Class Offerings
We offer a series of (4) – 12 week classes designed to build upon each other. You can register for an individual class, the month, or the entire quarter. The value of this class is $1,200 per quarter. Join us for the first time for free. Individual classes cost $10, pay for a month for $35 model, and pay for the quarter for $100.
VIRTUAL CLASSES:
Intra-active theatre-based classes for queer and transgender people. We will collectively heal, build community, learn, and creatively dismantle binaries.
Through partnerships with service organizations, we offer in-person Creative Becoming classes and workshops. Classes can be delivered as weekly in-person classes within Metro Atlanta or as a one-week workshop outside Atlanta, Georgia.
If you are interested in partnering with Creative Becoming, contact us at info@creativebecoming.org
Introductory performance class that uses theatre and somatic exercises to help participants begin noticing the stories we tell ourselves and our body's responses to those stories. In theatre, getting ready means looking at oneself and ensuring you have all the tools you need for the job. This includes having the correct exterior materials, such as costumes and props, and it also means being present and knowing who you are with the energy and emotional regulation to respond in the moment. Our “Getting Ready” class helps students get ready to be present in their lives and understand how internal and environmental factors impact them. We begin with breathing and recognizing our responses to stimuli. We add movement and rhythm to open to spirit, connect energy, and engage the cognitive process through character study and writing.
Ready
Set
Once an actor has done their homework, such as memorizing their lines and character development, they are ready to engage in scene work, similar to being in a relationship with others. During this phase, they learn how to adapt and respond to other actors in the scene. This requires collaboration and “yes/and” responses. When reading a script alone, one interprets each character as they would play them but in scene work, they must respond to difference. Thus, the actors must stay curious and flexible in order to co-create the reality of the scene. Our “Getting Set” class prepares people to collaborate with relationships and community.
Action
In theatre the actor does most of their work alone and in undecorated rehearsal rooms. Then we take all of that preparation and integrate sets, lights, costumes, special effects, and an audience. All of these elements come together to co-create reality in that space and time – and to co-create something new. Likewise, a complex system of thoughts, ideas, experiences, and material circumstances come together to create human reality and understanding. Our “Action” class brings our collective experiences and circumstances into view while also remaining grounded in care and collaboration. We explore difference as a value and co-create something brand new in hopes of shifting the narrative collectively.
Our creative intra-play 9-month workshop integrates quantum physics, feminist pedagogy, somatic therapy, applied theatre, and other visual and performing arts to heal trauma as well as foster creativity, connection, compassion, courage, and care. This program is designed for directly and indirectly (loved ones of) systems impacted people, particularly people harmed by imposed gender binaries (trans and non-binary identified), people who are formerly incarcerated, people who have an incarcerated loved one, and people who suffer from religious trauma.
Each class and course follows a four-step feedback loop of:
Intra-Action
Build connection, acting, resilience, and storytelling skills. Using breath, movement, and character development practices, we help people notice their nervous system responses to become aware of the stories we tell about ourselves and our environment.
Intra-active Play
Build deeper connections and get curious by playing fun games and being silly together.
Diffraction
Explore topics of common concern in a co-learning and creative environment.
Creative Becoming*
Collaborate to co-create new stories.
*Creative Becoming is an applied performance method conceived of by Dr. Ballew as a result of pedagogical research that spanned over a decade in women's prisons and with people in reentry. It is an adaptation or updating of Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Theatre of the Oppressed through queer performativity, quantum physics, and somatic psychology to produce a program that engages body-mind-spirit through play and creativity. We look at theatre and performance as a set of tools we can pull from to help us listen and respond collaboratively to challenges in a playful manner that shows care and seeks healing for the whole.
