Latest / CINEMACTIVIST / S03E17 - Meet Juggerknot Theatre Company
Transcript
- John C. Lyons: everyone, welcome to Cinema Activist. I'm John Lyons, your host, and I have two awesome guests here from Juggerknot Theatre Company. I have Natasha Bravo and Tanya Bravo. How are you two doing? Tanya Bravo: Good. Thank you for having us, John. Natasha Bravo: Good, good. Happy to be here. John C. Lyons: It's so awesome to have you both here. you were both so busy at the Miami Immersive Intensive. I feel like I got a lot of quality time with pretty much everyone there except for, you know, the core group that was running the show because it was a lot. but I'm so happy that you agreed to be here just so that I could spend some time and learn about, you know, the origins of Juggerknot and yourselves finding your way through your art journeys and talk about the Miami immersive, intensive and things going forward. So thank you. Tanya Bravo: Thank you, thank you for having us. Natasha Bravo: Yeah. John C. Lyons: So Natasha and Tanya Bravo, are you sisters? Tanya Bravo: We are. You can't tell Natasha Bravo: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: we're like talking at the same time. John C. Lyons: Ha ha ha. Tanya Bravo: Yes, we're sisters. John C. Lyons: so have you always been in Florida? Where where do you come from? Tanya Bravo: So yeah, I was born and raised in Florida. So I'm the first, I'm actually the first American in my family. Tasha was she can tell you where she was born. Natasha Bravo: I was born in England haphazardly. But our parents, our father's Colombian, and our mother was from Spain. John C. Lyons: Okay, awesome. Awesome. how did you find your way into the arts and like what art medium for both of you, you know, were you initially attracted to and kind of take me through your journeys of getting to immersive? Like were you both performers? Were you always behind the scenes? Like, how'd you get here? Natasha Bravo: I'll let Tanya start with that because I don't come from this world at all. John C. Lyons: Okay. Tanya Bravo: But then she does in twenty, twenty sixteen. so I didn't I didn't really get involved in in performance and in theater until I till I was in college. So I went to Barry University. And I I double majored in broadcast communication and and in theater. but I was, you know, was acting. I was doing a lot of their, you know stage performances and all of that. And that was sort of, you know, my first introduction into the world of theater. And when I graduated, I I was an actor. So I was, you know, auditioning and performing locally here in Miami. And then I started Juggerknot really early on. the itch for producing came fairly quickly. but I was still acting and I was still producing. Very early on, just to give you the cliff notes, we had a space in in an old motel. a woman had basically bought this old motel off of Biscayne Boulevard. Her brother was an actor and she basically gave us one of the rooms and we turned it into like a small black box theater. So John C. Lyons: Okay. Tanya Bravo: we weren't doing immersive, but it was sort of like we were in a non-traditional, you know, space. And so that was That's really the early days of of Juggerknot. And we were doing, you know, regular proscenium, very sort of, you know, raw in your face theater. And then from there I moved to New York. So I was in New York for a while. I was trying to do Miami, New York, John C. Lyons: Mm-hmm. Tanya Bravo: juggernaut. During that time my career path changed and I did get into sort of the corporate environment, all in lifestyle. I worked with, you know, MySpace, I worked with Heineken, I worked with a lot of big brands creating lifestyle productions, music, art, stuff like that. And then, John C. Lyons: Okay. Tanya Bravo: yeah, and then I made my way back to theater. I had been working with Heineken for about four years. And I I really I did the backwards thing, right? Like I left corporate America. I was super burnt out. I wanted to, you know, get start working again with Juggerknot. during that time to get inspired and understand really how I wanted Juggerknot to come back on the scene again because we had been sort of dark for a while. had taken an intensive with the Labyrinth Theatre Company in New York. And through that intensive, which you know, I have so many friends, and we'll get into like how many friends you made also at the intensive, but I have so many collaborators that came out of that intensive. And and one of them was a director that we ended up working with to do the first Miami motel stories. But I met a woman named Tamilla Woodard, who now is the chair of Yale School of Drama and the acting department. John C. Lyons: well. Tanya Bravo: But she had a theater company called Pop Up Theatrics. And I was in one of her shows that was called Broken City, and it was an immersive show for one person at a time. And John C. Lyons: Mm-hmm. Tanya Bravo: I was completely, completely blown away by this form and what it could do, it was it was done through the city and and basically through the Lower East Side, and you were kind of getting all this history and dropped into like retail locations and stuff like that. And that really opened up my eyes to like, okay, when we bring Juggerknot back, this is the type of work that John C. Lyons: Mm. Tanya Bravo: we want to do. And we wrote a grant and we got it. And it was for Miami Motel Stories. And so that is that marked 2016, which is we are now in our 10th year of creating immersive work and training. And that's when my sister sort of came on this journey with me and has been working with alongside me since then. So she can tell you what her experiences and all the insanity, Natasha Bravo: Yeah, I saw Tanya Bravo: all the insane things we've done. John C. Lyons: Beautiful. Natasha Bravo: I saw Tanya come back so inspired and the force that she is that I was just kind of like, wow. And she explained her story. This it just it was a natural evolution. There was also like in our personal life, we were going through a very cathartic, our mom had passed away. Like that something was being born, basically. And I was excited because the experience she had in New York. Something like that in Miami is so critical. I'm a pediatric occupational therapist. And so I am very interested in the dynamic of families and with people who are different or disabilities and and how you know the mind works and our community, Miami specifically, is as you know, it's not a walking city. everything is very laid out, spread out. And so for people to come and have an intimate experience and learn about. the neighborhoods, which is the nature of what Miami Motel Stories does, was fascinating to me. I'm also someone who I had been to theater. It was not part of my like life. I was more into dance and other parts, but I also have an attention thing going on. So when I would go to theater, I'd, you know, I'd kind of you're sitting, you have no skin in the game, you're watching, and you can, you know, Fly away. And that's that was me. So there's also this like collaborative, interesting part, which is like I'm the perfect audience for this. because it's