Broadway and Beyond

I missed a week, I am so not happy about this..I could not get the internet at my house all this week, so I could not write my blog last week, but I am here now!!

Last week was a camp called "Broadway and Beyond".  I had a boy who was six, and four girls, one seven year old,  one nine year old, one thirteen year old, and a five year old.  I had my assistant as well in this class, singing along with the others, and encouraging them daily with all the songs we practiced.  I found it a challenge to teach kids of such different ages.  However, we had a great time in the end.  The first day we got to know each other, and practiced vocal technique, and listened to different Broadway songs and enjoyed trying different songs.  At first, everyone was shy around each other, and didn't really want to sing solo songs.  I have taught this Broadway camp before, however, and I was not discouraged one bit.

The second day, I found a special song for each one of them.  The five year old girl got "The Perfect Nanny" from "Mary Poppins".  The seven  year old girl picked "A Spoonful of Sugar" which was perfect for her!  She practiced it many times at home, and memorized it and sang it more confidently each day that we worked on it.  The nine year old girl chose "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" from "My Fair Lady".  The thirteen year old girl chose "For Good" from "Wicked".  And I chose "Wells Fargo Wagon" from "The Music Man" for the six year old boy.  I knew all these songs would be great in a recital, because they were very diverse, and I chose three other songs that we performed all together.  The first song was "Give My Regards to Broadway" the second one was "Summertime" and the last song was "Defying Gravity".  The children all enjoyed singing these songs, especially "Defying Gravity", from "Wicked" what a great song that is!

There was one problem, which was the five year old was struggling with stage fright and would forget words when she got up to the stage and began to sing.  We worked on it so much, and finally, we realized that if her sister stood in the back and cued her with movements helping her with the words, then she was ok.  She triumphed, it was a great moment when she got through the song for the audience without any difficulty.

One special thing I did with the kids was to make sure they knew the plot of the musical while they were learning the songs.  So we read all the plots and discussed the history of them.  One girl told the audience that "My Fair Lady" was over fifty years old!  I think it was enjoyable for them to really understand the complicated plots to these shows, and it was also great for them to learn about the history of Broadway itself.  Their singing was more informed, because they knew what the songs were all about.  I also had them tell the audience a little bit about what was happening in the story, so they could center themselves in the plot before they sang.  We had a small audience, because we had a small number of participants, but they all sang right on pitch, smiling, really thinking about the character while they sang, and I was thrilled with the performance!  Onward and upward, next week is "Princess Academy" and "Piano lab"  ..learning to curtsey and smile and wave like a princess in the morning, and play the piano in the afternoon.  Very exciting!  Hope you have a great weekend all!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvWpMN4XDbc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXzFOHrycHg

Summer Camp II - Get Up and Dance

This week I have been working with four children, all girls, but all different ages and experience levels.  One girl is nine, two are seven and one is five.  Their bodies are all very different too, and each has a different concept of what the time here should look like.  These girls were very self-conscious at first, and I was troubled about how to go about opening up their creative movement "flow" as it were.  I asked each one what they wanted to get out of the camp:  "My mother signed me up" was the regular answer.  I had my work cut out for me.

We spent the first half of the first dance day doing spontaneous interpretive dancing with songs they mostly picked out.  Then, they had a snack.  The spontaneous interpretive dancing even wasn't that great, because they were so self-conscious.  When snack was finally over, I asked if I could help them make up some movements for "Somebody I Used To Know"..as soon as I put chairs in a row, and began with some movements on the chairs, all four of them began to get ideas!  It was a miracle.  By 3pm we had one dance almost completely choreographed.  I was relieved and inspired for the next day.

I realized that if they had props for each song, it would go much smoother.  So- Scarves for "I Hope You Dance", sunglasses for "Best Day of My Life", chairs for "Somebody I Used to Know", flowers for "I Have a Dream" from "Tangled" and then all our strength moves for "Titanium".  Today is Thursday, and we have been practicing each dance every day and making each one more graceful and beautiful each day.  They have learned about space, and timing, and rhythm, as well as shapes with your body, and how to create a dance using the music and the lyrics as a guide to the movements.
I look forward to the performance tomorrow, because I know these four girls have come a really long way since Monday.  I know they have learned an appreciation for movement and space, and have expressed themselves in a new way.  I hope they will continue to dance, just like the song, for the very rest of their lives! All of you should dance too as much as you can, I must go, I am off to dance class myself!

Beach Bum Theater

This week I am teaching a camp for 4 to 7 year olds called Beach Bum Theater.  It is through the recreation department here in York, Maine.  I have ten children, very enthusiastic participants.  Who at this age doesn't love to act things out and play pretend?  Also, who doesn't love to dress up in costumes at this age?

