Karen’s New Beginning
JDPP’s New Beginnings program is a unique 10-week arts engagement with women and men who have returned to the community from carceral settings joining Trinity College students enrolled in a course in...
View ArticleWhat Can I Do?
Dear JDPP friend, When we started our performance residencies at York Correctional Institution in 2005, we were permitted to take the piece that we had developed at York, Time In, out to the public. It...
View ArticleWhere I’m From: Stories from SLAM
Sharing Lives Art Matters (SLAM) is our outreach to youth currently residing at the Bridgeport and Hartford juvenile detention facilities. JDPP teaching artists meet weekly throughout the year with the...
View ArticleEyes Wide Open
Eyes Wide Open A few weeks ago, I finished reading Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus–a captivating personal account of the deep intelligence and emotional capacity of octopuses. I was totally...
View ArticleDancing the Dance of Change
JOINING HANDS FOR JUSTICE AT ARTISTS COLLECTIVE—SO MANY THANKS! As we approach the completion of 2023, we find ourselves in a world torn apart by war, violence, and conflict. It is challenging to say...
View ArticleNew Year, More Boundaries Bridged
After a short break for the holidays our Bridging Boundaries programs are back in full swing. We are also excited to announce that after almost 4 years we will be able to hold an extended family visit...
View ArticleMoving Matters! at Parkville
Our Moving Matters! residency at Parkville Community School is now underway. JDPP teaching artists are exploring movement and visual arts with students in the 3rd and 4th grades. The theme for this...
View ArticleUnmuting
Is anybody there, is anybody listening? Can anybody hear me, is anybody there? Is my voice put on silence, my life put on mute? Is anybody listening, does anybody care? Is anybody there? A song from...
View ArticleThe Power of Performance
It is the morning after two performances of Unmuting at Christ Church Cathedral Community Room on February 27, presented by CT State Capital College and JDPP. I am pondering the moment when a...
View ArticleSpeaking of Rain
As we move into the month of April, the old adage of April showers bringing May flowers springs to mind. And we certainly had a head start to those showers in March and April is following true to form!...
View ArticleMothers in May
May always brings mothers to mind. And in 2001, it brought forward a particular group of mothers—the Mothers of the Disappeared in Chile and Argentina. These incredibly brave women took to the streets...
View ArticleBridging Boundaries Culminations
During May and June, several of our Bridging Boundaries programs held their culminating share days and family visits. The SLAM Step-Down program, which is a partnership with Community Partners in...
View ArticleA House Speaks
As we move into the month of June and the celebration of Juneteenth, a particular story from the JDPP repertory comes to mind—that of the Hempstead House in New London. The piece, titled In This House...
View ArticleMoms & Kids Summer Wrap-Up
This past weekend we welcomed 32 family members for an extended visit through our Moms & Kids program at York C.I. This was the first visit since Covid to take place in the school, allowing...
View ArticleWith These Hands…Performance at York C.I.
In a world that feels shadowed in darkness, a bright light shone from York Correctional Institution with the three performances of ‘With these Hands’ culminating the JDPP York Performance Residency on...
View ArticleAre All Americans Really Free?
The month of July always brings up the question of freedom for me. With the proliferation of flags flying and fireworks bursting, I wonder – is America, are all Americans really free? Is where we are...
View ArticleColor of Hope
August is the ending of summer and its green and the beginning of fall, with leaves showing small hints of color growing more brilliant in the coming days. It is a bridge month of endings and...
View ArticleFor the Love of Books
Reading transports me—it removes me from the present moment and expands my understanding of people in so many different contexts, of nature, of this world and past worlds. It imagines future worlds and...
View ArticleHer Body Speaks
Her Body Speaks Expression through dance is the poetry of movement language. It is the foundation upon which JDPP’s work is built. Giving voice, ensuring that those who are not listened to are heard,...
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