Greetings from Rehearsal Hall 3 at the Alliance Theatre, where 19 remarkable young artists have convened for Day 3 of the Palefsky Collision Project! At present, the group is engaged in an African Dance & Yoruba Culture workshop facilitated by longtime Guest Artist Mama Yeye and Alex Acosta, accompanist. Over the steady 6/8 beat, I can hear the shared effort and the shared joy. It’s starting to sound like an ensemble in here – something special is percolating.
This summer – 2026 – marks the 25th anniversary of this Project, a 3-week summer intensive for rising 11th grade, 12th grade, and post-secondary students preparing for college and/or career. To celebrate this milestone, our team has prepared 3 new resources for partners who share our investment in elevating the voices of teens. Our hope is that these tools will inspire an expansion of Collision within Atlanta and beyond.
HOW-TO MANUAL
Written by Pearl Cleage with contributions from past and present Creative Team members, the First Pass Procedures Manual is a roadmap for utilizing the Collision model. From setting a vision to sustaining the Project, this guide details each step of the process in an approachable, flexible, and digestible manner.
My favorite passage is on page 6, which digs into the foundational pillars of our program: Safety, Rigor, Diversity, and Light. These are the ideals we turn and return to – daily, moment by moment – as we navigate the delicate and imperative work of listening to young people, of hearing them fully, of challenging them to lock in, of empowering them to turn their volume all the way up.
RESEARCH & EVALUATION
Led by Laura Wood, PhD (Lesley University) and Jason S. Frydman, PhD (North Carolina State University), this study investigated Community Belonging (needs fulfillment, group membership, influence, emotional connection), Hope (agency, pathways), and Perspective Taking with thorough examination of the 2025 ensemble, as well as input from a sample of the 500 program alumni.
Early results indicate that the Alliance Theatre’s Palefsky Collision Project, backed with quantitative data, delivers a relational pedagogy where respect, challenge, and collective authorship at a world-class theater environment support transformation that has potential beyond the scope of the Project, fostering community, belonging, hope and civic engagement.
Here’s what that looks like in practice. Relationships are everything – “I love you” is spoken generously and sincerely in this space. Meanwhile, the expectations are sky-high – this Creative Team believes completely in the brilliance and capability of these young artists and consistently pushes them to show up as their very best selves. The final performance is always excellent – but the success of this program is most evident in its quieter moments, like bumping into ensemble members during lunch, taking selfies over waffle fries and bubble tea, and overhearing their unfiltered thoughts on history, poetry, and democracy.
GREATEST HITS ALBUM
Produced by Music Director David Koté in partnership with Spencer Ford (Collision alum) and Justin Ellington, this Greatest Hits Album features 8 alumni vocalists and includes 11 newly recorded versions of the Project’s most inspiring, show-stopping musical numbers created over the past decade.
The album will be released on opening night (Friday, July 17), and information on how to stream it for free will become available this summer.
When I listen to it, I’ll picture my colleagues standing at the back of a theater during dress rehearsal – dancing and singing along, gesturing wholeheartedly for just a little bit more. More expression, more connection, more beauty, and more truth. More you. “The world needs to hear this!” I can hear them say. “Don’t make us wait for your greatness!”
On A Personal Note
In 2001, I myself was in 11th grade. I spent a lot of time on an elliptical, compulsively listening to show tunes – or otherwise poring over a 3-inch thick Guide to our country’s colleges and universities, wondering who I really was and dreaming about who I might grow up to be. I didn’t know then that a space like this could exist. Start without a script? No one star of the show? Activism through art? Grace for rehearsal – mistakes, mis-steps, and trying again – in life? These were foreign concepts to me then, some 20 years and 800 miles away.
If I could talk to that younger, more impressionable version of myself, I would tell her to enjoy the ride and buckle up for the Palefsky Collision Project in Atlanta, GA – because that’s where I really learned how to be encouraged and trust the process. It’s where I found my place standing at the back of a theater, a teacher turned Producer, cheering alongside this truly outstanding Creative Team.
Congratulations on this meaningful milestone, Rosemary Newcott, Rodney Lamar Williams, Patrick McColery, Pearl Cleage, David Koté, Sam Provenzano, Maya Lawrence, Autumn Stephens, Kerrington Griffin, SaRee Grimes, Taylor Mills, Olani Selamu, Jay Williams and team! And thank you, Chris Moses (whose humility is so defining, he doesn’t want anyone to know that this year also marks his 25th anniversary at the theater). From the bottom of my heart, I am forever changed by the experience of hopping on this moving train, and I have learned more from your example than you will ever know.
Come Curious. Leave Changed.
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