To
learn a great deal about the Chautauquas of old, and about fellow
contemporary organizations carrying on the Chautauqua tradition,
visit our Links below. To learn a very basic
Chautauqua history and more about our present-day Chautauqua,
read on.
Chautauqua
is a community-based, cultural and social movement that started
in the 1870's and flourished in America until the mid 1920's.
During
this time there existed hundreds of touring "Chautauquas"
that presented lectures, dance, music, drama, and other forms
of "cultural enrichment."
The
movement is named for a lake in upstate New York that was the
site of the first Chautauqua, which consisted of Sunday school
teachers lecturing outdoors about the moral issues of the day.
Eventually
it broadened and organizers brought in great orators, added music,
and later theater. It is a popular belief that this type of information
exchange was the origin of the current adult education movement.
Performing
in tents across the country, Chautauquas were once called "the
most American thing in America" by Teddy Roosevelt.
This
form of outreach all but died out with the advent of film.

A gang of known Chautauquans, ca. 1997
The New Old Time Chautauqua (NOTC) was founded in 1981 by a group
of performers, health care practitioners, and educators as a vehicle
for reviving the spirit of the old Chautauquas and for once again
bringing entertainment and educational workshops to rural and remote
communities which, when it comes to live performance, are often
otherwise overlooked.
It's
a new approach to an old idea, bringing the past to the present.
For over 20 years, our ALL VOLUNTEER troupe has staged 3 to 6 week
Summer Tours in regions throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana,
British Columbia and Alaska.
Numerous
other NOTC Regional Shows
and events occur, Fall to Spring each year, throughout the above
territory and California.
NOTC
has played a vital role in the renaissance of vaudeville.
To
view current plans for both Regional Shows and Summer Tours, please
visit our Schedule page.
L
i n k s
Links
to a few of the many
other Chautauquas in the U.S. and to sites which present
Chautauquan History
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