2008 Woodie Awards
Making Britain an interactive classroom
Students travel abroad to study theater and dance during a four week excursion to London
Soni Kumar
Issue date: 7/30/08 Section: A&E
Theater and dance students flew 4,000 miles to study in a classroom much different than SIUE's.
For four weeks, students had the opportunity to use London as their classroom.
"The point of the trip was to study theater and dance in a different location and use it to kind of open up our eyes," senior dance major Katia Kamra said. "Here we are not exposed to what we can be exposed to in London."
London is one of the major historical cities famous for art, theater and dance, all of which are major attributes of the city's culture.
Students learned by viewing the different types of theater performances in London.
"We saw Shakespeare performances performed live by the Royal Shakespeare Company," senior theater performance major Acacia Moll said. "It was a really great experience watching all the different plays, which will help give us all kinds of ideas for the future because we are all studying theater and wanting to go on in the field."
According to junior theater and performance major Maggie Conroy, the trip was an opportunity to give students a chance to live in London and experience the city outside of the normal "touristy" boundaries.
The students saw over 20 performances. The shows include experimental, classical, movement-based and performance art. The students also watched opera.
"We would go to the shows together, then we would have class the next day and discuss every aspect about the show," Moll said. "I learned a lot (about) why some theater works and some doesn't."
Aside from learning about drama, students got to do some sightseeing on their own time. They were able to visit many different historical sites in London, such as St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Stonehenge, Tower Bridge and Stratford, the birth place and home of Shakespeare.
"One of my favorite memories will remain stepping into the British Library and
seeing the first folio of William Shakespeare's work before me behind (a) pane of
For four weeks, students had the opportunity to use London as their classroom.
"The point of the trip was to study theater and dance in a different location and use it to kind of open up our eyes," senior dance major Katia Kamra said. "Here we are not exposed to what we can be exposed to in London."
London is one of the major historical cities famous for art, theater and dance, all of which are major attributes of the city's culture.
Students learned by viewing the different types of theater performances in London.
"We saw Shakespeare performances performed live by the Royal Shakespeare Company," senior theater performance major Acacia Moll said. "It was a really great experience watching all the different plays, which will help give us all kinds of ideas for the future because we are all studying theater and wanting to go on in the field."
According to junior theater and performance major Maggie Conroy, the trip was an opportunity to give students a chance to live in London and experience the city outside of the normal "touristy" boundaries.
The students saw over 20 performances. The shows include experimental, classical, movement-based and performance art. The students also watched opera.
"We would go to the shows together, then we would have class the next day and discuss every aspect about the show," Moll said. "I learned a lot (about) why some theater works and some doesn't."
Aside from learning about drama, students got to do some sightseeing on their own time. They were able to visit many different historical sites in London, such as St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Stonehenge, Tower Bridge and Stratford, the birth place and home of Shakespeare.
"One of my favorite memories will remain stepping into the British Library and
seeing the first folio of William Shakespeare's work before me behind (a) pane of
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