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Welcome!
It is our joy to welcome you and your family to our
opening season – 2008 -2009. Come join us and
experience The Creative Living Room ™, a new
creative and educational arts space offering year
round innovative, multi-dimensional classes and
summer camps in music, dance, theatre, art, Spanish
and more.
Our intimate space will bring artistic and cultural
enrichment to young children, families, teens and
adults with specialized intergenerational
programming and workshops that also support families
with special needs. Community, Outreach and Culture
are also essential aspects of our mission. Our “Creative
Family Performance Series” provides a special
afternoon of family entertainment, while adults can
enjoy “First Fridays”, an evening on the town of
uplifting performances right in the heart of
Swarthmore.
We are four local women with a love of children and
passion for the arts. Our experiences and visions as
teachers, performing artists, and parents, coalesced
in forming The Creative Living Room ™. We invite you
to create along with us and encourage you to take
classes on your own and together with your babies,
toddlers, brothers, sisters, teens, moms, dads,
grandparents and friends.
It is our deepest wish to help each person connect
to the depth of creativity within them, while having
fun and exploring their natural inclinations to
sing, dance, paint, write, draw, act, play, feel,
imagine, learn, dream…and so much more. Our living
room gives you the space to just be yourself… to
take time… to take a breath… be still…and be
creative.
Join us and let the magic begin!
Elizabeth Bromley, Allison DeSalvo, Lynn Falk and
Rosemary Fox
Directors
Our Mission Statement
Inspire, Connect, Create!
The mission of The Creative Living Room ™ is to
provide a new creative arts space where families can
come together to celebrate the arts, share, learn
and grow, and in so doing, receive renewed energy,
inspiration, and understanding to bring into their
lives, their homes, and their communities.
Our goals are to:
-
instill
a life long love of the arts in children that is
carried into adulthood
nurture the creative connection in adults
-
develop
meaningful connections through the arts that
enhance one’s life and relationships
-
cultivate the parent/child bond
-
build
an art’s community around the family unit that
serves the greater community
-
capitalize on the diversity within our
neighborhoods by promoting cultural exchange and
awareness through the arts
-
reach
out through community service and partnerships,
bringing the arts to underserved and
underprivileged children and families
-
provide
a venue for teachers, artists, and performers to
be creative, develop, and present their works
Our Classes and
Programs
The Creative Living Room ™ gives students
opportunities for self discovery on many unique
levels. Classes are taught by exceptional teaching
artists who are highly experienced professionals
dedicated to nurturing the creative spirit of the
student by tuning in to their specific needs in a
supportive and caring environment. Classes are
designed with the understanding that the arts can be
a gateway for illuminating not only the gifts,
talents and potential of each person, but also the
dynamic inner life of the student so that they may
thrive in every way possible.
For growing kids of all ages, classes and programs
will:
-
stimulate cognitive, physical and emotional
development
-
cultivate emerging musical and artistic
appreciation and interests
-
encourage creativity, self expression and
imagination
-
develop
social skills, language, literacy, listening and
cooperation
-
promote
a sense of wholeness and wellbeing
-
be a
place to have fun, make friends and share with
family
For Adults, classes and programs will provide:
-
personal
growth
-
renewed
energy
-
time to
be creative
-
space
to relax
-
ways to
exercise
-
occasions to mix and mingle with friends
-
opportunities to connect with yourself while
learning something new
-
a
chance to explore an activity you have always
wanted to pursue or return to an activity you
used to love to do
-
techniques to hone parenting skills
-
a place
to play, have fun and share with your family.
The Creative Living Room ™ will give all
students a safe, non-judgmental space to forge new
paths, and or rekindle old ones. For a full listing
of our classes, click here.
Our Teaching Philosophy
Early Childhood through Teen ~ Grow and
Flourish
At The Creative Living Room ™ we approach
teaching from the point of view that children are
born already full of creativity. It is our role to
guide and facilitate their natural instincts by
providing a loving, accepting environment where they
can grow and flourish.