constantly something that's that's bringing you in at a visceral level. So you stay, John C. Lyons: Mm-hmm. Natasha Bravo: you land, you're in your body, you're feeling things. so the whole package was fascinating, and that's what started in 2016 with Miami Motel stories, Little Havana. John C. Lyons: wow. Okay, so let's backtrack just a little bit and appreciate the that Cliff Notes version. So when did you originally, Tanya, create Juggerknot? Tanya Bravo: So Juggerknot if you look on Sunbiz was created John C. Lyons: Ha ha ha. Tanya Bravo: in nineteen ninety nine. Yeah. John C. Lyons: Okay. All right. Nineteen ninety nine and you said it was you did like traditional theater then and it was in Miami. And then yeah, then you took a little hiatus. You were in New York. How did you describe to Natasha Tanya Bravo: Mm. John C. Lyons: Broken City? Like how did you describe that that experience? Because that's such a struggle, like, you know, with Noah [Nelson] and the You know, his his group doing a lot of that reporting and messaging is such a challenge kind of for us. How did you describe it to your sister and get her on board with this? Tanya Bravo: Well, I think I don't remember how I described it, but I I John C. Lyons: You remember Natasha? Natasha Bravo: Yeah, starting with you're on the street and this person comes up to you and you don't know who it is if it's a person from the street or if it's an actor Tanya Bravo: Mm. Natasha Bravo: and you know, kind of the whole I had never heard of such a thing, right? That was kind of like Tanya Bravo: Yeah, because if I remember the audience was told to just like, hey, meet at this meeting point in front of this like mural or something. And we were there too, right? Like the the John C. Lyons: Okay. Tanya Bravo: actors. And so they just sort of show up and then there was a moment where they were like, Okay, this is the show. And then, John C. Lyons: huh. Tanya Bravo: you know, off you would go. But whatever I Natasha Bravo: But it wasn't a show. You always described it as like you didn't know it was a show. Tanya Bravo: Right. It wasn't like John C. Lyons: Uh-huh. Tanya Bravo: you you were you didn't really know what you were you you did sign up for a show, you paid for a ticket, right? But you John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: just you you didn't know what the format would be in. And I've I found that that was really fascinating, right? John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: the the sub the the surprise element, not knowing who's an actor, who's not an actor, where you know, what do you mean we're just meeting on this on the street? So I'm sure that when I described it to her, one, John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: it was like nothing I had ever been to, nothing I had ever performed in. John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: and as a performer, I, you know, I remember they're like, okay, now you're gonna take this umbrella and you're going to walk this audience member, say your monologue to the next place. And the intimacy that I had with this person in this moment that we shared, you know, as an actor, I had never experienced that, right? Like you always when you do proscenium theater, it's you know, the audiences over there, you know, this is so this is so active. And and I think that's one of the really beautiful things about this type of work as well, that it for the actor and for the audience member, there is like this exchange of energy and there's this exchange of, you know, this just happened, these moments that just happened between the two of you. That will never be able to be replicated again. And that John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: magic, you know, that magic. So I'm sure, I'm sure I said, I don't know what I said to her, but she knew whatever I was gonna do next was gonna ha I I mean, I I honestly think the moment though, Tasha, that you kind of were understanding what I was doing. Cause when we wrote this grant for the Knight Foundation and we got it, I was working with Juan Sanchez, who's who's a playwright. and I don't think it was until my sister went to the building. because this was in a in a in a motel in in Little John C. Lyons: Mm. Mm-hmm. Tanya Bravo: Havana, and we had done like a huge mural on the side of the building that's Miami Motel stories. And I think when she Because remember, Tasha you said that you had taken a walk and then you walked up to the building and you were like, What in the world is my sister doing? What is she doing? Yeah. Natasha Bravo: Yeah, it took like the several mile walk and I like, let me see. And it was a gutted motel because the way we work John C. Lyons: Yeah. Natasha Bravo: is kind of in neighborhoods that are going on transition, right? To revive the history of that neighborhood before it's about to become something completely different. and I got there and I was like, you walked in and you could See the history of this building. I mean, it's been around since what like early 1900s, and and it was in my backyard, which was weird, right? In Miami, and I I didn't know the history of it, and it was fascinating history. And I was like, What what we Miami's Tanya Bravo: Mm. Natasha Bravo: a transient city. We live here, but we don't know, we don't know about much in our own community, why certain street names are what they are. And so I was like, John C. Lyons: huh. Natasha Bravo: wow, what an opportunity to highlight what this neighborhood was until present day. John C. Lyons: Mm-hmm. Natasha Bravo: And if I was fascinated by it and I grew up in Miami, imagine other people who are gonna be coming together in this intimate situation to learn about their own community. So I was like John C. Lyons: Yeah. Yeah. Natasha Bravo: sold on it as soon as I saw this building that had so much John C. Lyons: Yeah, what a beautiful concept for a show. how did you come to this concept, Tanya? you're participating in in this show, you come back, you're jazzed. Yeah, you're Tanya Bravo: jazzed and I'm I've just I'm not working for my corporate job. I'm like, I I need I I've I know that I have this nonprofit that's you know been sitting there dark for a while. I want to bring it back. I I want to do what I love, which is like I want to go back to theater. And you know, how do I and and while this whole process is happening, I'm literally going to a Starbucks every day and my friend Juan Sanchez who's a playwright had Done a play that was called Paradise Motel. And it was a piece of theater that took place in one motel room. And it basically told the history of that building in one hotel room. And I was like, my gosh, this is fascinating. And when I was exploring writing this grant, I said, well, you know, I just did this thing. What if we make this immersive? What if we take over an entire motel building. And every room is a different decade in that building. And we have people walk into these experiences. and so that was basically him and it him and I just riffing off that idea. and you know, I wrote the grant, we got the grant, the grant was a three year grant. So we ended up doing Miami