What is CCDC?

Dedicated to the promotion of Theatre of the Oppressed - particularly in the field of education - the Centre for Community Dialogue and Change (CCDC) is an organisation based in Bengaluru, India. 
 
What CCDC does:
  • offer workshops and training in Theatre of the Oppressed, for diverse populations, especially those  in the field of education, such as students, teachers, and  teacher trainers
  • be a point of convergence for Theatre of the Oppressed practitioners in India and abroad 
  • encourage documentation and research of Theatre of the Oppressed work in India  
The History:

Radha Ramaswamy, the Founder of CCDC, had been looking for a way to integrate her commitment to education and social justice, and her life long interest in theatre. 
Theatre of the Oppressed, with its foundation in Paulo Freire's Critical Pedagogyand history of community education,  appeared to be the perfect tool for this.

In June 2010, both Radha and her husband Ram travelled to  the Mandala Center for Change in Port Townsend, Seattle, Washington, to take Marc Weinblatt's  training for TO facilitators. 
 
In January-February 2011 , Radha invited Marc to conduct Theatre of the Oppressed facilitator training workshops in  India. 
 
Over 250 people, from diverse backgrounds - theatre professionals, social workers, college students, teachers and teacher trainers, doctors,  medical students  - participated in these workshops held in Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

At the end of this four-week intensive TO experience, Radha was convinced that she wanted to work towards introducing Theatre of the Oppressed in mainstream education in India and the Centre for Community Dialogue and Change led by Radha and a  team of professionals from varied backgrounds was born.