In the weeks that followed, Dane’s students created stories and rehearsed them during class. Their stories centered around the prompt, “Tell me about a time you were resilient.” 

During each class, Dane would open with an introduction and check-in from his students, which he explained is a powerful storytelling tool as it “lightens the load,” and encourages an ever-going comfortability of connection. Dane also found that having participants use session recordings as a tool to study performances and decide where they can improve, helped them let go of that, “ego death of ‘that’s what I look like/sound like?’”

“So much of what I do at the beginning: theatre games, partners and groups, deep listening techniques, peer review, collaging, and telling each other’s stories have to be adapted for this format,” said Dane. “I think one advantage of ‘early adapting’ is that I can be very transparent in my, ‘I am learning right along with you/progress, not perfection’ path. I shared that I believe it’s more important to show up authentically imperfect, than wait until you figure everything out.”

Zoom Tips From Dane

Prior to beginning online classes, Dane held Zoom test sessions, which allowed students to familiarize themselves with the platform and provide feedback of the online class experience. He found that splitting his original group size of 15-20 students into two online classes of 8-9 students was more manageable. 

At the program’s culmination, student stories were published on the, Thrive, Connect, Contribute Podcast created and hosted by Tony Loyd, a student of Dane’s and a leadership development expert, best-selling author, keynote speaker, and coach. The podcast shares positive stories of people who thrive in life, connect with others, and contribute to the world in the face of adversity. 

Students’ stories were split up into four episodes, including Dane’s own story of resilience. Although all of the students followed the same prompt, their stories depicted a variety of experiences, challenges, lessons and areas of growth. Some focused on overcoming challenges as small as passing a fitness test in gym class, to as enormous as waking up in NYC on the morning of September 11. Others focused on a shift in perspective, including one about the treatment of an African American student in one of very few racially mixed junior high schools in Providence, RI, and another about how an eye infection led to a new way of seeing things. 

“Without fail, everyone involved was so grateful to have a way to connect with this storytelling community that we have evolved into, both to have a sense of staying on course, for the support and commiseration during the pandemic, as well as the more recent racial unrest in our Twin Cities and the world,” said Dane. 

Click the links below to access each podcast episode:

Stories of Resilience, Part 1, Dane Stauffer
Stories of Resilience, Part 2
Stories of Resilience, Part 3
Stories of Resilience, Part 4

This creative aging program is part of Aroha Philanthropies’ Seeding Vitality Arts Minnesota Initiative, provided in partnership with Lifetime Arts.