Summer Journey to China

This summer, Treehouse Shakers was given the opportunity to work with Star America Preschool and UOutlook Summer Camps to partner in China, bringing our arts in education to different programs. Over the next year, we will continue to build upon this exciting partnership, expanding upon our Chinese partnerships. Trey Coates-Mitchell, our exceptional company member and teaching artist, led the drama programs. He began in Shanghai, and then traveled to the outer provinces. The following piece, explores his teaching journey in China. This was a first for the company, and a first for Trey. Trey, who like everything he does, brought joy, passion and a wonderful work ethic to give these students the very best of Treehouse Shakers. -Mara McEwin, Artistic Director

Trey Coates-Mitchell leading a drama program in China

When teaching in China suddenly became an opportunity, I honestly froze up.  I was not exactly sure how I would accomplish this task.  I always heard, “teaching is a muscle.”  That statement certainly felt true.  But something I did not always hear (or perhaps wasn’t listening to) was that if not vigilant, teaching can become habitual, stale, or even flat.  At the time, those thoughts were also starting to feel true.  It seemed like I needed a new boundary or an unexpected challenge to expand and reinvigorate my work.  My curiosity in the classroom had always fallen somewhere between dance and clowning.  So having never taught in a different country, I knew this experience would challenge these concepts, strip me of my language tools, and hopefully force me to creatively investigate the universal power of voice, body, and mind.

Gingerbread Man crafts to accompany their drama techniques

The first thing I learned while working with students who do not speak English (drum roll please) is that they were working with a teacher who did not speak Chinese.  It sounds so simple, so fundamental, but we were all going to have to work through this conundrum.  We needed to find a deeper understanding of each other without typical language tools.  This separation actually jumpstarted our process and became like a bridge being built from two sides of a ravine.  On day one, my first observation was how physically “rough and tumble” the students were with me before, during, and after the acting exercises.  Teaching experiences in the US vary, of course, but typically there is a certain physical separation between teacher and student (with an exception perhaps when giving a specific dance or blocking correction).  Here there was a such a clear difference in physical boundaries when it came to self-expression.  What the teachers explained was that a lot of the students were nervous to speak to us at first, especially with English. (I wondered, as nervous as I am?) They went on to say how important theater and dance can be in building their confidence, explaining this as one possible reason for the rambunctious physical expression.  With no words, physical contact was their innocent way into conversation.  In other words, another form of communication.  This is why some of the students were pushing so hard at first to dance or play sports with me.  Boom.  It hit me hard with its simplicity.  This journey was going to be all about us being brave enough to communicate in our own unique ways until we were confident enough to find and speak the right words.

Drama Exercises

Does language ever hinder?  The most crucial relationship at that first location was Victoria, a camp coordinator and translator for my classes.  She guided me into an important exercise of choosing my words with more care, and in turn she had to think about exactly how to relate my descriptive visuals to students from a different culture.  I quickly realized my dramatic tendencies had led me down a road of using too many adjectives and emotional descriptives in class.  I was using my smooth-tongued delivery as a crutch, and in some ways I had muddied my class objectives.  I needed to get specific and then let my students elaborate further.  In addition, I needed to choose language that allowed us all to connect, regardless of vocabulary.  Without a true cultural understanding of how their language is constructed, it was my job to express concepts clearly.  It would not be enough to just ask that my words be translated into Chinese or vice versa, and a phone application was not always going to do the trick emotionally.  And what about the reverse?  Yes, I knew the purpose of this work was partly to improve the students’ English language skills by utilizing theater and dance methods.  But in the case of acting class and the introspection often required in that type of education, it would become crucial to encourage students to also respond in Chinese when they felt moved, in hopes they would articulate exactly what they were thinking.  The goal became to never have a single student hold back their thoughts and feelings because of not knowing the proper English words.

