Institute carries on the legacy of NYSTI, partners with BOCES to keep districts informed

The curtain may have closed for good on the New York State Theater Institute last year, but theater programs for school-aged children are enjoying a revival, thanks to the Theater Institute at Sage.

The Theater Institute, which provides arts-in-education programming to Capital Region students in grades K-12 under the umbrella of the Creative and Performing Arts Department at Russell Sage College, patterns their offerings after NYSTI, which was disbanded in 2010 due to state budget reductions.

“We’re not exactly NYSTI, because they were a state-run organization, but we’re trying to continue most of the types of programming that NYSTI offered,” says David Bunce, a teacher and artist-in-residence at Russell Sage College. “We’re offering all of the educational support NYSTI offered, but wrapped within the theater department at Sage. We’re going to do a school matinee schedule around the creative and performing arts shows, and wrap our services around those.”

The Theater Institute at Sage allows students to work with college students studying performing arts as well as theater professionals. Recently, the Institute offered an April vacation theater camp that focused on "stage combat," or techniques for performing fight scenes for stage and film. The Institute also offers Saturday classes.

Currently, two small touring productions from the Institute are visiting local schools: The B-Bomb Show, which deals with the issue of bullying for grades K-5, and Bizzy The Safety Dog, which teaches safety to children in grades K-3.

This summer, the Institute will run a three-week camp for students ages 9 through 16, as well as a four-week "Shakespeare-intensive" camp for students ages 14 to 18.

The BOCES Arts & Enrichment program has partnered with the Theater Institute to make Capital Region districts aware of their offerings and ensure students have access to educational theater opportunities through the Institute's programming.

"We're very happy to see the Theater Institute at Sage continuing the work that NYSTI did, but with their own unique style," says BOCES Arts & Enrichment Program Manager Mindy Noxon Iannotti. "We're also happy to partner with them to spread the word to our districts about all of the great programming they offer students."

For more information about the Theater Institute at Sage, visit their website, or find them on Facebook.