Theater, education & spirituality — three threads of the same practice
Everything I do starts from the same belief: that art, embodied learning, and spiritual awareness can transform how children — and all of us — experience the world.
The Educator
I design learning experiences grounded in theater, social-emotional learning, child development, and spirituality. Whether working with young children or adolescents, my approach centers embodied learning — using the body, imagination, and creative expression as tools for growth and self-discovery.
Theater Education in Brazil
Teaching drama to children and adolescents in public arts schools — using theater as a compass to inner worlds, building confidence, expression, and community through creative practice.
Curriculum Design
Creating original curriculum that weaves together improvisational theater, embodied storytelling, poetry, and ecological awareness — built for early childhood through adolescence.
Teaching Artistry in the US
Designing and facilitating theater-based workshops and curriculum that honor the whole child — integrating SEL, spirituality, and nature-based learning into every experience.
Workshops & Facilitation
Leading workshops on arts integration, spirituality in education, and embodied learning for fellow educators, community groups, and organizations.
The Artist
My artistic journey began in a São Paulo classroom and led me through musical theater workshops, a university degree in Communication and Arts of the Body, a theater collective recognized by Brazil's Ministry of Culture, experimental dance, and performance art. That creative instinct now lives in my research and every space I design for others to create.
The Actor
I studied Communication and Arts of the Body at Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo — a program that wove together theater, performance art, dance, philosophy, and communication. In my final years, I joined Cia. Clareou, a theater collective in Osasco that explored femicide, religious intolerance, and social justice through devised work. In 2019, Brazil's Ministry of Culture recognized the company as a "Point of Culture."
The Performance Artist
In my third year of college, I discovered performance art — and everything changed. Inspired by spiritual and psychological inquiry, I began creating work that blurred the line between art, ritual, and research. “À Vista” (At Sight) was a performance art where I was a creature with a mirror in place of a face. Anyone who spoke to me saw their own reflection. I wore neutral clothing, carried a notebook with another mirror on the cover, and invited people to write or draw freely as they interacted with me. The performance was a meditation on ego, empathy, and projection — echoing the influence of Marina Abramović's The Artist is Present.
The Dancer
I trained in classical ballet for seven years, starting in 2007 at Conservatório Villa-Lobos in Osasco. I still remember my first performance — completely unprepared but full of joy. In college, I realized that ballet's rigidity no longer fit my creative spirit, so I co-founded something new. An experimental dance project called “Amor Marginal” (Marginal Love), exploring LGBTQIA+ love and the lives of those pushed to the margins. We blended classical ballet with contemporary movement to tell stories that mainstream dance often ignores.
The Researcher
My research at Teachers College, Columbia University, explored what happens when theater becomes a space for spiritual and ecological awareness in children. This work is the culmination of a journey that started in an art class in elementary school — and continues today.
How does engagement with theater activities encourage children's connection to nature and their spiritual selves? What role does embodied storytelling play in fostering spiritual and ecological awareness?
This research explores how young children articulate spiritual awareness and ecological connection through improvisational theater, poetry, and embodied storytelling activities.
🎓 MA Thesis — Columbia University
Psychology in Education, Spirituality Mind Body program at Teachers College. Research on theater, spirituality, and embodied learning in children.
🔬 Key Frameworks
Drawing from Lisa Miller's work on the awakened brain, Linda Lantieri's vision of schools with spirit, and Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed tradition.
📝 Methods
Improvisational theater, embodied storytelling, poetry, and nature-based activities as research methods — centering children's voices and bodies as sites of knowledge.
🌱 Ongoing Exploration
This research continues to inform my teaching practice and curriculum design — every workshop and lesson plan carries these questions forward.
Slam Poetry: Body, Spirit, Stage
This poem was born from my research at Columbia exploring the intersection of theater, spirituality, and embodied learning. It's a piece about what happens when the body becomes a site of spiritual discovery — on stage and beyond.
— Katie Garcia, 2024