CHICAGO, Oct. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Second City Training Center, the world's largest school of improvisational arts and part of legendary comedy institution The Second City, is proud to announce a groundbreaking collaboration with the US State Department, Chicago Sister Cities International (an initiative of World Business Chicago), World Learning, and the US Embassy in Amman to facilitate an improv-to-sketch program in Amman, Jordan for up-and-coming Jordanian comedians.
"We are thrilled to share The Second City, one of Chicago's great cultural treasures, with our sister city, Amman," said Leroy Allala, executive director of Chicago Sister Cities International. "People-to-people exchanges are the bedrock of the sister cities movement, and I know that participants from both Amman and Chicago will benefit from the experience."
The program will cover the philosophies and methods Second City uses to create material, including the fundamental principles of improv, as well as sketch comedy techniques.
"Cross-cultural understanding is at the heart of The Second City's origin story. It hearkens back to our roots in social work with Viola Spolin. Today, we use improv as a tool for developing empathy, trust and rapport at work, at play, and in life," said Jenna Steege, Learning & Development Manager - Strategic International Partnerships, The Second City.
"Our cultural programming is rooted in connecting Americans and Jordanians to celebrate our shared values, and in this case, our shared enjoyment of comedy. The upcoming workshop, held in collaboration with The Second City, and our Jordanian partner, Ro'ya Academy for Media Training, will not only encourage the arts as a profession and growing sector of the Jordanian economy, but it will also strengthen, advance, and foster a strong civil society and active citizenry in Jordan. We see great value in improv and comedy as a means to foster empathy and raise awareness about social issues, and are pleased to have experts from The Second City bring this approach to Jordan," said Adrienne B. Nutzman, Counselor for Public Affairs, U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan.
The program, which will bring The Second City Training Center to Jordan for the first time, will be held at Ro'ya Academy for Media Training in Amman from October 12th-16th, 2018.
SOURCE The Second City Training Center
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