Motel Stories you know, even longer than than three years. We s we did it for five years in different neighborhoods. So we did John C. Lyons: wow. Tanya Bravo: Little Havana, we did MIMO, we did Winwood Stories, we did, you know, North Beach. Natasha Bravo: And we would more than Tanya Bravo: Yeah. And then off of that, you know, s after COVID created other smaller, you know, so you know, that that that in itself, that whole experience of us doing Miami Motel stories for that long period of time for five years. everything that we learned, all the different directors that worked with us, that, you know, I feel are experts in the field and we learned so much from, really brought us to where we are today, which is, you know, how do you build an ecosystem in a city where, you know, there is no training in this type of work. fast forward to, you know, two years ago when we started doing the training program. you know, why did that come about? And it came about because if we want, if we want to continue to do this type of work and we wanna work with, you know, people that are directors that are from Miami, playwrights that are from Miami, actors, we need to create a space where people can actually train in this. You know, I love the fact that people come in from out of town to train with a bunch of different people, but I also love that we're providing this opportunity for our hometown, Natasha Bravo: No. Tanya Bravo: yeah, for local people as well, because it's something that I as a, as a producer, as an actor, I also constantly had to leave Miami to get this sort of training. So I think it's really, really important that like what I love is the same way that I had that experience in New York. With the Labyrinth Theatre Company, and I still work with people in that cohort. I love that we can create that here in Miami and that people are making more work. Like that you met Brooke and that you're creating work with her is super exciting to me. So it's, you know, it's an ever-evolving format and structure, but the fact that it's here in Miami, I think really feeds into the ecosystem. Because what we're seeing is people are starting to develop more work. People are are writing more because they understand the craft more. They're not as scared anymore. They're like, okay, yeah, there is a room available. There's a building. There's a park. There, you know, that's what I think is fascinating about immersive, that it's like you are breaking open this little box. And once you realize, hey, I can do this work anywhere, John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: like the opportunities become grand as an artist. John C. Lyons: And it's infectious for sure. Like, you know, when you give people that opportunity and you're building that community, yeah, we all like you said, we're all f like feeding off of each other. And it seems like the you know, in the in the hotel show, I mean it's now like a series, right? I didn't even realize that that you had many Natasha Bravo: Anything I tell stories. John C. Lyons: different yeah, it looks like in in all that you do you recognize the importance of that community in building each other up and having a strong foundation to start with is is really cool and really beautiful. I'm curious, like just to backtrack a little to the hotel shows, it is a huge ask for like a venue for a community, like did you outreach to a specific community or region and kind of build the groundwork there and then find a place or did you find a place first? Like how Tanya Bravo: Yeah. John C. Lyons: did how does it work logistically? Tanya Bravo: So the first one was a pitch, right? Like I went to John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: I had a contact through a friend to two really cool developers in the Little Havana area who were really into the community, right? Like they were, you know, they were the type of developers that were like, we don't want to build up, you know, we want artists here. Like they really cared about the community and when I they owned the building and when I came, I mean, I literally opened the pitch deck and they were like, Yes, like yes, we wanna do it. Why? Because John C. Lyons: Awesome. Tanya Bravo: they were so interest they loved the history. They knew that there was so much history in that building. And they also owned another, you know, music venue down the street. So they they were very engaged in the community, but they were also kind of like history buffs. John C. Lyons: Hm. Tanya Bravo: Like they they knew all about it. So this was like, yeah, Natasha Bravo: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: they w they were fascinated by it and they were like, Here's the building, right? Once we finished Little Havana, another developer was like, Well, how about this? I mean, it's a diff John C. Lyons: that's great. 'Cause you had a proof of con you had proven yourselves, right? Like you had the model. Yeah, that's okay. So if somebody reached Natasha Bravo: And it's interesting. Tanya Bravo: Yeah. John C. Lyons: out to you, that's amazing. Natasha Bravo: Because I think some of them caught wind or understood that they're not they're kind of frowned upon a lot because when a neighborhood is going under transition or it's being gentrified or it's being right, what can I do to give back? And you're also John C. Lyons: Yeah. Natasha Bravo: positioning it to them like, hey, we're bringing attention to your field, your business, your your Tanya Bravo: Bayes him. Natasha Bravo: your your space now, let's honor it. Let's honor the stories, let's honor the people. and the way it's done with a writer, you know. just kind of spending a lot of time in that neighborhood and getting to know the nooks and crannies and the underbelly stories, things that are not out there. So so all the stories that we do wind up telling are not the traditional what everybody knows and bringing it to life. It's like the individual that had the shoe John C. Lyons: Mm. Natasha Bravo: stop shoe shop around the corner and is now having to close that. Or, you know, if some big bombastic crime that happens and like what what's the undercurrent that nobody really knows the story of. So everybody who walks out, whether you're you know, we ha we've had a lot of tourists come and stuff that, gets a a greater understanding and then the developer at that point is kinda like at least, I don't know, making peace with himself sometimes, kind of Tanya Bravo: Yeah. And I wanna say, I wanna say there are a lot of developers, like for instance, Abra Jane and Natasha Bravo: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: Bill Mart the who who are already Natasha Bravo: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: were interested in this because they love history and they wanna preserve their community and they wanna preserve their building. So and not only that, but you're like you're literally telling we're not going into a building and telling another story. We're telling the story of that building. So like the architecture. The neighborhood, everything that's happened in there is part of the story. So like the building becomes part of the story. The