Trauma-informed Performance Art Education

Trauma is the emotional response to a disturbing event or series of events, and can cause symptoms such as unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, headaches, and nausea, according to the American Psychological Association (2022). Learning activities in the performing arts - such as adjusting the body through touch, or the emotional content of scenes - can retraumatize students unintentionally. In contrast, creating the conditions for emotional states that enhance learning is a science, and an art, that can support conditions for optimal performance including Flow states Performing arts educators can proactively support students and performances by becoming trauma-informed and actively using intimacy training and consent processes. This transdisciplinary project - a 2-hour workshop for performing arts educators - brings together a Theatrical Intimacy Education (TIE) and DEIJB educator, a professional dancer and trauma victim advocate, and learning designers focused on the effects of emotion on learning, trauma-informed education, and conditions for flow learning experiences.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cfa_collaborate/1001/thumbnail.jp