I danced with a prince a few weeks ago. But more about that later....

As someone who is invited into organizations to lead workshops, I participate in many pre-session conference calls with my clients from school districts and hospitals. They teach me about their organization and its learning goals and I speak to how I can customize a training to work toward those goals and what I feel I will need before the session starts and during the session itself to ‘set the stage’ for success.

The interaction between my clients and myself is exactly what Ronee Pelloi, producer in residence at Arena Stage, is talking about when she writes about the relationship between visiting artists and theater companies. Ronee spent a year working with a touring artist (Anna Deveare Smith) and is now at Arena Stage, in Washington, D.C., where her theater, like many, invites visiting artists to perform. Ronee is interested in how the collaboration between visiting artist and theater can be productive, expansive and successful. Beyond the obvious benefit of producing a great show for those who buy tickets, what more could happen? How might the partnership go a step further?