Educator
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ARIYA HAWKINS has worked across the nation as a theatre educator. She began her training in the ChiArts Musical Theatre program, and is a graduate of Millikin University with a BFA in Musical Theatre, Class of 2020. One year later, Hawkins spent a year teaching & performing with The National Players, America's longest-running touring company, traveling to over 50 venues across the US with the first predominantly Black ensemble in NP’s history. While on tour, she and her company taught students across a wide variety of ages and experiences, including children living in residential treatment centers, incarcerated individuals, and adults with disabilities. Upon returning to Chicago, Ariya got her start with Chicago Children’s Theatre (CCT) through working with the Red Kite Project, a series of arts-based programs for youth on the autism spectrum, where she now teaches in on-site classes, residencies, and in Camp Red Kite. She also teaches with CCT for their ROAR Residencies, intended to teach students in Grades K-5 how to build resilience and navigate challenging life circumstances using the arts. In her youth, Ariya participated in many of the education programs offered at The Goodman Theatre, and has since transitioned into becoming a teaching artist with The Goodman herself. She has been a teaching artist in their Disney Musicals In Schools Program, guiding students Grades 3-5 through original choreography, music, and performance techniques to be shown in a culminating performance from the Disney catalog, as well as coaching their teachers and in-school staff on how to run the rehearsal and production process. Hawkins has also worked closely with Congo Square Theatre Co., teaching residencies with a focus on social emotional learning as well as a multidisciplinary & culturally-informed approach to arts programming, and with South Chicago Dance Theatre, constructing the curriculum and teaching for an in-school partnership involving grades Pre-K through 8th. Most recently, Hawkins has begun teaching with A.B.L.E Ensemble (Artists Breaking Limits and Expectations), a Chicago nonprofit that creates theatre & film for, with, and by individuals with Down syndrome and other intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, working primarily with high-school aged students through their SLAM program. Ariya is proud to share the power of art with people of all ages, with an artistic mission of letting communities know that theatre belongs to all of us.
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