Hi All!
I just was looking over the script for Amanda and Mubeen's class, and I realized that a song was left out. I'm not sure if we should put it back in...it's the Victory Song, for which the kids composed their own melody. I've included it on the CDs that I'll be getting out to you tomorrow, so let me know if we should include it...I thought it was neat that the kids created the melody all on their own for that one.
More to follow soon in terms of our class summaries for today...
Adam
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Design Day
WOW to all those who those who participated in design day today! 2.5 hours passed so quickly it seemed like 5 minutes. All of the students worked very hard to create their sets and costumes for their operas, I had great helpers setting up, and I found that everyone was excellent at assisting with clean-up.
Both classes were introduced to design and we discussed how props, sets, and costumes can help to tell the story as well transform the characters on stage.
In Amanda and Mubeen's class the students weren't given roles yet, so we assigned each of the students to a design job, which may or may not become their final role. I felt like most of the students did know who they would like to be though, and that hopefully their won't be too many problems with switching, if at all, later on.
The designs made included:
Headpieces for Zeus, Hera, Hades, Athena, Ares, and Eris characters.
A giant golden apple, a giant key, as well as "fan" signs.
In Sona's class students collaborated to create a giant mosaic of the Niger river, which will later have fish, seaweed and electric eels added to it (I believe they are done but not glued on yet).
Other designs included:
Hand-made African print sashes for all the villagers, spider legs for Anansi, a mask for the evil lion, as well as a potion bottle.
I had a lot of fun and look forward to hearing how the designs turn out once they are all finally completed. I think there are probably a few staples and a bit more glue that will have to be added, but not too much.
Thanks for a great day!
Andy Miller
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Thanks of the revisions on the script, Sedina. I really like the ideas you added to it.
I am hoping to have the roles of the students chosen by Tuesday. The students have a PD day tomorrow and Family Day on Monday. The students will audition Tuesday morning for their parts.
As a class we discussed the idea of having 3 different Anansi's in the opera. They felt it should be one person who takes on the role because they think it will confuse the audience. To some extent, I agree with them but also see Sedina's point of giving more than one student an opportunity to take on the lead role. Something we did not come to a conclusion about as a class.
Our tour of the Four Season's Performing Arts Centre was FANTASTIC! The students really enjoyed it and learned so much (They talked about the amazing sets all the way back to the school on the bus). They had so many interesting questions! They are ready to come see an opera now. They will be able to make a connection and sit for the 3 hours!
Looking forward to the set design next week and our trip to the other opera centre. Have a good weekend!
Sona
I am hoping to have the roles of the students chosen by Tuesday. The students have a PD day tomorrow and Family Day on Monday. The students will audition Tuesday morning for their parts.
As a class we discussed the idea of having 3 different Anansi's in the opera. They felt it should be one person who takes on the role because they think it will confuse the audience. To some extent, I agree with them but also see Sedina's point of giving more than one student an opportunity to take on the lead role. Something we did not come to a conclusion about as a class.
Our tour of the Four Season's Performing Arts Centre was FANTASTIC! The students really enjoyed it and learned so much (They talked about the amazing sets all the way back to the school on the bus). They had so many interesting questions! They are ready to come see an opera now. They will be able to make a connection and sit for the 3 hours!
Looking forward to the set design next week and our trip to the other opera centre. Have a good weekend!
Sona
Design Preparation
Hello All!
Looking forward to design day Tuesday Feb. 17th.
I've planned a great workshop day for your classes and have spoken to Sedina about working on some fun projects to get your groups underway with the design portion of their operas.
As mentioned in my email as well, it would be great to have your students assigned to parts so that they know who their characters are before I arrive on Tuesday.
