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Two groups will be starting October 17th at the USC youth center in East Los Angeles. They will be held Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. These groups will be facilitated by Brent Blair and Cisco Garcia and focus on personal and social empowerment through theater games and exercises.

FACILITATORS BIOs
Brent Blair is an actor, designated Linklater voice instructor and MFT Intern who teaches voice in the BFA program and founded Applied Theatre Arts curricula at the USC School of Theatre where he is currently a senior lecturer. Awarded a Fulbright grant to research theatre and society among the Nigerian Igbo in 1992, he continued this exploration when he moved to USC in 1994 and implemented new courses in theatre and therapy, theatre in education and theatre in the community. In the Spring of 2001 he co-founded the Center for Theatre of the Oppressed and Applied Theatre Arts, Los Angeles and has worked with Augusto Boal both here and in Brazil steadily for the last 10 years. He has lead theatre workshops for incarcerated youth, immigrant workers, and communities on the margins on both coasts and overseas for the last 20 years. As an actor, he has initiated roles in world premieres in New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. Blair was voted one of the top ten most recommended USC teachers in the Fall of 2004 and received the Bill White Excellence in Teaching award from USC School of Theatre students in the Spring of 2005.

Cisco Garcia is the Between Men Coordinator at the Violence Intervention Program in Los Angeles, California. Cisco has 15 years experience in Austin, Texas and Los Angeles, California conducting educational support groups for young men in schools and juvenile justice facilities for the prevention of dating and sexual violence and co-authored the Between Men Facilitator’s Guide. Cisco provides training to adults on working with young men on issues of masculinity and equitable dating relationships, and organizes public education campaigns promoting men's strength without violence. He is co-founder of Austin’s Changing Lives Teen Theatre Company and serves on the Board of Directors of the Texas Council on Family Violence.

Please contact Ellen Sanchez for more information.
Ellen Sanchez
Director of Community Outreach
Violence Intervention Program
1721 Griffin Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90031
(323) 221-4134 ext 134
esanchez@vip-cmhc.org
 
 
"It was an honor to be part of a group committed to young individuals. I was inspired and filled with joy witnessing the depth of expression and creativity that these kids had. I saw and felt a sense of freedom to be unique and be different . I was so touched and moved by the appreciation every one had towards each individual for being part of a group, the trust and openness to be outrageous and have fun. If I helped one child to feel loved and empowered it's a wonderful feeling, I am so grateful that Santa Barbara has such a program that gives these kids the tools and awareness of the importance of community and self-worth that school class rooms do not have . Thank you AHA!"
- Love Aman,

 

 

AHA! is dedicated to the development of character, imagination, emotional intelligence,
and social conscience in teenagers
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