For some, theatricality and storytelling may not lend themselves to professional development.
For Justine Parks Rose, it鈥檚 all in a day鈥檚 work. As a human resources professional
with a background in gymnastics, acrobatics, theater and storytelling, Ms. Rose strives
to bring all of those elements together to teach individuals how to harness their
leadership, management and interpersonal skills.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been interested in creative ways to tell stories, particularly through movement,鈥� says Ms. Rose, co-founder of the Ethos Physical Theatre Company in Collingswood, New Jersey and alumna of the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts. 鈥淢ovement is relational in how we interact with each other, and how we interact with the world. That goes along with what I鈥檝e learned in the Organizational Development and Leadership program at 黑料传送门鈥攚hat did you take away from an interaction and how did you connect with that person.
Ms. Rose said she came to 黑料传送门 after her boss at her former employer, Bancroft, connected her with a graduate of the ODL program.
鈥淪he told me the program examined interprofessionalism from a human issues perspective,鈥� says Ms. Rose. 鈥淭he way she described it was almost like a religious experience! I couldn鈥檛 pass up an opportunity to explore that for myself. The program really allowed me to see the world as larger than myself; that I could take the skills I learned and apply them to how I communicate with the wider world.鈥�
For Ms. Rose, that communication is first and foremost through the arts. Ms. Rose founded Ethos 2015 with her husband, Aaron, also an ODL professional. They imbue performance with aerials, acrobatics, narrative and puppetry. Ms. Rose calls it 鈥渋ntegrative arts鈥濃�攆iguring out which type of performance would best convey the story they鈥檙e trying to tell. Additionally, she has performed movement-forward pieces at the Philadelphia and Orlando fringe festivals and has performed in Philly First Person Arts story slams.
Ms. Rose is also partnering with the Nutty Duchess Tea Room in October for an Alice in Wonderland- themed event during the Collingswood Book Festival in Collingswood, New Jersey. During the day, the shop will be transformed into an interactive wonderland designed to teach children about emotions and in the evening will host a "Mad Pride Tea Party" to end stigma.
In addition, Ethos has a literary contract with author Ben Loory to adapt some selections from his book Stories for the Nighttime and Some for the Day, into a series of shows slated for 2020. 鈥淚t was one of the first books my husband shared with me, so it鈥檚 very special,鈥� she says.
As a facilitator, she aims to integrate her theatricality into her ODL work. She said she once ran a retreat on process improvement and change for managers, and assigned everyone to run a hot chocolate shop. Each team had to make hot chocolate but throughout the process, they would find an essential item missing, and so had to improvise.
鈥淎cting something out like that helps people see how they can interact and better communicate with each other to adapt to change and work better as a team,鈥� she said.