Sona: for your class the students will be working on -
1. A spider headpiece or costume that works for 3 characters playing the part
2. An evil lion headpiece or costume
3. A giant backdrop with trees (and possibly huts) that the other students will be working on
Mubeen and Amanda: for your class the students will be working on -
1. Headpieces for the Gods & Goddesses and possibly some props such as scepters and lighting
2. Rock n' Roll fan posters that the chorus group will be working on.
Also, with regard to the email that I sent with a list of materials to prepare, let me know if there is anything that you will need us to provide beyond what you have there in stock. The COC will prepare a kit but I will have to know by Friday Feb. 13 what you do or don't have.
Looking forward to working with all of you!
Andy Miller
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Clearing this up!
So,
To address Sona's last post, there have been some crossed lines of communication. I have sent lengthy emails to hopefully clear things up.
Just realizing that I have plunked my artist self into a school environment which has very different expectations than I first realized. Lessons learnt for next time for sure! Also realizing that I need to be my own stage manager as I am used to being either an artist or an administrator and doing both like what we have to do for this project is a delicate juggling act.
Still, I feel as though all is fine and will come together fabulously.
Sedina
To address Sona's last post, there have been some crossed lines of communication. I have sent lengthy emails to hopefully clear things up.
Just realizing that I have plunked my artist self into a school environment which has very different expectations than I first realized. Lessons learnt for next time for sure! Also realizing that I need to be my own stage manager as I am used to being either an artist or an administrator and doing both like what we have to do for this project is a delicate juggling act.
Still, I feel as though all is fine and will come together fabulously.
Sedina
Week 5 Homework
Hi,
I've decided to have the students audition for the parts they would like to have. They will audition in class on Tuesday since there is no school on Friday and Monday. So, by Tuesday we will have the casting of all the roles (Anansi, evil lion, emperor and the remaining students will be villagers and farmers).
I can also have the students memorize the songs and practise with the melody once I receive them.
As to the rehearsing of the script - this I feel should be guided by the artists. The artists have expertise that I do not have hence, the reason for us to be part of this program. I would be more comfortable polishing what the artists have done with the students and at this point that is only some dance moves. I am comfortable working with the drumming since I have experience with this.
I am also unsure of what the final performance should or will look like. At our first meeting we discussed some possiblities but haven't discussed anything since.
I know our next class is the set design however, I don't feel the students are ready for it. The students have not had a chance to get a feel of their roles yet or of our story. Could we postpone it to the week after so we could work with the artists next week? Might also solve the problem of Sedina not being able to come the 24th and having another artist work with the students.
Sona
I've decided to have the students audition for the parts they would like to have. They will audition in class on Tuesday since there is no school on Friday and Monday. So, by Tuesday we will have the casting of all the roles (Anansi, evil lion, emperor and the remaining students will be villagers and farmers).
I can also have the students memorize the songs and practise with the melody once I receive them.
As to the rehearsing of the script - this I feel should be guided by the artists. The artists have expertise that I do not have hence, the reason for us to be part of this program. I would be more comfortable polishing what the artists have done with the students and at this point that is only some dance moves. I am comfortable working with the drumming since I have experience with this.
I am also unsure of what the final performance should or will look like. At our first meeting we discussed some possiblities but haven't discussed anything since.
I know our next class is the set design however, I don't feel the students are ready for it. The students have not had a chance to get a feel of their roles yet or of our story. Could we postpone it to the week after so we could work with the artists next week? Might also solve the problem of Sedina not being able to come the 24th and having another artist work with the students.
Sona
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
5th Week - Organized Chaos
So, so, so.
This was a week of sharing and it was chaotic, but I have solid ideas of how the next few classes will go. Some awesome material is coming out of the classes!
For Sona's class we did a quick warm up where I seperated them into three groups and then they had to order themselves by birth date and then by height. This went very well and it indicated to me that the groups are working together and cooperating very well. I also taught them an Ethiopian song.
Then Adam presented the melodies he had created for the songs and we rehearsed them and learned them as much as possible. Great melodies! We then moved on and they showed us their drumming rhythms and dances which were all fantastic. This group has been working so hard and incorporating their West African drumming and dance from their lessons with a visiting artist earlier on in the year. Very exciting!
