BEIJING, March 15, 2012 (City Weekend) — If you’ve ever taken a drama class, you know that acting is a blast and also makes you learn a lot about yourself–and that’s what makes Beijing-based NGO Hua Dan so fantastic.
Hua Dan uses drama to help under-served groups in rural communities improve their lives. And they do it with very little funding. With programs in Beijing and Sichuan, the non-profit focuses on using drama—including improv and theater game—to engage and inspire migrant women and children to reach their potential.
“Others might use dance or film, but we use theater to help them explore themselves,” says Hua Dan creative director Tao Yangyang.
One of the two main programs that Hua Dan runs is the Children’s Education Programme, which serves as a supplement to the standard Chinese education curriculum. Hua Dan partners with schools to put on a performance based on kids’ likes and needs. After that, they empower the children to develop their own piece. This process encourages role play in the classroom, and gives teachers a way to use performance as a learning tool.
“We use lots of virtue themes and use their creativity to explore their classrooms,” Tao says, adding that fostering imagination and creativity is especially crucial in classrooms with no money for props or costumes.
Hua Dan’s other major project, the Women Empowerment Programme, takes things a step further. The organization recognizes that migrant women generally lack resources which can help them create better futures for themselves and their families. It works with these women to develop their energy and confidence through performance, which Hua Dan believes will allow them to live richer, fuller lives.
The organization also trains some of the women who have participated in the Women Empowerment Programme to work within Hua Dan as program facilitators for both the women’s and children’s programs, offering them a chance at future earning potential and continued personal development whether they stay with Hua Dan long-term or move onto another career path.
“We want to empower facilitators to serve people from their same background,” Tao says. Moreover, internship opportunities are open to just about anybody—women, male and female teens, and foreigners—who shares Hua Dan’s dream.
“Hua Dan is not only about migrants,” Tao says, “but about people and their dreams and finding out what they really want to do.”
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