Education Commons^™

Vidigal Nights: Big Dreams In A Small Favela, Christina Thornell

Capstones

This 14-minute documentary follows Tatiane and Rafa, two aspiring actors in Rio de Janeiro's favela of Vidigal in Brazil. They are both performing in “Noites de Vidigal” (Nights of Vidigal) a community play about their favela and the challenges it has faced in the last decades. As we follow Tatiane and Rafa while they rehearse and perform, viewers are offered a window into their lives and the world around them.

Tatiane and Rafa aren't just aspiring actors but community members who experience firsthand the joys and hardships of living in a favela.

Vidigal, the favela Tatiane and Rafa live in, …

Theater Education: Thinking Outside Of The Black Box, Raheve Gray

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A 2005 report by the Rand Corporation concluded that "Involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skill" (Smith). A 2012 report from the National Endowment for the Arts mirrored these findings, stating that “Students who have arts-rich experiences in school do better across-the-board academically, they also become more active and engaged citizens, voting, volunteering, and generally participating at higher rates than their peers” (Garelick 1). The above statements speak to the mounting evidence that arts in education provide extensive benefits for students fortunate enough to have them as part of …