In addition to being an international center for performance, training, and research for over 30 years Dell'Arte has been active in community building, service, education, community-based productions, classes, benefits, and many service-related activities.
"Theatre of Place"
The Dell'Arte Company's first touring production in 1977, "The Loon's Rage," pioneered 'theatre of place," a concept based on local themes, issues and characters. In addition to original works created for international festivals, experimental productions, and adaptations, the Company continues to generate locally based work each year. In 2010, DAI celebrated Blue Lake's centennial with an original opera, "Blue Lake, The Opera."
Blue Lake's annual Annie & Mary Day
Each year we join with the City of Blue Lake to provide a centerpiece for the annual Blue Lake festival, Annie & Mary Day. A parade with samba band leads the crowd through the town to the local park. We provide a float-making workshop the day before the parade. In some years we stage a colorful pageant in front of the Dell'Arte building, always with a local theme.
The Community-Based MFA Project
Each year, Third-year MFA students break into small groups to work with local non-profit organizations to develop theatre pieces in non-traditional venues , with the goal of assisting the non-profit in its objectives. Among the non-profits whose members benefited from participating in projects served by the MFA's:
- The Breast Cancer Awareness Project
- The Raven Project (recovering meth-addicted teens)
- The Silvercrest Senior Residence
- The Brainstormers: Making Headway (brain injured adults)
- Pelican Bay Speaks/KHSU, from writings of inmates of Pelican Bay State Prison
- The Emma Center, women's center for survivors of trauma and abuse
- Timber Ridge Senior home, "The Body Remembers"--a play with oral histories
- HCAR (Humboldt Community Acess & Resources)
- "Rails to Trails" Project
- CAFF (Community Alliance with Family Farmers)
- HSU Student Health Center
- RCAA (Redwood Community Action Agency)
- Humboldt County Youth Services Bureau
- "Launchpad," temporary shelter for homeless youth
Student Community Service
All DAI Students are required to perform 12 hours of community service each academic year. With 40 - 50 students in residence each year, this adds up to up to 500 hours of community service performed by our students alone. They staff the local Grange pancake breakfast each month, perform at benefits, help with local cleanup efforts, create holiday tableaux in store windows for the Arcata Merchants each year, and many other activities.
The Rural Residency
Students in the one-year Professional Training Program end their year of studies with a Rural Residency. Each year, two isolated communities are chosen to host a group of about 18 students for a 10 day residency. The students in turn create a show for the community and offer workshops to children and adults. The communities of Whale Gulch, Bridgeville, Petrolia, Forks of Salmon, Orleans, and Takilma have benefited from this innovative and unique program.
Free Holiday Show & Canned Food Drive
With the help of local business sponsors, Dell'Arte has provided over 20 years of free touring shows to the entire Northcoast Region. Local food banks are the beneficiaries, as audience bring a canned food item as their admission 'ticket.'
D.A.Y.A. (Dell'Arte Youth Academy)
A two week summer program for young people, offering workshops in acting, playwriting, improv, physical comedy, commedia, and more.
Past Community Service Projects:
B.L.U.E.S
This program provided curriculum-based drama education and in-service classes for teachers at the Blue Lake Elementary School. The program began as a pilot project chosen by the National Endowment as one of six in the nation in 1991; BLUES served our local school for 18 years.
Education Through Art
Twelve years of providing instructors with curriculum-based drama education and project direction at local schools: Fieldbrook School, Burnt Ranch, Trinidad, Big Lagoon, Sunset, Pacific Union, Sunnybrae Elementary, Jacoby Creek, Penninsula Schools.
The Mobile Mask Project
As part of Dell'Arte's annual Mad River Festival, for many years Dell'Arte sent its 'Mobile Mask Unit," to events throughout Humboldt County. At fairs, churches and community centers, the unit provided the materials - clay, paper, paints - so that anyone could learn to make a mask. More than 500 masks were made each year, which were then distributed for free to participants in Dell'Arte's Blue Lake Pageant.
Other
Our files are stuffed with letters of thanks from sponsors of benefits, local causes, schools, community centers, etc. where the service of Dell'Arte artists and students has been a contributor to the success of events, or money was raised for worthy causes, or a public place was enlivened by the presence of Dell'Arte performers.
For an overview of Dell'Arte's 30-year relationship to its community, check out:
"Local Acts: Community-Based Performance in the United States." by Jan Cohen-Cruz, Rutgers UP, 2005: 103, 115, 116-117, 153-158, 192.
or find many online articles at the Community Arts Network: Reading Room:
Leonard, Robert H. “Damn Good Theater – What It Is And How To Get It in Blue Lake, California: Thoughts on The Dell'Arte Company” Oct. 2002
Cohen-Cruz, Jan. “The Ecology of Theater-in-community: A Field Theory.” Oct. 2002
Performing Communities: Introduction, Nov. 2002
Schirle, Joan. “Walking the Talk: Artists connecting with community.” Mar. 2000
Leonard, Robert H. “Performances at the Festival of Ensemble Theatres.” Aug. 1999
The Dentalium Project, Dell’Arte
• Project Overview
• O’Quinn, Jim “Notes on Wild Card”
• Rooks, David. “To save paradise they put up a parking lot”
• Lewis, Ferdinand. “The Arts and Development: An Essential Tension”
• Fields, Michael. “A response to the essays”
For a full bibliography of readings about/by Dell'Arte |