Yes...and

[Music]

we

theater people are very familiar with

the term yes

and it is a staple for teaching

improvisation

for building upon a scene with a partner

yes and can stretch so much farther than

creating a scene

it can open the doors for exploration

collaboration and inclusion

to see that in action i want to tell you

about danielle

who is a dear friend an actor and

someone i’ve worked with for many years

in her words danielle battles with

cerebral palsy

she says those words make her sound like

a warrior

nine years ago collab came into

danielle’s life

co-lab is a non-profit organization that

offers

individuals with developmental

disabilities a creative and social

outlet through

theater arts here is danielle telling

her story

program at monday they made me

say wow i can’t really

do this because i honestly

always wanted to let but

as i die older because of my feet

impairment i was like i

i wouldn’t be a good actor

but when cola came out

like maybe i can’t do this

yes and danielle did do this

collab which stands for creative

opportunities without limits and

boundaries

not only told danielle yes but yes and

and she has become and now is an actor

danielle has delivered countless

punchlines that leave our audience

laughing

she has played a sentimental old lady on

a subway

and danielle’s performed professionally

at the queen’s theater in a midsummer

night’s dream

she is a part of our collab leaders

program where she works with our youth

ensemble

and new actors with developmental

disabilities by providing one-on-one

support

leading warm-ups and modeling theater

exercises

danielle as she says is still learning

as she goes

but what she said in that video quote

as i got older because of my speech

impediment

i was like i didn’t think i’d be a good

actor

end quote danielle was told

no you can’t perform you

can’t be an actor

and like danielle i wanted to be an

actor i got good roles in high school

and i had taken voice lessons for years

i got accepted into syracuse

university’s drama program

and i was psyched to eventually be on

broadway when i got to the program

it was intense hours of relearning

every bone and muscle in your body in

the movement classes

breathing just breathing for hours

without ever saying a word

and relearning your instincts and

breaking down barriers while you’re

trying to deliver lines and emotion

through a character

i realized acting was a lot harder than

my high school plays

and like danielle i was told i wouldn’t

be a good actor

my first professor in my first class

said

you’re uninteresting

in private office hours with another

professor

you’ll never be an actor you seek too

much validation from other people

after finishing a monologue i’d been

working on all semester

your accent is to midwestern

and after i finished playing stella in

an emotional scene from streetcar named

desire

you need to lose weight

i didn’t like that one

now alongside these acting classes

i was introduced to a program on monday

nights called young actors

where drama majors would work with

people with developmental disabilities

from the community

and create a show and

every class would start with a dance

party

some pop music would play and folks

would come in and catch up on the week

and then

the final song summer nights from greece

people would partner up and one person

would be a danny another person would be

a sandy

and we’d all belt out those final notes

the sahara

nights and we’d all be reaching our

hands out wide like we were performing

for a broadway audience

and it didn’t matter who was off key it

didn’t matter if a boy was playing sandy

and a girl was playing danny

and it it didn’t matter if you’d ever

gotten a lead before in your life

we were all there to say yes and to the

spontaneity of the moment

to the joy radiating around the

classroom

and to each other’s choices

the contrast of the negativity and the

no’s in the acting classes

and the positivity and yes ands of these

monday nights at young actors

started to eat at me as these two ideas

were pulling against each other

i remember being outside the theater

with a friend crying and just

confessing i just want to use theater to

help

people and i realized i could say

yes and to that idea and switch my

thinking

acting could become a hobby and this

theater with people with developmental

disabilities can become

a career with that spirit in mind

right after college some theater friends

and i moved to new york city

and started collab and as you can

imagine at the beginning we were told no

a lot we were told no by

feeders that already had an access

program we were told no

by disability agencies that already had

a theater program

and we were told no by funders who just

wanted us to have some more experience

so we had to say yes and to ourselves

we made a website a logo made up the

name over margaritas

and just one funder said yes and

and with that we create rented space and

created a class

with 13 people with developmental

disabilities

danielle was in our second class

and over the last 10 years collab has

said yes and a lot

it is a staple for how we create our

ensemble in our shows

we work with actors like danielle and

actors with a range of developmental

disabilities

in a collab class you might see one

actor communicating

with a device powered with her eyes

you might see another actor running

around the stage instead of ever saying

a line

and you might see another actor taking

center stage singing

opera after not speaking for months

the actors are told yes you’re welcome

here

and we will work with whatever you bring

into the room

so frequently they are like danielle’s

story

they are told no or worse be quiet

or worse hands down stop flapping

when we create inclusive yes and spaces

everyone is given permission to be

themselves

to share creative ideas and

to collaborate with others

and that can lead to some awesome

products like a collab show

i’m going to show you another clip in

this clip it starts with a brightly

colored block falling on a factory floor

and the workers our ensemble of people

with and without disabilities

are going to say yes and to this new

opportunity

art

[Music]

what is that um he’s ours

let’s call it art

[Music]

you can make your own art our own

art

i can make my own art yep

there’s no right or wrong

no need to play

we can make our own art

we can make something great

there’s no right or wrong

[Music]

[Music]

in that video there was a lot of yes and

happening

the actors created the choreography some

of the lyrics

and the character profiles then a

writing team that created the book

music and lyrics says yes to those ideas

and then creates a full script and score

that is then rehearsed and performed by

our actors in the ensemble

as danielle says she is still learning

as she goes

as am i but we both agree that when we

say

yes and to new opportunities and ideas

we end up learning creating and

celebrating ourselves and

each other thank you tedx broadway for

letting me share my story

and to those of you watching and

listening next time we hear ourselves

saying no

to a new idea no to a new opportunity

or no to connecting with somebody who

might be different than us

what if instead of that no we said yes

and