b the building is like it's another character. It's, it's like you, you're, it's reflecting. So I think that that also was really exciting to some of these developers and people that we worked with. It definitely is a story of gentrification, right? Like most John C. Lyons: Mm-hmm. Tanya Bravo: of the buildings that we were going into were in transition. I mean, when we went to Little Havana, they literally it it was a you know, had been so many things, including a hospital, but like weeks before, you know, it had been originally like, hey, just check in by the hour kind of thing. And then it just became like, hey, we're setting up shop and we're staying here. So people that maybe came in with John C. Lyons: well. Tanya Bravo: their backpack and then just stayed for years and years and then the building got bought and That was interesting because there was a caregiver. caregiver, is that how you call it? Remember, is that what they call is that what we called I don't know why I'm calling him a caregiver, but like it felt like like he was Natasha Bravo: the the property manager. We actually made the John C. Lyons: Okay. Got it. Tanya Bravo: a caregiver. But he literally walked us room by room and told us like, this person lived here, this is what happened to them and gave us details. Though those Natasha Bravo: Ella Fitzgerald stayed in this room. Yeah. Tanya Bravo: things made themselves John C. Lyons: That's great. Tanya Bravo: it, you know, went into the story as well. You know, we worked with a place that's called the Wynwood Yard that literally the next day was torn down. and a building placed there. So it's kind Natasha Bravo: Should I Tanya Bravo: of like, hey, let us tell the story. Let us tell the story of this place before it disappears, right? John C. Lyons: Wow. Tanya Bravo: It's a really unique moment that we, you know, we were offered and given and feel s really privileged to have done. Natasha Bravo: Well. John C. Lyons: Okay. So yeah, I didn't quite understand that that part of it. Okay. So the time frame is, yeah, there's something's going to change with this space, this building, this location. You come in before that happens and kind Tanya Bravo: Correct. John C. Lyons: of like, okay, establish the history. It's really beautiful. it's a great concept. Tanya Bravo: thank you. John C. Lyons: yeah, so and maybe it's like yeah, it's a way of saying goodbye. it's gotta be cathartic for people in the in the area. Like man, I'm sure there's a lot of different feelings for people that attended these shows from the community. Natasha Bravo: It's it's interesting 'cause there's a really broad age range of people that come as well. you've got the younger people because we try to make it, you know, it's a Friday night out, right? You're coming to the theater, you're doing something, you're not sitting back and listening and watching and taking stuff in. You're engaging and we have partners where there might be like a a serving of a drink given. And at the end there's always an exit where there is maybe a bar, a place for people to to to get together. And what you find Tanya Bravo: Together, yeah. John C. Lyons: good. Natasha Bravo: is that they're all interacting because they've had this, you know, these rooms are maybe four to six people each. They're they're in a motel room and we're acknowledging John C. Lyons: Mm-hmm. Natasha Bravo: it as a motel room during that period of time, whatever decade it is. And they're convening and they're talking about and they're talking about their history here. And some of the older people like, I remember when this was that. You know, how did you guys know that? And it's really a way to establish community through John C. Lyons: Yeah. Natasha Bravo: you know, being human, like calling it your own hard strings. my parents went through that. Tanya Bravo: Yeah, and John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: and the playwright and I wanna call out Juan Sanchez who like he he wrote all of them. I mean, the amount of the John C. Lyons: Wow. You had one writer, is that what you're saying? Wow. Okay. Juan, cheers. Tanya Bravo: Yeah. Which we would change like in the future, right? For all I mean, it was a an an enormous amount of work. It was you know, at times super, super stressful because again, like you're saying, like, how how does it happen? Like, how do you get the building? You know, we were running in a way where the opportunity would come and we would say yes, because we were like, Okay, when when is that going to happen again? Right. which maybe in hindsight. was probably difficult for all of us, like our team, our writer, all of us, right? We we were working sort of like in a reactive way. So like I think back John C. Lyons: Sure. Tanya Bravo: now and I'm like, that's really crazy. We, you know, we built that whole thing in like three, yeah, three, four months Natasha Bravo: You were doing everybody's job. Everybody was doing my everything. John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: of we're going into spaces that like, you know, we have to put the air conditionings in. And like, I mean, the amount of weird stuff that we did while we did Miami Motel stories is funny. I mean, I think it's taking us You know, when we stopped during COVID, because we, you know, right now we don't produce Miami Motel stories right now. It stopped it stopped because of COVID when we John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: did North Beach, we were in the middle of our extension. But it really gave us time to stop and go, Okay, what did we just do for the past five years? Cause we had no time. We weren't really like evaluating what we had created because it John C. Lyons: Mm-hmm. Tanya Bravo: was happening so quickly. And I think enough time has passed now. For us to evaluate how would we do things differently now? and that really brought us into kind of like going small again. Like, what what are we doing? What's the purpose? Why what is this craft exactly? Why is it so magical? What why are people reacting the way that they are? And you know, made us look internally as a theater company and go, okay, we've got to like dive deeper into this craft, even though we've been building it. But you know, and again, it's like the whole training, you know, it's it's for the community, it's for, it's for us as well to understand how, you know, you when you're when you're building immersive as a theater company, I feel like you live in this like tiny little bubble you're like, where are my other people? Where are the other people all over the world John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: doing this? It feels so niche. Natasha Bravo: You create like the opportunity for the other people to step in. Cause you had this experimental five John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: Yeah, but it Natasha Bravo: years and then okay, we're digesting this and how do we really do it? Because you probably was like, This building's available, let's go. They only have a team Tanya Bravo: Ha ha Natasha Bravo: date. Sit up to fire code, okay, we're in. And we need a new theme. Tanya Bravo: Yeah, okay, Juan, we've