At Bird City we believe a high tide raises all ships. If we can create an environment that is supportive and open to possibility, then everyone in that environment can succeed. For us "a high tide..." is more than just a motto, it's a call to action.

​

To create a high tide, we start by identifying the needs of our collaborators and our shared community. These needs differ from person to person and group to group, but some commonalities shine through: individuals don't feel heard, groups don't feel included, teammates don't feel valued, people don't feel invested in, and lots of folks struggle with confidence. Bird City Improv's workshops, coaching, and classes are designed with flexibility in mind to address those needs. Our goal is to co-create a welcoming and empowered learning space.

Bird City practices transparency, accessibility, and anti-oppression. We openly share our techniques and we communicate with authenticity. Our classes are flex-priced. They include free and PWYC tuition options that fight classism and lower barriers to entry. We actively combat systemic oppression through deep listening, bias recognition, compassionate dialogue, advocating for justice, elevating community voices, and including a diverse range learning resources in our classes. We continually work to dismantle internal and external oppression, to further our own knowledge base, and grow our cultural awareness. A high tide is made of many droplets. We believe creating opportunity isn't an individual endeavor, it's a collaborative effort.

​

the Dream

We hope our anti-oppressive practices and policies establish welcoming, creative, and empowered spaces. We hope to provide social outlets for anyone who is in need during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, offering students a diverse range of experienced facilitators with unique skillsets. 

Post-COVID, we aim to increase our community engagement through partnerships and co-productions. We dream of satellite classrooms scattered through sprawling cities, providing access to improv in every direction. We dream of producing new works of theatre, generated by the community for the community, in DIY spaces throughout those cities. 
 
We do not want to franchise, gentrify, or colonize neighborhoods. Rather, we hope to support learners in becoming independent, self-producing artists. Our dream is that we could form community bonds in a neighborhood, establish a satellite classroom, offer learning experiences, share resources, and help produce new work with the ultimate goal of leaving those responsibilities in the hands of community members.

We want to empower ensembles to operate autonomously. In such an event, of course, we would continue to support those ensembles, but as old friends, not authoritarians.