2019 AINx Talks - Shadae Mcdaniel: “Yes And”: Building Bridges and Impacting Poverty
Channel: Applied Improvisation Network
Date: 20/12/2019

In this AINX talk, Shadae McDaniel will share her personal, artistic and professional journey to discovering and making use of the power of “yes, and…” to transform lives and impact poverty.

As the City Leader of the ASP of New Jersey, Shadae McDaniel makes use of the power of improvisational performance to build bridges between young people from Newark’s poor neighborhoods and affluent adults from surrounding suburbs, bringing them together to transform isolation and alienation into connection and community. McDaniel grew up poor in Teaneck, NJ, one of three children whose Caribbean mother worked day and night to make ends meet. As a child, she was drawn to dance because it helped her forget she was a “kid with too many adult responsibilities.” Years later, she would bring her love of dance together with non-profit program experience to pursue a personal mission to help other young people meet the challenges of growing up poor. But it wasn’t until McDaniel was introduced to the non-profit All Stars Project’s innovative application of improvisation to youth development and building bridges across social and economic divides that she was able to fully realize that mission.

2019 AIN Conference at Stony Brook