Dr Edie DEMAS
edemas@NEW42.org
Director of Education
New Victory Theatre, USA

Dr Edie Demas, Director of Education, is responsible for the direction of all school, career and family educational programming.The New Victory Theater, New York's first and only full-time theater dedicated to young people. In addition, Edie continues to serve in an advisory capacity to the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Arts on Special Programs as it implements its comprehensive Theater Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts PreK – 12. Her teaching experience includes nursery school through to the University level, focusing on performing arts and media education. Edie holds a MA/PhD in Educational Theater from New York University, where she is an adjunct instructor. Courses include: Theater for Young Audiences I & II, The Teaching Artist and Theatre-in-Education Practices. Previous work in Ireland included:  Education Officer for Graffiti Theatre Company, a leading producer of TYA, Founder of UnReel, an international film festival for young people, Associate Artist in Education/Outreach at The Abbey, Ireland's National Theatre and children’s film and television development.

Beginning To Consider Creativity, Transformation And Community

The New Victory, New York’s first theater dedicated to young people, was born from a mandate to redevelop, enliven and re-imagine historic 42nd Street and a “commitment to the arts and to the power of the arts to help transform a community.” This is demonstrated weekly as hundreds of kids from across the city come with their teachers and peers to experience live performance in Times Square, arguably the most visceral, geographical example of the intersection between creativity and commerce in our city. On a large scale these chaotic, lively and always surprising school-time performances make manifest Ken Robinson’s belief from Out of Our Minds, in the arts’ ability to build community through a shared cultural process. While community transformation is visible weekly on our stretch of 42nd street when children and yellow school buses frequently stop traffic, our challenge remains defining and describing the elusive process, exchange, engagement and questioning that takes place in a moment of shared creativity between artist, art form and audience/learner. It is in this moment of creative collaboration that the arts can, as Robinson describes, stimulate ideas, interpret experience for meaning, and make connections between previously unconnected ideas or experiences. When this takes place communities, not simply city blocks, may be transformed. It is our job, as arts educators, to continuously strive to implement and innovate strategies, models and research that support the stewarding of the delicate and I believe, sacred, interaction.

Edie DEMAS博士

Edie DEMAS博士持有紐約大學的教育劇場碩士及博士學位。她是紐約唯一專為年青人而設的New Victory Theater的教育總監，並擁有豐富的教學經驗。她也是紐約市政府教育部門戲劇教育藍圖的顧問。

「逐漸思考創意、演化及社區」

New Victory Theater是專為年青人而設的劇院，使命是以藝術促進社區的蛻變。劇場讓年青人與藝術家進行交流互動，我們的工作還包括為這創意交流的抽象過程作出界定及描述，讓藝術協作刺激思維、演繹經驗、連結本來不相干的概念，讓這種互動和感受改變社區。