Reflections on the importance of natural environments for engaging children in the arts

Join Polyglot Theatre and guests for a panel discussion and Q&A on the joys of engaging children and families in arts experiences that connect to nature and natural environments.

From its large-scale touring theatre works to small playful interventions, Polyglot has increased its focus on the way nature and sustainability feed into the organisation and its members’ arts practice. Exploring the intersection of this mindset and the built environment allows for creative adaptations and site-specific activations.

Collaborators:

Polyglot Theatre is a world-renowned contemporary theatre company based in Melbourne/Naarm making exceptional arts experiences for children and families. The company’s unique brand of theatre spans a wide variety of forms shared with audiences everywhere, from the world’s most prestigious theatres to the football grounds of regional Australia.
Polyglot’s artistic and philosophical approach of child-centred practice has earned the company’s strong reputation at home and abroad as a leader in theatre for young audiences, celebrated for creating distinctive, participatory and inclusive works that are playful and conceptually rigorous. Access is central to Polyglot’s work, driven by the right of all children to experience growth and resilience through creative play and to be captivated by, and inspired through, experiencing the arts.

Cat Sewell Over the last 20 years, Cat has been working at the intersection of the arts, health and education fields, with play and creativity at the core of her practice. Cat is most interested in theatre and creative works where people can DO – they can explore and touch and jump and wonder within the works. She is a passionate advocate of the potential of play and creativity to boost health, development and wellbeing. She loves to collaborate to make works, both with artists and children and families. Cat has extensive experience in participatory theatre, working as a director, play specialist, facilitator and educator, and as co-creative director of The Ball Room Projects. Cat has led award-winning projects in a range of contexts including health and child development, community collaboration, public design, education, and local government.

Kathleen Gonzalez researches contemporary and interactive dance that is emotional, exploring the wisdom and ancestral practices. Always striving to understand new original forms of movement, and performative arts. She encourages resonance between art forms and expressions that touch everyone, often addressing cultural exchange on ecological, political, and social environments within communities.

Jennifer Andersen is a theatre maker and teacher specialising in early years arts creation and education. Working as Pocketfool, she has made numerous innovative non-verbal in-theatre and outdoor experiences for young children. Jennifer’s PhD explored the role of care in the practice of actors who create theatre with and for children. Jennifer has been dedicated to developing the capacity of artists and teachers to work with children through her previous role as Artist Learning Coordinator at ArtPlay and her ongoing academic research and tertiary teaching. Jennifer is currently working in a kindergarten with a bush kinder program.