By Charles Chip Mc Neal Director of Education at San Francisco Ballet March 3, 2010
We’ve had a smooth start to this year’s Performance Project installment at Rosa Parks Elementary School, with about 30 students participating. They were chosen from an astounding 75 who auditioned. The students continue to surprise me with their sense of dedication and commitment. Each week they show upon time, ready and willing to do the work required to learn a dance and get it ready for a performance.
Our main performance composition is based on traditional West African Ghanaian dance. This is an upbeat rhythmic dance with some rather sophisticated choreography for young students. Luckily though, the children seem to really like it, as they are challenged by the intricacies of the staging. In this dance, there is a section where selected students will perform a solo they have choreographed themselves. For several, it will be their first time dancing on a stage alone.
Our second composition is exciting in an entirely different way. We will be performing a sign language dance based on American Sign Language (ASL). For this “dance”, the students get to receive coaching from a trained sign language interpreter, who is also a performing artist. We will be performing to Ben E. King’s“Stand By Me”, a wonderful musical standard, full of emotion and compassion.
As a normal part of our preparation for performances, the students learn background about the origins and historical connections of the dances. So, just as they’ll earn a little about life and culture in Ghana, they will also learn about the non-hearing world, and what being deaf can be like for other children. My hope is that through these kinds of experiences, my students will become more sensitive and respectful about other cultures, and those with special needs.
We have yet to name the dances we will perform, but we usually save that until near the end of the rehearsal process. I will let the students select the names.
Stay tuned to see what they come up with!
Students practice a victorious ending to our Ghanaian dance.
Here I am demonstrating a basic African dance step for the students.
Students are struggling to learn a new step; the pivot turn.
This young boy is working on choreography for his solo.
Performance Project Continues!
Director of Education at San Francisco Ballet
March 3, 2010
We’ve had a smooth start to this year’s Performance Project installment at Rosa Parks Elementary School, with about 30 students participating. They were chosen from an astounding 75 who auditioned. The students continue to surprise me with their sense of dedication and commitment. Each week they show up on time, ready and willing to do the work required to learn a dance and get it ready for a performance.
Our main performance composition is based on traditional West African Ghanaian dance. This is an upbeat rhythmic dance with some rather sophisticated choreography for young students. Luckily though, the children seem to really like it, as they are challenged by the intricacies of the staging. In this dance, there is a section where selected students will perform a solo they have choreographed themselves. For several, it will be their first time dancing on a stage alone.
Our second composition is exciting in an entirely different way. We will be performing a sign language dance based on American Sign Language (ASL). For this “dance”, the students get to receive coaching from a trained sign language interpreter, who is also a performing artist. We will be performing to Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me”, a wonderful musical standard, full of emotion and compassion.
As a normal part of our preparation for performances, the students learn background about the origins and historical connections of the dances. So, just as they’ll earn a little about life and culture in Ghana, they will also learn about the non-hearing world, and what being deaf can be like for other children. My hope is that through these kinds of experiences, my students will become more sensitive and respectful about other cultures, and those with special needs.
We have yet to name the dances we will perform, but we usually save that until near the end of the rehearsal process. I will let the students select the names.
Stay tuned to see what they come up with!
Students practice a victorious ending to our Ghanaian dance.
Here I am demonstrating a basic African dance step for the students.
Students are struggling to learn a new step; the pivot turn.
This young boy is working on choreography for his solo.