Darpana for development: performance and change. The Darpana outreach programme: performance, education and change
Yarrow, R.
Seagull Theatre Quarterly 1997(13): 54-61
1997
PMID: 12295807 Document Number: 525819
This paper reports on the advancement and assessment results of three project strategies--Awakening Awareness, Jagruti, and Parivartan--based on project documentations, interviews and direct observation conducted among 6th grade school children in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Awakening Awareness aimed to motivate children in facing problems through story telling. Results of this pilot project indicate a significant impact on the children. Jagruti discusses the environmental and health issues through performing arts. Results reveal that the communication approach is an effective method in providing knowledge-awareness-skill among students. Parivartan, which included music and dance performance in initiating social, cultural, gender and health change revealed significant shifts in their behavior. These three projects exhibit success in the promotion of knowledge and awareness, instigation of attitude change, and stimulation of subsequent responsible action through performative and interactive methods. Furthermore, these initiatives provided more significance in the local and national contexts, which provides not only a way to develop responsibility, but also a practical, testable and direct addition to the aesthetic and educational repertoire.