What is an Arts & Creativity Residency?

An Arts & Creativity Residency gives students sustained time to work directly with practising artists. It is different from attending a performance or taking part in a Q&A. Students work with artists through the process of making: experimenting, rehearsing, responding to feedback, refining ideas and sharing work.

The emphasis is on what happens during that process. Students see how professional artists work and are expected to contribute rather than simply observe. Recent residencies have involved movement, physical theatre, improvisation, ensemble work, collaborative creation and performance.

The skills developed are not confined to the arts. Students have to communicate, listen, collaborate, adapt, manage themselves and remain engaged when the direction of the work is uncertain. From the first residency, participants were asked to work inclusively with students of different experience levels, move beyond what was comfortable, and demonstrate commitment and resilience.

How did the Residency Program begin?

The AISB Arts & Creativity Residency Program began in December 2023 with Bucharest’s LINOTIP Independent Choreographic Centre and artist Arcadie Rusu, supported by AISB & Co. Students spent the first part of the residency working at LINOTIP’s studio in central Bucharest before the work continued at AISB. The residency concluded with students sharing their workshop work, followed by LINOTIP’s professional performance of OMEN and a Q&A.

The partnership with LINOTIP has continued. Arcadie Rusu and Alexandra Zavelea have worked with AISB students through movement, space, rhythm and physical relationships, with students exploring how the body can communicate ideas and tell stories. The work has included both Elementary and Secondary students.

The relationship is particularly important because LINOTIP connects students with practising artists in Bucharest. For an international school, a residency can provide a practical connection between the school and the cultural life of its host country. Students are not only learning about Romania from within the school; they are working with people who are making contemporary art here.

How has the program developed?

In 2024, the program also welcomed Melbourne-based BYTE Back Yard Theatre Ensemble from Australia. Students worked in ensemble building, physical theatre and mixed-stimulus creation, with additional workshops for the High School production and DP Theatre. The residency concluded with student work, BYTE’s performance of The Problem is the Ending and a Q&A.

BYTE returns in October 2026. This residency reaches across several areas of Secondary learning, with workshops planned for Grades 8, 9 and 10 Theatre, DP Theatre and Grade 10 English. Improvisation, collaborative theatre-making, creative writing and performed poetry sit alongside performances of Martha and Me and Before She Knew Me.

Together, these residencies connect two important parts of an international education. Partnerships with Romanian artists strengthen students’ relationship with the country in which they live and learn. Visiting international artists bring different practices, experiences and perspectives into that relationship. The arts provide common ground between the two.

A residency therefore has value beyond producing a performance. Students encounter unfamiliar ways of working, make decisions with other people and discover what they can contribute to a creative process. They are asked to think beyond what they already know, work with care for the people around them, and use what they learn to make something that did not exist before.