New Curriculum: Live Sound Action: Learning at the Crossroads of Theatrical Training and Spiritual Practice
This course is designed to give the student an experiential introduction to communal practices of sound and movement that exist in both theatrical training and spiritual traditions. A physically-based studio class comprising an intellectual engagement as well as a more personal heart-based investigation, students will ultimately become meaning makers and create an original theatrical/ spiritual practice rooted in embodied research. Emphasis will be placed on creative, collaborative, and reflective skills as well as an exploration of the potential health and spirit benefits of such communal creative practices.
Course Description , Syllabus
New Project: Amidst All This: A Eulogy for the Earth , beginning 2025, Cleveland OH
Eliza Ladd Schwarz Director, Composer and Ensemble Facilitator
The project will manifest in three forms: an original devised theatrical performance, an immersive experience utilizing mixed reality, and a traveling workshop wherein community members engage in an embodied exploration of the performance themes. We begin by grappling with the desperate dig for cobalt, the sweeping destruction of natural disaster, and the chaos of childhood in climate change. This performance/eulogy will offer an opportunity to grieve and to connect. Project Description
Agridulce/Bittersweet 2022-23 Sarasota FLA
A devised theater performance centering the Latinx experience in Sarasota crafted in collaboration by the artists of CreArte Latino Cultural Center and students of New College, directed by Carolina Franco (Artistic Director of CreArte Latino Cultural Center), Diego Villada (Assistant Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies at New College) and Eliza Ladd (Associate Professor of Movement and Physical Theater at the FSU / Asolo Conservatory).
Video, Agridulce/Bittersweet Program, Agridulce/Bittersweet Press Announcement, Press Article, Photo Album
Work/ Play/Work: Creating Room for the Nervous System on Zoom
a creative process with an ensemble of MFA acting students in response to the potency of the moment–the pandemic, the call to action (at FSU Conservatory), and the national uprising for social justice (in 2020). We worked creatively with our experiences of systemic racism and developed an ensemble process based on somatic practice, vocal exploration, percussion, and work with objects. This was an intimate investigation resulting in the creation of brave personal work. I presented a discussion of this process, as well as a video of our work, at the 2021 Association for Theatre in Higher Education virtual conference. In addition, one of my Latinx students documented this process intending to use it as a curriculum in other diverse environments.
Video, Presentation text/score, Athe 2021 panel presentation,