When children are taught with an awareness and
sensitivity to the profound connections between
creativity and learning, these connections are like
perennial seeds imbedded in a young child’s sense of
being in the world that when nurtured with care
continually sprout. The arts facilitate these
creative connections naturally and can provide a
dynamic foundation for physical, emotional, social
and intellectual development. This foundation can
carry them through their growing years with a sense
of who they are and a feeling of being understood
and appreciated.
This is especially important in the later years when
a teen’s sense of self is vulnerable. Our Living
Room will be a ‘home away from home’ that celebrates
the independent spirit and individual creativity of
teens, helping them stay connected in a safe,
positive and fun place that encourages freedom of
expression in unexpected and exciting ways.
Adults ~ Connect & Re-Connect
We want to encourage adults to think about your own
creative needs or wishes. So often the busyness of
everyday life takes time and energy away from
creative living. We cannot reverse or stop the
demands on our time, but we can make simple choices
that honor the relationship we have with our own
mind, body and heart. We invite adults of all ages
to consider or imagine what you've always wanted to
do – study dance, learn Spanish, or explore singing,
acting or painting.
When Lynn was approached by a woman interested in
dance classes, she asked her if she had ever studied
dance before. Although Lynn expected the usual –
“Yes, when I was younger,” the woman replied, "No.
I'm not a dancer, but I feel like there's one inside
me. Can I do this?" Lynn replied, “Of course you
can. Everyone can. It's never too late!”
We aspire for The Creative Living Room ™ to be
a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle. A creative
outlet that may not have existed in your life, now
can. Make time to play again, to connect and
reconnect to your childlike roots and wisdom. We are
here to give everyone creative experiences to grow
from as individuals and as a community.
About the Directors
Elizabeth Bromley
Director of the Spanish and
Personal Development Programs
Director of Finance
I am a North American who has spent almost half of
my lifetime outside of the United States. Throughout
my life, my greatest challenge has been how to bring
together my different passions: singing, the
psychology of parenting and culture. The Creative Living Room ™ is offering me this opportunity.
Growing up, my first love was singing. I would sing
everywhere and anywhere permitted. When graduating
from High School in 1987, I decided to go to school
abroad to the University of Saint Andrews and see
the world from a different angle. In Scotland, I
shared this passion for singing with many vocal
groups, arranging and composing music. During my
final year in Scotland, I discovered my second great
interest, psychology, and particularly the human
experience during the early years of childhood.
A year later, in 1992, once again, curious about how
others live outside of the United States, I moved to
Costa Rica. There I shared both my music and my love
for children with families on the Atlantic Coast. I
started a preschool for children whose families had
been impacted by an earthquake. After some time, I
married; co founded a linguistic center, had two of
my three children, and eventually went back to
school to complete both a Bachelors in Psychology in
Spanish and Masters in Group Clinical Psychology,
also in Spanish. As a mother, I found the intricate
relationship between parents and children
particularly interesting and became passionate about
parenting, leading me to read voraciously and
eventually become certified as a Parenting
Effectiveness Trainer.
After 12 years in Costa Rica, I returned to the
United States and began working in Philadelphia. I
worked as an outpatient therapist for children, led
support groups, therapy groups and parenting
workshops for adults. I also led playgroups, therapy
and literacy groups for children. While working with
these children, I found myself including songs any
time I could.
After my third child was born in 2005, wanting to
raise him bilingual as I did with the other two, I
began writing songs in Spanish for children. Now 100
songs later, I have developed a program for teaching
Spanish to children through music, called Cantemos
Juntos (Let’s Sing Together).
My philosophy for teaching is to offer a positive
and nurturing experience for children where they
learn through movement and song that it is fun to
learn a language and discover a new culture. With
the opportunity to braid all of my passions under
one roof, I am thrilled to be working beside three
other fabulous artists who inspire me on a weekly
basis to constantly improve myself as a professional
, as an artist and as a person in general. For more
information visit www.cantemosjuntos.com.
