Jasmine Orpilla, a first generation Filipino American, is a theatre and dance teaching artist. Inspired by poet Carlos Bulosan, a Filipino American immigrant, she uses his poetry from America is in the Heart as a core idea in her own work and teaching. He serves as a model, sharing a Filipino-American immigrant experience, giving her tools to explore her own journey.
Attending the University of California Berkeley, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in World Theatre and Drama. Her many awards include: grants from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA) and The California Arts Council (CAC). After training as a teaching artist with The Music Center several years ago, she developed curriculum that she teaches under L.A.’s Best Arts, as well as in many public, private and independent schools, K-12+, throughout Los Angeles County.
Artistically, she is a dancer/musician with Malaya Filipino-American Dance Arts and narrates for Kayamanan NG Lahi Philippine Folk Arts, one of the Music Center On Tour (MCOT) roster groups.
Her lessons for the younger grades have a strong movement component; she builds oral language and strengthens their Emotional Intelligence, as well as cultural equity. Her prompts and images are often drawn from the natural world, as well as from traditional sources.
Her core-based curriculum emphasizes the life skills of community building, conflict-resolution, and mentoring. Her work with older students builds on a sequential series of lessons that encompass writing, staging, rehearsing and performing their own original plays. The themes and concepts are connected to areas of their curriculum.