We began the camp the first day by writing a list of their favorite things, and their favorite things to do.  Many of them love princesses and unicorns.  Many of them love to swim and to go to the beach, so that is why we write a play about the beach.  What will happen on the beach, who will we encounter, who will be the hero, the heroine, who will interact with whom?  They also said they liked playing and they liked to be with their friends.  They liked stories and learning new things.

We decided since we have a big poster of a castle, that there will be three different princesses that get captured by an evil king, to the great chagrin of the well spoken, and morally correct queen.  The children wrote the script with my help and the help of my trusty aid, Ali.  They decided what parts they wanted to play, and thankfully, only three out of the nine girls wished to be princesses, so we have Rapunzel, Cinderella and Anna.  We also have the queen, and her King, the one boy in the camp.  We also have the evil lobster princess who works with the evil king to capture the other princesses.  We have a unicorn, a Merida from the movie "Brave" and two different dogs, one who helps Merida and one who belongs to the queen and has great wisdom, especially at the end of the play.

Many of these children are beginning readers, or are pre-readers, so we highlight their parts in the script but then have them learn their lines mostly by ear, by practicing the play over and over.  Today it was particularly hot and humid so we practiced the play twice and then sat on the cool floor making invitations to our play for this Friday morning.  Tomorrow we will run the play several times in the room where we will perform it.  The children all brought costumes today, one little girl had made a horn for her unicorn costume and a tail as well.  They are all quite creative and wonderful, so happy to be acting things out, dancing along with the musical breaks, and telling the audience their names and parts at the end of the play.

 This is one of my favorite camps that I do because it has the children writing, imagining, working with structure of a story, drawing, figuring out their costumes, memorizing, creating a character, projecting their voices and using their voices in new ways.  That is a lot to happen in one week when they are only four to seven years old, but if you start them at a young age, who knows where they can go with it?

Quick post for summer beginning

Hello everyone who might be reading my blog through the summer.  It has been a great year at YMS and I will continue to share with you in the next few months some reflections on my summer experiences in music and children and maybe even drama as well.  I will just say I am on vacation for the next couple of weeks, but will be writing again beginning after the fourth of July.  I will say that I just returned from NYC where I took in the Pride Parade, which was particularly joyful considering the recent supreme court ruling, and we had a great time going to museums and walking the highline and going to see "An American in Paris" by George and Ira Gershwin.  What a glorious weekend, even with the rain and cool temperatures, it was an experience I will be talking and thinking about for many decades to come.  Love you all, and see you soon!

Peaks and Valleys

Today in advisory we all shared our peaks and valleys of the year.  There were many of the same peaks, and many of the same valleys.  It has been a great year for ME as a teacher, motivated students, caring and generous parents, thoughtful administration, exciting opportunities for me that have stretched my creative abilities to the maximum.   The peaks would be writing this blog, being musical director of the musical "Annie", teaching my new class "Creative Drama", being one of the advisors for the student council, spending the night at the Boston Museum of Science, and watching students really catch on so quickly to the piano in just a few short weeks.  The valleys for me were learning my new schedule and needing to figure out how to fit everything into it, and advocating constantly for the new grading system plus having to learn how to use Mastery Connect and keeping up to date with it at all times.

Other than that, I have enjoyed my second year in this room with the piano lab adjacent, I have loved working with all the teams and going to their team meetings once a week, and I have very much loved teaching using the standards as a point of departure, and a point of arrival, and keeping learning and assessment honest and organic with the students.

My advisory had some interesting peaks and valleys as well.  The first student was new this year, and she said her "valley" was having to switch to a new school and learn a whole new way of learning and new students and teachers.  Her peak was making new friends, and learning new things.  Someone else said the valley was the Star Assessments, and the Smarter Balance tests they had to take.  A peak was Funtown of course, everyone loves that.  Another peak for them was The Science Museum overnight trip, and another valley was their trip to Augusta.   My advisory just didn't really enjoy that trip or the two hour ride on the BUS!!

They all said making new friends was a peak, and testing was a valley.  They loved our team and they loved learning.  One student loved especially being a "twin" with the math teacher during spirit week.  Some said that the mastery connect was both a peak AND a valley because they like that you get more chances to succeed, but they miss receiving grades for their work.  They got accustomed to the new schedule and the new grading and their new teachers, and the new advisory, and all the new curriculum they had to learn.  It just shows how flexible and resilient sixth graders really are.

May I just say I will miss you, my sixth graders, you have been a large part of my joy the past two years, and I hope you all come to visit me next year, no matter where you are.  I read this quote from "The Universe" this morning, let me share it with all of you.

Dearest Sixth Graders from 2014-2015- I wish for you flowers and sunshine, gentle breezes and clear skies, calm seas and rainbows. But, perhaps most of all, I wish for you the glorious breadth of experiences you are now poised to receive, so that these tidbits are mere icing on the cake of a life that's rich in adventure. Signed, The Universe And the link to my favorite song that I played for you earlier in the year!  Enjoy and have a great summer!  You deserve it! Your Song Live Elton John 1979

The Importance of music in Life

"I can appreciate being well-rounded and including music in my life" OR: Describe the benefit of participation in the arts on a healthy lifestyle including the use of leisure time.  