got to write this in three months. Crazy. Like do the Yeah, but but what I think has been interesting for us is being able to now sort of like open up and speak to other makers that that had the same experience, right? Like people like in third rail who like you John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: know have been doing this for a long time and had a building and an understanding. How people like, you know, how other people have been doing this type of work, right? Because John C. Lyons: Mm-hmm. Tanya Bravo: I feel like everybody has their sort of stamp and their way of doing it and their structure. so it's been really beautiful for us to kind of like step back a little bit and and and also be students, be be students John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: of this craft. Because I think a lot of the time, yes, you're building and you're doing it. But it's nice to step back and understand how other people are building it, how you can refine your craft, how you can make it better. so yeah. And and one of the things that I wanted to go back that we started doing is creating smaller shows, right? So when we came back, we we came back with after when I say came back, came back after COVID when we were allowed to John C. Lyons: Okay. Tanya Bravo: do We did a show that was called the Blues Opera that took place in a small little duplex in Little Havana. And we worked with a writer who was not a playwright. He was a musician who had all these stories about his family, his mother who had passed away of Alzheimer's, his dad who had like committed suicide, and his whole process of that. it was, you know, w we were like, I we love these stories. Can we make it work? We worked with an amazing director Ana Maggiano who who worked with him, you know, individually and on on writing this. And we did a very small immersive show in a house for 12 people. And for us, this was like, okay, let's get back to the heart of what exactly it is we're doing and why John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: we're doing it. really kind of like scale down. we also started Miami Bus Stop Stories, which is an educational program for kids. Like How does immersive impact education and children? Natasha Bravo: Actually. Tanya Bravo: How can kids learn history and retain it in a different way if you are doing it through the lens of immersive? so that was Natasha Bravo: So this was during the heart of twenty twenty COVID. And everyone kind John C. Lyons: okay. Natasha Bravo: of immersive and education was all online. And we worked with Miami Dave Public Schools and created these scenes where we had three different neighborhoods and they would be on a bus, right? So this also required some film and there was each student had their own headset and iPad. That was the only thing that we required. and they were on the bus. So they were engaging with this person. They would get to a neighborhood, do the drive-by. So we had rented an actual school bus and done like this whole video when they were, you know, referencing certain things, then they'd get dropped off at this bus stop. So they were learning the history through these characters that were undergoing the evolution of that neighborhood during a certain period. And the teachers were So grateful. We we didn't know how this was gonna land. We just knew we were like, we need to do something during COVID, and and we knew students were tapped out and teachers were tapped out and needed something John C. Lyons: Yeah. Natasha Bravo: to engage. And this was amazing because it was engaging because they could see the screen names and they could ask each other questions, right? and they were starting to question certain things that happened in a different way than when it's like two dimensional reading and just taking in that information. John C. Lyons: Right. Natasha Bravo: There was that emotive Tanya Bravo: Mm. Natasha Bravo: piece that really drew them in, which is fascinating because at the end of the day, that's what we need to continue to hear back from our educators, right? Like, they John C. Lyons: Yeah. Natasha Bravo: were drawn in the next day, they had so many questions, et cetera. and now that's gonna be brought back. John C. Lyons: I was just gonna Tanya Bravo: Yeah, so John C. Lyons: ask 'cause that sounds like yeah, it sounds like such a great idea. How long was the like did you just do it at a couple schools or how long was the program for? Tanya Bravo: So we did it for Natasha Bravo: We connect to it. Tanya Bravo: two years. We did it for two years. John C. Lyons: wow. Okay. Tanya Bravo: and so we, you know, the first one we worked with a playwright, Francis Luce Benson. So the first one was focused on, you know, the black neighborhood, so Little Haiti, Overtown, Liberty and Liberty City. And so kind of the same concept of Miami Motel stories where like they're jumping off and they're meeting these pioneers from the neighborhood and kind of going between present day and past and like the evolution and all that. So after we did that, we did, you know, another set and then we did it live at a museum, a muse the History Miami Museum. And they had a a beautiful exhibit that's called Tropical Dreams that really follows like the evolution of the creation of, you know, Miami, Natasha Bravo: I mean. Tanya Bravo: South Florida. And so we basically, you know, went into the museum, what's there, what's not there, and kind of made like whatever is on the wall come to life and have the John C. Lyons: Awesome. Tanya Bravo: students basically walk through history meeting you know all of these folks and you know we had two two different tracks and now the next evolution of this is we're actually going into a neighborhood where we will be announcing that soon and doing this live. Yeah. John C. Lyons: Awesome. Natasha Bravo: People might walk through John C. Lyons: Awesome. Natasha Bravo: a storefront, go into a home, really not knowing where they're going. But that's where you find people most engaged, right? When they have all their antenna up, like what's happening. John C. Lyons: Mm-hmm. Yeah, so okay, so it sounds like history and community are like two very big things in the juggernaut universe for sure. To Natasha Bravo: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: Yeah. And space John C. Lyons: the to this point. Tanya Bravo: and and and you know, architecture and what that John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: means. Like what what what story can that tell? Like making sure that you're like, Hey, w let's honor space. Let's let's let's give back to what you know what this was, right? So I think that's a like an exciting point always with with the work that we do. Natasha Bravo: And I think also in a time that we're so tech savvy and living in that space, how do we get people again? I go back to Miami, not being necessarily a walking city, get people to come to other communities, right? And partner with restaurants or with other places around there that step outside of your zone, right? And learn something. And for the youth, I find it's a lot of like civic pride that starts developing