Performing for Parents at the Finale of Camp

The educational style of Treehouse Shakers was an important part of communicating thoughts to one another.  From my standpoint, the THS values of exploring material made creativity extremely accessible to these students because of the clear focus on Body, Voice, and Imagination.  This became our class map:  A mutual understanding that our creations would not solely rely on words and translation, but through all the doorways of storytelling.  We expanded our minds, and as classes progressed, the students and teachers became braver in sharing with each other.  Communication became a skill not solely based on language.  At one point, students with more visual arts skills began to show creativity and individuality through the crafting of props, costumes, and scenery to accompany our class work.  These students were not always the most vocal or physically free on stage, but they found a way into the process.  Some students even found their sports background as a jumping off point into dance by using their bodies to create the story.  For example, when we worked with “The Gingerbread Man” in class, a group of more athletically inclined kids became almost like a mini dance troupe, creating the home, kitchen, and oven with nothing but their bodies.  Others maybe who were not as comfortable with speaking English would also find different ways to contribute their voice.  In one inspired moment, several shy students began howling like wolves before the opening scene of our “Three Little Pigs” classwork.  At that very moment a student playing a horse clipped and clopped onstage with the use of two paper cups making contact with the stage floor.  Another student let out a resounding “MOO” behind the barn, and three little pigs came skipping on stage.  The play had begun.  Bingo!  They were understanding all the delicious possibilities.  By encouraging all forms of participation, every person was able to latch on to the bigger picture.  The students were not only thinking outside the box, but they were opening themselves up to the power we all possess to tell stories and communicate ideas.

Ultimately, this experience was only the beginning of a much bigger learning process, for all involved.  My personal goals now revolve around grasping more of the language and furthering my education on the culture in an effort to build theater programs that feel organic to the students and teachers.  Above all, the staff stressed the importance of cultivating these types of programs.  For them, its valued as an incredible way to teach self-expression, confidence, and lifelong team skills.  The teachers, students, and families in China seem so hungry for this type of global exposure to music, dance, and theater.  Often there was mention of giving the students a “Real American Broadway Camp” in China.  But as I flew back home, I kept wondering if this was really the beginning of an initiative to help nurture Chinese theater programs that focus on building skills  beyond the stage.  I do not know for sure, but I learned that it is all about what can be shared across that ravine and even the bridge that we can build together.  Clearly, there is so much humans have in common, and often our perceived boundaries are just that…lines on a map.  However, as creators, it turns out that what separates us is actually an opportunity to take a fresh new look at how we enrich the arts on a global scale.

About Trey Coates-Mitchell
Trey is a New York City based Writer, Director/Choreographer, Clown, and Teacher. A Virginia native, he graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts before receiving his BFA in Musical Theatre from Shenandoah University. Currently, Trey is a company member and teaching artist for Treehouse Shakers and has performed in their productions of Hatched, Let’s Talk About IT! and Under the Tangle.  Under Treehouse Shakers’ leadership, he has taught classes and residencies from pre-school to college. Trey has worked at Troy University, teaching and setting pieces for their Dance and Theatre Departments and is currently on faculty at Broadway Boot Camp as an Acting Teacher and Choreographer.  For four years, Trey served as the Master Musical Theatre Instructor and Acting for Dancers Teacher at the Joffrey Ballet School's Summer South Intensive. His performance career began on the road portraying Frank Lippencott in the National Tour of "Wonderful Town" and as The Cat in The Hat in "Seussical." Regionally, he was seen as L.A. in "Gypsy" at North Shore Music Theatre (starring Vicki Lewis) and as Posner in the regional premiere of "The History Boys" at Northern Stage Company.  As a Choreographer Trey’s credits include: The Pirates of Penzance at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre and Hairspray (SSMT 2017), Wonderful Town at The Gallery Players, Harold Pinter's "The Lover" at Gamut Theatre, Goodnight Moon, and Nine at Hollins University.  Associate Choreographer credits include: A Little Night Music at The Gallery Players (NYIT Nominee for Outstanding Production of a Musical), Rent, Dreamgirls, and Evita (The Gallery Players). Additional choreographer credits include: Oklahoma! (Burton Center for the Performing Arts), Into The Woods, Beauty and the Beast, Annie Get Your Gun (Byrd Players), and Thoroughly Modern Millie (The Jefferson Center). Recently he premiered two piece for SIDEWAYS, a contemporary dance/theatre company based in Atlanta and did interactive workshops with the Foster Schmidt Dance Academy for Down Syndrome. Trey is one of the creators of the new musical Sam’s Room. Sam’s Room was part of the National Alliance of Musical Theatre’s (NAMT) 2017 Festival of New Musicals, was the inaugural recipient of New York Theatre Barn's IMPACT Award, part of Red Mountain Theatre Company’s first Human Rights New Works Festival and played an extended sold out developmental production at the Cell Theatre. Trey is a proud member of Actors Equity Association, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and The Dramatists Guild of America.