Time flies when you are having a great time, and teaching music is a great time.  I have had a particularly inspired year, filled with talented students, enthusiastic participants in all of my classes, and no behavior issues at all.  I have been blessed with students who understand the importance of music in their everyday lives, and I would like to share some of their reflections on this topic.

"Music is important in life.  It can calm me down and it entertains me.  It is also inspiring sometimes."

"There is music that brings you together, like Country in my family."

"Copland had so much perseverance he did not give up EVER!  When Copland was not very famous he had to try hard and I'm guessing he had to practice a lot too.  What I'm trying to say is Copland never gave up and neither should you!"

"Without music the world would be bland, no cheerful chirping birds, no happy songs or songs in general, no dancing!  Anyone can be a musician because everyone is musical."

"After reading this article, I found out the importance of music, the importance of music is to practice, practice, practice.  Music is important because it is entertainment, and it helps you to strive to persevere and to be connected to your own soul all the time."

"Music is fun because it is a challenge and you can play any instrument or you can sing.  music calms me down and I get excited if I get something right.  For example, Ms. Frank helped me and showed me the fingerings.  I was super happy when I played the first song.  Music relaxes me.  I love music. "

"Even though he had great talent, half of Aaron Copland's fame was probably just pure luck.  Tons of people have the talent to be famous, but they need to be discovered first!"

"Music and life are connected because music can make people feel happy, sad, powerful, excited, and angry.  Music and life are connected because music can inspire people to do things or make changes or do something to help the world.  Music and life are connected because people's music can inspire other people to write music, (or create art).  Many people in our world are famous because of music, and music has changed people's lives.  That's how I think music and life are connected." 

"Music is like life.  If someone says they don't like your music, just ignore them.  Just like if someone trash talks you just ignore them.  In life you need perseverance to survive, in music you need perseverance to keep writing music!"

"In life music is very important.  You can express your feelings into music.  You need lots of qualities in life that you need in music, like courage, respect, responsibility, perseverance, etc.
Music can relate to your life too.  If you are sad, then you can make deep, quiet music.  If you are happy then you can make a loud/high song.  

If you want to be a speech person or teacher you have to not be quiet.  You have to be loud and confident!  Music can teach you how to be confident.  By you getting on stage and singing or just making music.  The point is, usic can teach you very important skills and life lessons! 

I can't believe these students are only in the fifth grade!  The way they connect music and life is astonishing and powerful.  I look forward to working with them next year too!

Seymour: An Introduction

                           "I never thought that with my own two hands I could reach the sky."

On Saturday I went to see a movie that was very inspiring to me as a musician and a teacher.  It is called "Seymour: An Introduction" and it is a documentary made by Ethan Hawke about music and life.  I highly recommend this movie to all ages.  It is about a concert pianist/composer/writer/teacher named Seymour Bernstein who decided at age fifty to stop playing public concerts and focus on teaching piano privately in his studio.  He didn't stop concertizing because he got bad reviews or because he struggled to be famous or financially solvent, he stopped because he suffered from grave stage fright and fear of forgetting his music in the middle of a concert.  It never happened to him, and he always was beloved by his audiences, but he felt like there was more to life than what he was doing.

In the movie, you watch him working with his students, doing master classes, and sometimes playing his favorite pieces.  He also talks to mystics, Ethan, his students, and prepares for a recital in the rotunda of the Steinway building.  He shares his philosophy of life.  Music is a metaphor for life.  If you study music you can be inspired in life.  You can be passionate about so many things, and you can learn so much from studying an instrument.  One of his students spoke about how he listens to others the way he listens when he is practicing, which makes him more sensitive to speech patterns, emotions within the speech, and what someone is saying without actually saying it.  He lovingly cares for his students' musical needs by helping them phrase by phrase in the music.  They repeat and they repeat sometimes one line over and over, and you can hear them getting better and better at the piece.  It shows how repetition and practice really create a place for improvement and the approximation of perfection in performance.  He says that the most important thing a teacher can do for his student is inspire an emotional response for all aspects of life.."music and life interact and then we become one with the stars.. "

Ethan said that some of the greatest acting he has ever done never brought him financial success.  It brings up the question of why do we do anything?  Especially, why do we do anything creative?  Are we driven by some higher power, or are we driven by a competitive spirit, or are we inspired by hearing beautiful music and wanting to find a way to replicate what we hear?  Perhaps we do want to perform for others and entertain our audiences?  Is it all of these things at different times of our lives?  These are the biggest questions, that also include what is the meaning of life?  The meaning of life for me is to promote, create, perform, and teach music forever..I hope you go see this movie and I hope it inspires you to love music and love even more!  Let us play life more beautifully, just like music!
Seymour: An Introduction The Trailer