and understanding. having more appreciation for where you're from and understanding and being able to convey it and dialogue about it, whether it's in the classroom or, you know, with their families, et cetera, you know? John C. Lyons: So did you realize during these shows, which I imagine are like massive scale, the hotel stories and stuff, that you needed to, you know, kind of work on the infrastructure at Miami, and that's what led into kind of the education side of things. Because you saw a need there to Tanya Bravo: So I think, in terms of like, you know, how did the training come about, is that the question? John C. Lyons: Yeah. Yeah. How did that all get started? Tanya Bravo: Well, I mean, I think because I I as a the producer performer was constantly leaving Miami to, you know, explore training. When I lived in New York, I remember it's like you it was part of like, it was part of just what you did, like, you know, every week you would go to your, you know, if you weren't working, you were going to like your class, right? And I John C. Lyons: Okay. Tanya Bravo: I I saw that that was not in the DNA of the people here in Miami, mostly because it w just wasn't available and offered, right? so that was something I was always sort of aware of. And I was constantly leaving. Like in the summertime I would leave, I would go take intensives, I would take classes, whatever it may be. and I think As we, you know, started creating these larger scale programs and you know, we started working with different directors in the field because there there really weren't any directors here that we could tap into that understood immersive. It was like you know, when when you're doing a project at that scale and you have like 30 actors and you've got to move audience around, like we need to work with people who have done this before and who understand how to do that. so I think you know, when everybody had their cathartic moment during during COVID and we all sort of stopped and we started, you know, integrating Miami bus stop stories and we started, you know, sort of delving into education and how does, you know, immersive really, you know, impact students? How does immersive help teach history? I think that's when we kind of started exploring like Okay, let's do some workshops. Let's let's bring some more people down into the community. and it was really wonderful to feel that that drive in the community, that need, that thirst. I was like, okay, they John C. Lyons: Uh-huh. Tanya Bravo: these folks want it. These folks, these folks, they're thirsty for it. People want it. It's just nobody was bringing it to the community, right? Nobody it wasn't, John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: it wasn't available. So it's you know, it's not fair to be like, you know, Miami, you know, actors or Miami, you know, performers are, you know, they don't train. they do. They might go away to train. It John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: just wasn't here. So I think, you know, it was twofold. We needed it as an organization. I think we were like, okay, we're ready to like now get more information about this craft, And started going to a lot of conferences too, started going out and seeing more work out, you know, besides just creating our own. And I John C. Lyons: Mm-hmm. Tanya Bravo: think that really when we started doing those first couple of workshops, we were like, all right, let's let's try to let's try to build something. and people came and it was and it was beautiful. And what what I really loved about the training program as well is a lot of the guest artists, a lot of the makers, a lot of the companies, they've never seen each other, you know, direct or they've never been in the room. They're like, yeah, I've heard of her. She's amazing. my gosh, I get to sit in the room and watch her teach a class or watch him teach a class. Or I get to just like network with them as well, like being in a more relaxed environment where you really get to meet. Other makers in the field and understand how they work too. So I think it's twofold. I think it's like you've got a room of really thirsty participants that are like, how John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: do you do the thing? And then you also have a room of makers who are, you know, placed in a different type of environment where they can take each other's classes. How cool is that? You know, I John C. Lyons: Super cool. So where did you decide like what was the entry Natasha Bravo: Like what was the end? John C. Lyons: point for the workshops? Which offerings of classes and stuff did you have first? Tanya Bravo: So we we did we worked with live arts and we did a workshop series. It was like a three-month offering, right? So we brought in Ana Mărgineanu who was the director for the blues opera, the director for Conjuring the King, the director for Miami Motel Stories, North Beach, the last one, and you know just working with her, right? Like how does how does she build her work? Like so two-day workshops, you know, really delving deep into how they what is their process and how they create their work. And we also brought in Jennine from from Third Rail and and Octavio Campos, who's a choreographer who we've worked with so many times. Like he's he's been part of our team and he's just wonderful. So that that was really the first offering. And we saw right away, okay, there is there's a need. People are showing up to this. People are excited about it. And people, are excited about immersive. You know, so many times we're like, my god, the buzzword, it's such a it is, John C. Lyons: Right. Tanya Bravo: I it's like an abused word, right? Everybody John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: wants to tag it. And so I felt like also part of our responsibility is no, can we please create some workshops that Are you really telling these folks that are out there trying to create this work and say that it's immersive. You know, w how many times have you been to a show where they're like, it's immersive, and we're all sitting in seats and like we're watching something on stage and maybe they they gave us something and all of a sudden John C. Lyons: Right. Tanya Bravo: it's immersive. And it's like a responsibility to okay, you know, here are people that are actively doing this work in the field. Please come, please understand what this craft is. really honoring. Honoring the craft of of of what it is. People that have been doing this for a really, really long time and it must be incredibly infuriating and frustrating. So Natasha Bravo: Or to help makers or people who want to make thoughtfully curate and and define what their type of immersive is, right? So John C. Lyons: Mm-hmm. Natasha Bravo: I think it there's a huge wheel that goes around what immersive is and they're all valid because everyone's coming from their own making identity, but coming together to kind of discuss like, well, this is what I do, this is what I do, or this is how I can extrapolate or add on. Because I think it's a big word, but Everyone's got kind of skin and mapping of what they Tanya Bravo: