As a Creative Mentor Alyson takes a child's unique artistic interests and helps to foster an open, creative, and energetic space in which to create the artistic project of the child's dreams. Whether it is writing a novel, a book of poetry, a play, screenplay, or musical; choreographing a modern ballet; or writing songs and recording a CD; Alyson's creative spirit, openness, and organizational ability to make things happen all come out in her mentoring sessions.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Alyson is currently a Creative Mentor and Teaching Artist in New York City and has worked in NYC with LEAP, Neighborhood Music and Arts, Girls Write Now, Music for Aardvarks, and the New York City Emerging Artists Rock Camp. She has taught Music (songwriting, piano, guitar), Dance (ballet, modern, jazz, West African, creative movement), Drama (plays and musicals), and Creative Writing (poetry, fiction, playwrighting, screenwriting) across the United States, and was Director of both the Creative Arts Program at the Courtenay Language Arts Center and the Chicago National Organization for Women's Young Women's Empowerment Resource Project in Chicago, IL. She has taught in pre-schools, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, universities, and has also run workshops at arts camps and festivals.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Alyson holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and is co-author of the short-film Sitting on Fire, which was based on her original short story and was selected for numerous film festivals including the California Independent Film Festival and the Philadelphia Fiction and Documentary Festival for which it won Special Prize for Best Short Film. Alyson is also author of the one-act play Inside the House which was performed as part of BlueForms Theatre Group's Reading Series, and she also wrote the book, music, and lyrics for a full-length musical under the direction of Raphael Crystal (BMI Musical Theater Workshop Alumnus, New York Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off Broadway Musical for Kuni-Leml). In 2007 Alyson traveled to Mali, West Africa with partial funding from the Wolfe Travel Grant to research for her book Body Less (excerpts from which have been published in BlazeVOX, Mêlée, and 27 Rue de Fleurs), study dance with Michelle Bach-Coulibaly (Brown University), and study guitar with Sinaly Pappus Dibate. Alyson is also a performing singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music has been recognized by publications such as Paste, Relix, Beyond Race, The Deli, La Zine, CTN-Music, and more, and her music has been heard on FOX Television and Rubyfruit Radio (SPIN Magazine Essential Mix), among others. Her most recent album, "Tuscaloosa," was engineered by Denise Barbarita (David Byrne, Mary J. Blige) and features Jason Mercer (Ani DiFranco, Ron Sexsmith) on bass.
RATES
Alyson is available to mentor individuals, small groups, and conduct creative workshops on a sliding scale.
CONTACT
Please contact Alyson at: ahgwrites [at] gmail [dot] com to set up a free Creative Mentoring consultation.