Allison DeSalvo
Director of the Music and Art
Programs
Director of Programming
Growing up in SF I could be found singing up in a
tree, dancing around the house, putting on a play
for the neighborhood kids in our garage or water
coloring at the beach. These passions, music, dance
art and theater have been life partners molding and
shaping me like a sculptor.
My first love was dance and at three I began lessons
with Mrs. Hunter, my first teacher. I went on to
seriously study ballet at SF Ballet and modern dance
through high school. At twelve, I enrolled in ACT’s
Young Conservatory to study theater, began formal
voice lessons and fell in love with opera, when a
friend gave me a record of Maria Callas. I moved to
New York City at eighteen and received my BA drama
from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts launching my
professional career as an actress and singer with
two European tours and performances at the renowned
opera house La Scala in Milan.
Around this time, Iiving in London in 1987, I met
and began working with the extraordinary
artist/healer, Cheryl Stoll Thygeson, who poised the
question to me “What does it mean to be an artist?”
From that day I began a transformative journey to
understand and explore the relationship between art,
healing and life. Cheryl is my cherished mentor and
teacher with whom I have studied sacred dance with
insight into the profound connections between
creative development, expression and the alignment
of the body, mind and heart.
Over the years I performed in various music-theater
productions, opera and recitals on off and off-off
B’way, regionally and in Europe. Throughout I
continued private classical training as a student of
the Jim Carson Voice Studio and pursed courses at
the Mannis School of Music Extension Division in
Manhattan.
I have been teaching in early childhood since 1991
beginning with recreational arts centers, arts in
education programs working with developmentally
delayed children, and in private & public schools
giving me an opportunity to use my experience and
training in new and meaningful ways. I founded World
of Song Productions in 1992 to unite my love of the
performing arts with my love of children and to
provide music concerts, classes and products for
children and families. A year later I designed the
Music, Art and Me Program teaching full time in my
own neighborhood of Brooklyn until I was invited to
be the Head teacher of a Two’s program at Grace
Church School in 1998. I recorded my first CD of
children’s music, Happiness Is All Around You, which
received the Children Music Web award, and began
writing songs and stories. In 2004 it became
necessary, after 22 years, for my husband and me to
leave NY for PA. It was a delight to be the
children’s programmer at the Swarthmore Public
Library for last 3 ½ years while introducing my
classes and concerts to our area.
I approach teaching from the point of view that
children/people are innately creative. I strive to
provide a classroom where one’s natural instincts
and joyful expressiveness can be nurtured to grow
and flourish engaging the whole child/person as a
physical, emotional, social, intellectual and
spiritual being - inspiring and reaching beyond the
art form ultimately to celebrate life.
Over 10 years ago I had a vision of opening an arts
center. This dream is being realized with The Creative Living Room ™ which I share with three
friends and amazing partners in my newfound home and
community here in Swarthmore. Thank you to all who
have welcomed me into your children’s lives. It is a
blessing and a gift that makes my heart sing like it
did when I was three. And most especially…. Thank
You Mom and Dad for Everything! For more information
visit www.worldofsong.com.
Lynn Falk
Director of the Dance Program
Director of Operations
I am a modern dancer/teacher/choreographer and also
a mom. I took by first ballet class at the age of 5.
It was too rigid for me and I dabbled in gymnastics
before returning to dance – this time jazz –when I
was 10. I was fortunate to find a phenomenal teacher
and technician who had been Ann Reinking's assistant
teacher and I was hooked. Year after year I added
another discipline to my study, ballet, and then
tap. As a junior in high school, I was 1 of 11
dancers in New Jersey chosen to attend the
Governor's School of the Arts where I was introduced
to modern dance.
