LETTERS OF SOLIDARITY
Stop Hate Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
The National Alliance of Acting Teachers finds violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) heartbreaking, sickening, and unacceptable in any shape or form. This organization stands with our AAPI colleagues in rejecting and renouncing the hateful, harmful and alarming acts of violence that took place in Atlanta. As we send yet another message this year to our members decrying hate crimes, we continue to be alarmed by the increased racist anti-Asian rhetoric and nationwide assaults against the AAPI community. These injustices must not stand unexamined and unaddressed. It is far past time that public leaders, and all of us, act against the single biggest threat to American democracy: white supremacy. We at the National Alliance of Acting Teachers believe not only that racism has no place in our organization, our field, our nation, our lives and our work, but also that each one of us must actively fight against it in all its forms. Eliminating racism and ensuring social justice is an ongoing effort that demands our continued awareness and action. As theatre teachers and practitioners, the National Alliance pledges to use our art and resources to promote empathy, diversity, inclusion, and respect.
#StopAsianHate
Black Lives Matter
(June 2020) Over the past few days the outpouring of potent and beautifully articulated statements of solidarity and outrage from theatres, universities, and individuals – in the wake of the senseless killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others — has been at once inspiring, sobering, and heartening.
Particularly notable has been the call for action — tangible steps to take us beyond the sincere expression of sentiment and into actual change.
As an organization that strives to play a vital role in the lives of our members, our art form and our society, the National Alliance of Acting Teachers adds its voice to this collective call to action. We acknowledge that, in our very profession, we can and must play a role in calling out, reversing, and beginning to heal the systemic racism that permeates our society. The same risks we ask of our students, we must ask of ourselves: honesty, vulnerability, empathy, trust, and the courage to act.
We are an alliance of teachers committed to creating and fostering a diverse and equitable community of performing artists. We fervently concur with those who call for justice and an end to violence against Black Americans, and further, against all Persons of Color, Indigenous Peoples, and any member of our society who has been “othered”. Concomitantly, we stand with all efforts to dismantle discrimination, racism, and white supremacy in all its forms.
Nelson Mandela once described the African concept of ubuntu – or, I am because you are – as “the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others.” We believe that through our work as acting teachers and artists we can help increase the connection to our own humanity and that of others, lessen the distance between people, and expand the “seeing” that is the essence of theatre and of change.
#BlackLivesMatter
“Art is the heart’s explosion on the world. Music. Dance. Poetry. Art on cars, on walls, on our skins. There is probably no more powerful force for change in this uncertain and crisis-ridden world than young people and their art. It is the consciousness of the world breaking away from the strangle grip of an archaic social order.”
~Luis J. Rodriguez
Who we are.
Over the last two decades, together with our sister organization The Actors Center, we have served as a leading advocate for the creative and professional health of acting teachers. Our Teacher Development Program has been the primary vehicle in this important and sustaining effort, supporting the professional growth of well over 240 teachers since the program’s inception 21 years ago, under the guidance of luminaries Lloyd Richards, Earle Gister, Slava Dolgachev, Ron Van Lieu, J. Michael Miller, and others.
The National Alliance of Acting Teachers was launched in 2014 as an independent offshoot from The Actors Center. Expanding our programming to now include an annual congress, a professional society, regional events and workshops, and the forthcoming launch of Parodos—a publication devoted to teaching acting—our work is born from a collective desire to maintain excellence in our craft, while providing a creative home and ongoing dialogue for those in the field of actor training.
Journal Issue No. 2
with articles by David Bridel, Amy Herzberg, John Freeman, and Jane Baldwin.
The four pillars of our work.
Where we teach.
Our membership currently spans 30 states and more than 80 actor training programs. Our members teach in a wide array of actor training programs—ranging from some of the country’s leading conservatory programs to small liberal arts schools—including MFA, BFA, BA programs, public and private universities, community colleges, private acting studios, and high schools.
