EDUCATOR
Sarah Tan began her journey as an educator when she facilitated a college-level class on intergroup dialogue and conversations around diversity while attending Carleton College. In that role, she learned what education should truly be - a means to not only grow intellectually, but also as a human being and an active participant in this world. Sarah believes that education comes from the world around us. It is the job of educators to pull forth and cultivate the knowledge and skills that our students (regardless of age) have gathered and collected from their own life experiences.
As a performing artist, Sarah has learned so much about what it means to be human - to be actively engaged in other people's stories, to be present in every moment, and to find the purest joy in the smallest things, to name a few. Through education in the performing arts, Sarah hopes to help other artists, old and new, young and adult, discover the joys of live performance and self-discovery in a fast-paced, screen-filled world.
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In the classroom
Student's Storyboard
"The Framing" Director: Sarah Tan
In the classroom
Main Stage Engage Teaching Artist
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Fall 2018 - Fall 2019
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Main Stage Engage
Arizona State University
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Age group: Elementary to High School
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As a teaching artist with Main Stage Engage, Arizona State University's student engagement program that partners with elementary to high school students in the valley, I have had the opportunity to plan, facilitate, co-teach, and solo teach a variety of workshops. My hour to hour and a half-long sessions have ranged from devised performance, to improvised storytelling, and technical theatre, each session tailored to themes of the Main Stage production that weekend. Each session ranges from 12 to 15 students, each with a range of theatre interest and experience. Workshops take place both in-school and on the ASU campus during High School Nights.
Co-Facilitator for "What Hamilton Means to Me"
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February 23, 2018
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Arizona State University
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Age group: Undergraduate Students
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What Hamilton Means to Me was a workshop series that came out of a partnership between Arizona State University's School of Film, Dance, and Theatre and Gammage. The workshop series invited well renowned theatre aritsts and community activist in the field each week to facilitate a two hour long workshop on topics relevant to the Broadway musical Hamilton. I had the opportunity to co-facilitate one of the workshops in the series. The workshop led by myself and my co-facilitator, Kelly Fielder, delved deep into the relevance of Hamilton today, its impact on representation of people and stories on stage, and the musical's current high school engagement program.
Performing Arts Instructor
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Aug 2016-Mar 2017
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Anodyne Artist Company, St. Paul, MN
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Age group: Adults with varied mental and physical abilities
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The Performing Arts Instructor plans and implements performance classes for the associate artists at Anodyne. Classes at Anodyne are planned based on the interest and ability levels in the room. Additionally, when artists are rehearsing for an upcoming show, as an instructor I will modify the lesson plan to incorporate technical performance skills that are required for the production. Past classes I have led include improvisation, character development and movement/dance (choreographed and improvised), to name a few. In addition to teaching, I oversee the production of the upcoming show be it administratively or as an assistant director.
Teacher/ Director
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Jul-Aug, 2016
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Northfield Arts Guild, Northfield, MN
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Age groups: Elementary and Middle School
Assigned age group (as a director): Grades 3 - 5
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Teacher/directors are brought in as part of the Young People's Theater Workshop (YPTW) each summer. YPTW is a three-week long theater summer workshop that works toward the creation of an original production by the end of the program. Teacher/ directors are provided the opportunity to teach a class in any topic of their choice to three of the five age groups at YPTW. We were each assigned one of the five classes to work with as a director. In my role as a director, I worked in collaboration with my students to devise, write, stage and direct an original devised performance based on the selected theme of the workshop - Breaking Down the Walls.
Guthrie Summer Camp Intern
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Jun-Aug, 2015
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Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, MN
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Age groups: Elementary to High School
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Guthrie Summer Camp Intern primarily works in the Education Department as an assistant to the Guthrie Summer Camp's teaching assistant in the classroom. In addition to managing the students during breaks, I assisted the Education Associate in the preparation of administrative material required for the camps each week - parent contact information, etc. This internship rounded up with the creation of a portfolio summarizing the summer's activities with added feedback for future Guthrie Summer Camps.
Student Facilitator
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Jan-Mar, 2014
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Carleton College, Northfield, MN
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Age group: Undergraduate
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Student facilitators worked with a co-facilitator to lead a 2-credit 10-week course titled Student Conversations - Diversity and Community. The purpose of this course was to create a space in which students at Carleton learned to recognize how their social identities played out in their life and how those might compare to the social identities of others in the room. Through this course, students were empowered in the knowledge that every person had a voice regardless of the position they occupied in a social identity group - favored or marginalized. In order to create an effective classroom environment for these difficult conversations, myself and my co-facilitator and I underwent a 4-credit 10-week course to be trained as a facilitator of intergroup dialogue. Topics covered in this course: Race, Interlocking Systems of Oppression, Gender, Sexuality, Responsibility, Action, Alliances, and more.