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Presentation of the study ‘Spark Change - The Impact of Performing Arts on Children’

on 4 June from 2 pm, at the Junges Schauspiel, in English

In 2019, the New Victory Theater in New York presented a groundbreaking study:

Over a period of five years, nine schools with children from disadvantaged backgrounds were accompanied by researchers and theatre professionals. They investigated what exposure to theatre does to children: does exposure to the arts influence children’s social-emotional development?

The children with regular contact with theatre went to performances and met the artists in discussions and workshops. Children in control groups had no exposure to theatre.

In the first group, students’ marks soon showed significant improvement. The children also developed creative, solution-orientated thinking and even visions for their own future. The researchers described this as “hope”.

The two education directors of New York’s New Victory Theater, Lindsey Buller Maliekel and Courtney Boodie, present this study and illustrate the areas and ways in which child development was aided by regular theatre encounters. Using evidence-based data, they provide insight into how a stage arts-focused cooperation between theatres and schools can open up developmental possibilities for children regardless of their family’s income or level of education.