Yeah. John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: And that's another interesting thing, like Tasha says, it's it is a big word and it's the umbrella. Like, you know, tech you take technology, right? the way that technologists approach immersive, you know. I mean, we're talking about VR, we're talking about augmented reality, you know, may be very different than the way I mean, even though I do feel like they cross over so many times, but John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: that is under the umbrella, right? Which is, you know, why. you know, during the intensive, we also had like video mapping, right? Like with different forms of what immersive is. And it is exciting to hear what that form is in different fields, whether it's visual arts, whether it's theater, whether it's dance, whether it's, you know, technology. that was really important for us to, you know, put out there and make available. And again, I wanna go back to like it's part of Our goal right now is to, you know, if we're gonna make the work here, then we have to have the training available here. and how wonderful is it that like Miami is becoming this hub for you know John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: for training and immersive. Like I think it's so I think it's so, so exciting. And we get to meet these incredible artists making wonderful work and give them a platform to say how they do it, you know. I d I don't think there's a lot of places where they can all convene and do this. So it's really exciting. John C. Lyons: Yeah, I mean I'm s I am such a newbie to all of this. you know, I've only been involved in this world for like three years now. Tanya Bravo: wow. John C. Lyons: And I saw Sleep No More very late. but you know, when I saw it, Tanya, you know, I I had to describe to people, you know, like in Erie Tanya Bravo: Ha ha ha. John C. Lyons: Pennsylvania creatives what it was. And like, you know, I come from a film. world background. So for me it was kind of like, you know, you're stepping into the frame of like a film noir movie and kind of like living in there and having, you know, like complete you know, control and agency in the situation. Like it's it's when you're starting up something new in you know in a region that maybe doesn't have an established, you know, like New York or an LA or, London and or whatever. Like, yeah, you all are starting from scratch in some ways. You're establishing the kind of some standards and framework around what is immersive and what is this type of entertainment. And you're providing, yeah, like you said, like a hub, a hub for all of us to come back to, hopefully, at least once a year. I did not know of Juggerknot before, but I I think I discovered you all because you do really great marketing and communications. I don't know who that is on your team. Tanya, Tanya Bravo: Thank you. Natasha Bravo: Mm-hmm. John C. Lyons: seriously, like it looked so cool and so much fun. And it looked like, you know, high end. which to me gave me the confidence of like, we've been trying to do, you know, we started tethered And there's not really any training available for like in the acting space, in the film space, in any of these spaces. So we were really starting from scratch, it was a big a big thing for me to do to be like, you know, filmmaker and see this Miami immersive intensive. And just that word of intensive in like, yeah, if I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do this seriously, I need to have trust in Tanya Bravo: Mm. John C. Lyons: like the people and the the company and the organizations that are putting this on. And I would say like seriously, 10 out of 10 with everything that you put out there, because I felt like this is the thing I'm going to do. This is like the first big step out of my comfort zone. And I'm so so Glad I did it. It was really like seeing Sleep No More was the first step of opening my mind and then going to Miami Immersive Intensive was the second big step of like, yeah, I am I'm doing this. I'm doing this for real. And getting there, Tanya Bravo: I love it. John C. Lyons: getting there and meeting you all and meeting all of the people, like seriously, just hats off. Like I'm almost tearing up just thinking about it again because it was such Tanya Bravo: thank you. John C. Lyons: a powerful thing. sorry for my little diatribe there. but how did you Natasha Bravo: So inspiring. John C. Lyons: get from like, okay, we're doing like, we're bringing in select artists, we're doing these workshops. Now let's do like, you know, a huge kind of multi-day thing and let's take a big swing and really reach, you know, not just within our own community, but kind of reach outside of that. Like, how do you get to that point? How do you get to that confidence Tanya Bravo: Mm. John C. Lyons: level of like? we're doing this. Tanya Bravo: I mean, I think it's like that same thing of when we're like, we're gonna do it in this big gigantic, you know, motel with, you know, John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: twenty rooms. you know, you've gotta take risks. Natasha Bravo: It's also the sensible next step. Tanya Bravo: Yeah, I just felt like, okay, how do we make this like memorable? How do we make this how how do we really impact people? You know, and you you put people in a room and you you you get them to to connect with each other over you know four days. obviously we had our partners, Live Arts, who are part of Miami Dade College, and we worked in a lot of their spaces, and then the second year we went to the Arsht Center and still worked at some of their spaces too. they were wonderful partner. but I think Natasha Bravo: I think we've provided networking opportunities as well, which we thought were important outside Tanya Bravo: Yeah. Natasha Bravo: of the class. John C. Lyons: Yeah. Huge. Tanya Bravo: I think also, you know, the feeling of having sort of like this like boot camp where John C. Lyons: Mm-hmm. Tanya Bravo: you're like you're exhausted, but you want to keep going because you just want to know what the next class is. I think there it's it does something to use psychologically, obviously ph physically, but when you have that amount of information and you you're doing it together as a network of people who are all wanting this information. Natasha Bravo: And changing up the format delivery so that there's always like a new energy in how you're receiving information and sharing it. John C. Lyons: Yeah. Did you design Tanya Bravo: Yeah. John C. Lyons: that with each of the artists individually? Like how how early does the process start of like designing, you know, this immersive intensive and how involved are the artists? How do you reach out to the artists? Like I have so many questions. It's so much. It's it was so Tanya Bravo: Well it's you John C. Lyons: much. It had to have been so much behind the scenes. Natasha Bravo: A lot of it's cold calling. Tanya Bravo: Yeah. Well a lot of it is John C. Lyons: How cold calling? Tanya Bravo: yeah, I mean I mean a lot of it is yeah, reaching Natasha Bravo: People you admire and and Tanya Bravo: out to, you know, directors and artists and creators that, you know, we think would be excellent to, you know, tea teach Yeah. Yeah, I mean I'll Natasha Bravo: We didn't know what the response would be either. But it it John C. Lyons: Ha ha. Well you had like all the you had so many of like the top big heavy hitters, like obviously the response was like they wanted this too, right? Tanya Bravo: Yeah, I think that people want a p a place to, you know, teach their formula and their format and and have and and teach it to creators. