AATE 2025 National Conference

Objective: To offer educators and practitioners the opportunity to concentrate on how we craft the first session(s) of working with young people (K-12 and Undergraduates) in the classroom and rehearsal room. This workshop will focus on healthy communication, guidelines, and practice toward through community building on the front end of ensemble practices. Tailored community building has the lasting effect of creating a safe environment where best practices are honored, met, and sustained. Through experiential learning methods, attendees embrace these inclusive concepts and generate workable solution-based ideas through a 75 minute workshop of engagement, play, small group laboratory-style collaborations, and a shared collective closure process. Abstract: Artmaking with others impacts our lives, purpose, and a sense of community. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access remain at the forefront of the spaces we want to maintain, encourage, and expand. Artmaking, ensembleship, and community building are intertwined. What we do with and for the students has the potential to impact their social-emotional growth and perspectives on the human condition through modes of expression, agency, and guided peer interactions.