Education in the arts is not about the transmission of techniques; it is about the cultivation of a specific kind of attention. At NYU Abu Dhabi, we bring together students from vastly different backgrounds and ask them to build a shared language of performance. This process is inherently political and deeply personal.
Decolonizing the Curriculum
We move away from the traditional Eurocentric canon to explore performance traditions from across the Global South. By putting Kalidasa in conversation with Beckett, or investigating the intersections of Sufi ritual and modern scenography, we allow our students to see themselves as part of a much broader, more complex history of the stage.
The Rehearsal Room as Laboratory
In our workshops, we treat every mistake as a data point. The goal is not to produce a polished product but to foster a spirit of rigorous inquiry. We encourage our students to be 'thinker-practitioners'—artists who are as comfortable with critical theory as they are with physical theatre.
Teaching is a constant reminder that the future of theatre lies not in our past achievements, but in the questions our students are brave enough to ask today.