Though a Biology major, I danced throughout my four
years at Franklin & Marshall College with the
student company and studied ballet at nearby
Millersville University. I had the fortune to work
with inspirational professionals who recreated
historic works by modern dance pioneers, Isadora
Duncan and Doris Humphrey as well as contemporary
choreographers. As a junior in college, I attended
the Bates Dance Festival in Maine and performed a
solo by renowned African American choreographer
Dianne McIntyre who, to my parent's dismay,
encouraged me to pursue dance professionally.
After college I earned a Masters in Dance Science
from the University of Oregon, where I also taught
modern, ballet, jazz and tap to undergraduates. I
moved back east to Baltimore and danced for D.C
based Deborah Riley Dance Projects and
Maryland-based Doug Hamby Dance and Kinetics Dance
Theatre. I completed a two-year weekend
certification in Laban Movement Analysis which gave
me a breadth of ways to observe experience, analyze
and articulate dance and all forms of movement.
In Philadelphia I worked as a solo artist, teacher
and Managing Director of Group Motion/Kumquat Dance
Center. I returned to teach on the faculty of my
Alma matter, Franklin & Marshall College and
completed one year of doctoral studies in dance at
Temple University with a prestigious University
Fellowship before becoming a mother to two
daughters. I opted not to return to academe, because
what I really missed was not researching (reading or
writing about) dance, but the physicality and
creativity of doing it, teaching and sharing it with
others. Upon moving to Swarthmore, I returned to
teaching creative movement and introductory
ballet/modern classes for children ages 2 ½ - 6 at
the Swarthmore Community Center and modern dance in
the after school program at The School in Rose
Valley.
As a teacher what is most important for me is
creating a joyful and positive learning process and
experience. I love to be spontaneous and take
direction from the needs of my students. I want my
students to grow outwardly in their creativity and
technique as well as inwardly as confident and happy
people. I am thrilled to bring modern dance to The Creative Living Room ™.
Rosemary Fox
Director of the Theatre Program
Director of Marketing
As the director of the theatre program at The Creative Living Room ™ I welcome everyone to explore
the diverse and multidimensional experience that the
theatre program offers. From the small child to the
mature adult, from the experienced to the
inexperienced the theatre program has much to offer
everyone. Theatre saved my life. I was a troubled
teen, lost in a world I didn’t understand, looking
for a place to belong. I got involved with the wrong
crowd and started getting into serious trouble.
Finally my mom and the good sisters at school gave
me an ultimatum, either do something constructive
with my time, or spend the rest of my life in
Saturday detentions. My mom signed me up for acting
classes. I was hooked. I found what I was looking
for and jumped into it with my whole heart and soul.
I come to The Creative Living Room ™ with over 25
years experience in the theatre. I have acted in,
directed and produced hundreds of plays in both
community and professional theatre. From the age of
13 to 18 I studied my craft at Hedgerow Theatre
along side wonderful theatre artists. After earning
BA in acting and directing from DeSales University,
I moved to NYC, started a theatre company and worked
three jobs at the same time to pay the rent. I moved
back to Philly where I started my own theatre
company and worked with other professional theatres
acting, directing and producing theatre. I have
conducted playwriting workshops with the
Philadelphia Young Playwrights Workshop, and taught
voice over technique at Mike Lemon Casting. I have
also worked professionally in television and radio
commercials.
Since coming to Swarthmore with my husband and three
children I have conducted two playwriting workshops
at the Swarthmore Public Library, produced and
directed The Good Doctor by Neil Simon and have been
teaching Creative Dramatics to 3 ½ - 5 year olds.
My philosophy on teaching is all about the process
and impact. Theatre can teach us a lot about
ourselves and our world. With children there is
potential to teach a variety of life arts from
communication, empathy and cooperation to history,
math and project planning. I also want to stress the
positive impact that theatre can have on our
community. It is my desire to share with everyone
the multi- dimensional opportunities that theatre
has to offer to everyone.
The Creative Living Room ™ home is where the art
is!
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