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's also Natasha Bravo: And come together with other to do so. John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: exciting. it's definitely curated in a way, you know, where, you know, we're we're trying to, you know, we talked about the umbrella of of immersive, like trying to you know, in the beginning really give you, what is this word immersive? How many ways can you enter it? Through how many John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: different mediums, through, you know, through what field. and you know, try to give you a taste for all of it. and also like please like network with each other and find, find your tribe. There's a lot about a lot of this is about finding your tribe because again, I think a lot of makers in the field who are you know constantly making they feel a little bit isolated you're in your own little bubble you're doing this on your own and it's so wonderful to be in a space with other makers that are trying to do the same thing right so it's it's a fantastic way to meet new collaborators and you know meet another writer that's in a that's in another city you know I love that this has become sort of like a national space for people to convene on this on the same topic. So and we work with people all the time that don't live in Miami. So, you know, we know that works, right? Like I can John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: work with a writer that doesn't live in Miami and still create an immersive piece of art with them. So that is really exciting. And one thing that we're doing this year is, we are creating experiences more workshops during the that For accessibility for people here in Miami. We still have people flying in from out of town, which is great. We just did the Artemis is burning John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: workshop, which is a two-day workshop. So we want Natasha Bravo: Right. Tanya Bravo: to have like that consistency that, you know, hey, you know, if we do a summer program and it's too expensive for you, you can come to these other workshops during the year that may be a little bit more accessible. So it is something that Natasha Bravo: And that there always will be a next thing. And the feedback from participants is super important to us because this is just kind of a work in progress, like kind of a snowball effect. What do people need? What are they missing? Tanya Bravo: Yeah. Natasha Bravo: What do people want to share? John C. Lyons: Yeah, that's great. I'm sure you're getting a lot of feedback. Yeah, and you're you know, I wish I could have went to the Artemis' burning one, of course. yeah, it looks great. Natasha Bravo: There'll be a next one. Tanya Bravo: they were amazing. Yeah. Maybe John C. Lyons: It looks looks great. So what's I know you all are super busy and you have to go soon. you know, maybe we'll connect again in a few months and see where you are and see what future plans are forming. But what's what's going on for like The next couple of months or the rest of the year? What what's coming up? Tanya Bravo: So as we mentioned, we will be announcing a couple more workshops that are gonna be coming up through the year. we also will be announcing where the next Miami bus stop stories will be, we also have our 10-year anniversary. So we haven't announced the date. I'm gonna announce it. February 6th is going to be like a big blowout party that we're having. and really kind of looking back on the past 10 years, which we kind of gave you like a little bit of a John C. Lyons: Yeah, congratulations. Tanya Bravo: In Inside Peak, thank you so much. So we have a lot on our plate this year. We just had a major rebrand brand of Juggerknot. So we, you know, redid our s look and feel, our website. So it's an exciting year for us. we're really tapping into the training and yeah, we're excited. Some things we can't announce, some things we can, but John C. Lyons: Sure. Tanya Bravo: yeah, we we love this trajectory of. training and Miami becoming a hub for immersive training. That is something that is super important to us. John C. Lyons: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for everything you're doing for the community. You're real connectors. You're both Natasha Bravo: Thank you, John. John C. Lyons: super smart. everything you do is clearly with intention. And yeah, we all love all of those things in this art form. So you're great great stewards for the industry. Tanya Bravo: Thank you so much. Thank you so much. And I Natasha Bravo: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: I I wanna say that I would love to come see your show. It looks John C. Lyons: Yeah. Natasha Bravo: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: absolutely fascinating. And you are also working in a large scale space and mansion and all that stuff. Natasha Bravo: And it moves so quickly from an idea to this shh congratulations. John C. Lyons: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: Yeah. And I love that. I love that you guys met at the intensive and you're working together, you and Brooke. Like that's that's yeah, that's John C. Lyons: Yeah. Brooke's great. Natasha Bravo: A goal met, you know. John C. Lyons: Yeah. And it's all because of you all. And there's more collaborative projects coming up that we talked a little bit about before that, you know, I'll Natasha Bravo: Tiny. John C. Lyons: be announcing once we get those more solidified. But I hope to see you all again next year and get to spend more quality time too and try and pull you away from behind the scenes a little bit. Tanya Bravo: yes. We wanna make sure that we do that Natasha Bravo: Yeah. Tanya Bravo: next year. Like that's gonna be something that we try to like implement, you know, spending more time John C. Lyons: Of course. Of course. Natasha Bravo: It one. Tanya Bravo: with you guys. John C. Lyons: Yeah, yeah. Well, thank you both very much. everybody, thanks for listening. why don't you share like your social handles, website, things like that so people can check out Juggerknot. Tanya Bravo: Okay, so our website is Juggerknot theatre company.com and Juggerknot we spell it wrong. We spell K-N-O-T on purpose. And same thing with Natasha Bravo: Perfect. Tanya Bravo: Instagram. It's Juggerknot underscore theater underscore company underscore. Natasha Bravo: And theaters T R E theater. Tanya Bravo: Yeah. Yeah, so John C. Lyons: Yes. Tanya Bravo: please follow us, sign up for our mailing list for our workshops. And yeah, thank you, John. Natasha Bravo: Lots of new stuff coming. Yeah, thank you, John, so much. Appreciate you. John C. Lyons: Court. Thank you both so much.