STAGE TUBE: I AM THEATRE Project - Joan Schirle

BroadwayWorld.com is excited to share a weekly series developed by the Theatre Communications Group! This week artistic director Joan Schirle shares pivotal moments in her theatre career and why the arts matter to her!

Joan Schirle is Founding Artistic Director of Dell'Arte International (DAI), the North American center for performance, training and research in the work of the physical actor/poet. An actor, playwright, director, deviser and teacher, Joan was awarded a 2006 Fox Foundation/TCG Resident Actor Fellowship. She has performed with DAI, Yale Rep, the California Shakespeare Festival, San Diego Rep, Deborah Slater Dance Theater, and her solo show, Second Skin, has been seen in many US and international cities. She has directed productions at San Diego Rep, the Alley, Bloomsburg Ensemble, A Traveling Jewish Theatre, Touchstone Ensemble, Colorado University and DAI. In 2004 she was honored at the 16th Cairo International Experimental Theatre Festival as a leader in the field of experimental theatre. Joan directed the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre until 2011 and designed the curriculum for DAI's accredited MFA in Ensemble-Based Physical Theatre. A senior teacher of the FM Alexander Technique, she has devoted her research to the work of the actor as mover/creator, and is a founding member of the Network of Ensemble Theatres (NET). Joan has taught at Yale, UCSD, U. Missouri Kansas City, as well as for the artists of Cirque du Soleil; she leads annual study trips to Bali. DAI encompasses a professional company acclaimed for collaborative creation and global touring since 1977; a fulltime training program offering a 3-year MFA, a one-year certificate program, a summer festival, and a Study Abroad: Bali program. www.dellarte.com

I AM THEATRE spotlights the stories of theatre practitioners, in their own words. With 50 videos over the next 50 weeks, TCG is celebrating its 50th anniversary by sharing stories from a diverse group of people who are creating, supporting, and engaging with theatre. YOU ARE THEATRE: We want to hear your stories! TCG will release a new video each week of individuals sharing pivotal moments in theatre - and hope they will inspire you to tell your stories too. Join us as we seek to raise the international awareness of the depth, diversity and impact of the theatre field. WE ARE THEATRE! Today, not-for-profit professional theatres in the U.S. employ 130,000 people annually, inspire more than 30 million attendees and contribute $2 billion directly to the U.S. economy. What if thousands of theatre artists across the world posted their own video testimonies of why they do what they do and why theatre matters? How might that transform communities' awareness of our work? Please share the stories we've recorded, and we'll share the videos you make, and together we'll testify in a voIce That everyone will hear...I AM THEATRE. YOU ARE THEATRE. WE ARE THEATRE!

For 50 years, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, has existed to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional not-for-profit American theatre. TCG's constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to nearly 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 13,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research and communications; awards grants, approximately $2 million per year, to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level; and serves as the US Center of the International Theatre Institute, connecting its constituents to the global theatre community. TCG is North America's largest independent publisher of dramatic literature, with 11 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning AMERICAN THEATRE magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre. www.tcg.org