Bluepalm Living Language

“Perfectly bilingual, Jackie Planeix and Tom Crocker understand the stakes of language acquisition and its impact on cognitive, social, and cultural development.”

Mr. J-C Harel, Cultural Attaché, French Consulate of Los Angeles

“You showed brilliantly how learning and creativity can benefit from an integrated approach where physical movements, emotions, art and imagination are combined to transmit information and communication.”  

Michel Baudry, Neurobiology Professor, USC

Think fast.  Play with ideas. Convince.  Be yourself, in French as in English.

Jackie Planeix et Tom Crocker are bilingual, dual nationals France/ USA.  Trained at the school and company of French choreographer Maurice Béjart, Ms. Planeix and M. Crocker have a multi-disciplinary background that allows them to integrate movement, theatre, and improvisation into their cultural and linguistic programs.  Their company, Bluepalm, develops original projects, adapted to the needs of institutional or individual clients; it is considered one of the most innovative organizations in arts-based learning. Ms. Planeix and Mr. Crocker have trained as professional coaches at the New Teacher Institute; they are certified by the French Ministère de la Culture, the Los Angeles Unified School District as well as the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, for whom they consult.  Living Language is a method of English or French language acquisition designed by Ms. Planeix and Mr. Crocker that uses the resources of artistic expression and cultural development, engaging the spirit, body, and mind in order to maximize performance in a first or second language.

Why Living Language?

• The English language is the lingua franca of the global economy.  Though general levels of proficiency in English are rising worldwide, holding one’s own in an English speaking professional environment means more than speaking the language well.  Fluency means living the language; sharing emotions, building relationships, imagining, and leading teams with a cultural awareness of how English has shaped so much of contemporary innovation.
• The French language is spoken throughout the world: culture, heritage, and the beauty of the language have made French one of the most studied languages abroad.  In France, newly arrived inhabitants seek to elevate their level of French for greater integration.  Unfortunately, most teaching methods are not adapted to 21st century realities: fluency means living the language, understanding its cultural context, shaping an effective and personal way of speaking.

Bluepalm intensive workshops establish truly bilingual cultures in companies and educational institutions, both in the United States and France.

A few partners

• USC (University of Southern California), Irvine Valley College: professional development for language teachers, high school and university level
• Los Angeles County Arts Commission: consultants for innovation in teaching (Arts Education Roundtable)
• Lycée International de Los Angeles: coaching for administrators, cross-cultural sensitization for parents; American culture and language intensives for newly arrived French teachers
• French Embassy, Washington D.C. and French Consulate, Los Angeles: bilingual production of ‘No Exit’ (Sartre) and ‘The Chairs’ (Ionesco)
• Skirball Cultural Center: multicultural self-portrait workshop: movement, text, video
• Centre Chorégraphique National de Rillieux-La-Pape (Lyon, France): interdisciplinary dance-theatre-language workshops for teachers, dancers, and community members
• Montebello School District: movement-based workshops for English Language learners (ELL), adults and children
• USC (University of Southern California): Marshall School of Business, ‘The Art of Business’: graduate course to infuse artistic principles in business through communication, culture, and creativity.