s perspective allows the young people in the audience to better relate to and understand such a character and her experiences. Although Fox’s memoir depicts events that occurred in 1939, many of the themes are relevant to today’s young people. Issues that young people still deal with in the 21st century, such as peer pressure, acceptance of differences, and standing up for one’s beliefs. Perhaps the selection of Fox’s memoir is best summed up in the idea that its young main character and the relevant issues that are depicted can reach many young people in audience.

Fox’s memoir was also selected to be adapted for the stage because it provides an important lesson on history, differences in personal beliefs, and separation from one’s homeland and family. The play is set in Nazi Germany and discusses historical events before and during WWII, including the Holocaust. Since the play is based off of Fox’s own experiences, the audience is made familiar with events on a personal scale. They are able to see the divide between two young friends over personal belief and also witness a young girl’s struggle to find courage in her separation from her family and home after she is sent to England on the Kindertransport.

In all, the ArtsPower production of My Heart in a Suitcase is a powerful retelling of Fox’s heartbreaking memoir. Like the memoir, the stage production touches on themes relevant to today’s youth. This powerful story inspires audience members to further pursue the history of the Holocaust and leaves them with a message about combating intolerance. The strength of the character Anne Lehmann, in light of a very discouraging situation leaves, the audience with a message about love and hope in a time of despair.

Stephanie Larson, Purdue Convocations student employee

Kennedy Center Meeting: A Glimpse of the Future

I recently attended the annual meeting of the John F. Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education program. Purdue Convocations and the Lafayette School Corporation (LSC) are partners in this program that pairs arts presenters and school systems to present top quality professional development training to area teachers. This is the fourth year for the local partnership. Cindy Preston, a second grade teacher at Edgelea Elementary attended representing LSC.

The meeting focused on a look into changes in education and how we can meet the challenges of 21st Century learning. Two major challenges to arts education are funding and keeping up with the rapid pace of changing technology.

The keynote speaker, Bill Capodagli, author of The Disney Way and Innovate the Pixar Way, emphasized the importance of leadership and innovation in moving an organization forward. He pointed out how less structured work environments led to more productive and creative employees in several companies who chose to try a new approach to their corporate environment.

Futurist Garry Golden, whose work is to help people learn how to anticipate and lead change, forecast an even greater leap forward in technology in the next ten years. He told the group that we are now entering a learner-oriented era in which learning is not so much institution, or teacher, - driven, but will be more about what we learn from those around us. It will not be so much about what is delivered as it will be about our own self-directed efforts. He predicted that soon almost everyone will have a hand-held electronic device and more and more content will be delivered through these devices. Learning is making the leap from formal to informal. He also predicted the emergence of what is termed, “Third Place”. These are locations that are not home and not work where people gather to interact or gather information, like cafes, malls, parks, etc. This calls for new ways of communicating.

Arts education researcher Eric Booth helped attendees look at the work of author Daniel Pink’s book Drive and how the arts and arts education can help deliver what our culture needs and wants – innovation, creativity, discovery, increased curiosity and engagement, authentic learning, sustainable rigor, and, most specifically, intrinsic-motivation.

Laura Clavio, assistant director of Conovcations