I wish I had received the script in advance, but something got lost in translation in the many emails going back and forth. I did find it now which is great. Thankfully, Sona had copies! We worked a little bit on the middle section, creating some rhythms for the songs and also coming up with some movement for this section. I noticed that it was difficult to keep the students focused with the drumming the background and with everything, so I had to seperate them into movement groups in order to get some focus happening.
For the next time I see Sona's class, the following things need to happen:
-casting of all the roles (which I will send a breakdown for)
-rehearsing/memorization of the new script and songs which I will send soon
Next class, we will rehearse the piece and tweak the movement and music so that we are ready for the final workshop performance.
In terms of design, I am thinking that we should create a backdrop with a large tree and maybe some huts. Also there are some costumes like the lion and Anansi that we should create, but I will send my suggestions to Sona for the class to have the last word.
For Amanda & Mubeen's class, we started off by doing some singing and reintrepreting Somewhere Over The Rainbow in rock and hip hop styles, which went alright. Adam then presented his melodies that he created for the lyrics. Again, great work. We established the Hades song would be hip hop and all the other songs had a rock feel as they requested. Having some issues with this class as some of the students don't want to sing at all or don't want to participate which is disheartening at times, but I think I managed to motivate them. I think that when we have the final show, everyone will participate, but if the foundations are not in place, it can be difficult to rally. This class has some good ideas and I am looking forward to seeing them get the show on it's feet. This class, they also presented a possible melody for a song they have written as well as a some fab dance and movement pieces which I will incorporate into the final piece.
Design wise, my vision for this piece is a modern rock concert. Could be fun to work on some props like the apple and maybe some fan signs...I will send my ideas to Mubeen and Amanda for them to decide with their classes what they want to do.
For Amanda and Mubeen, the homework will be same as Sona's class:
-cast the script based on the breakdown I will send
-rehearse the new script and songs for the next time I see them
We are at the point in the collective creation process when we must put everything together, so it can seem like things won't ever come together, but I have faith in the process and after today's class I have some concrete ideas of how to put it all together. Looking forward to the next class.
This was a week of sharing and it was chaotic, but I have solid ideas of how the next few classes will go. Some awesome material is coming out of the classes!
For Sona's class we did a quick warm up where I seperated them into three groups and then they had to order themselves by birth date and then by height. This went very well and it indicated to me that the groups are working together and cooperating very well. I also taught them an Ethiopian song.
Then Adam presented the melodies he had created for the songs and we rehearsed them and learned them as much as possible. Great melodies! We then moved on and they showed us their drumming rhythms and dances which were all fantastic. This group has been working so hard and incorporating their West African drumming and dance from their lessons with a visiting artist earlier on in the year. Very exciting!
I wish I had received the script in advance, but something got lost in translation in the many emails going back and forth. I did find it now which is great. Thankfully, Sona had copies! We worked a little bit on the middle section, creating some rhythms for the songs and also coming up with some movement for this section. I noticed that it was difficult to keep the students focused with the drumming the background and with everything, so I had to seperate them into movement groups in order to get some focus happening.
For the next time I see Sona's class, the following things need to happen:
-casting of all the roles (which I will send a breakdown for)
-rehearsing/memorization of the new script and songs which I will send soon
Next class, we will rehearse the piece and tweak the movement and music so that we are ready for the final workshop performance.
In terms of design, I am thinking that we should create a backdrop with a large tree and maybe some huts. Also there are some costumes like the lion and Anansi that we should create, but I will send my suggestions to Sona for the class to have the last word.
For Amanda & Mubeen's class, we started off by doing some singing and reintrepreting Somewhere Over The Rainbow in rock and hip hop styles, which went alright. Adam then presented his melodies that he created for the lyrics. Again, great work. We established the Hades song would be hip hop and all the other songs had a rock feel as they requested. Having some issues with this class as some of the students don't want to sing at all or don't want to participate which is disheartening at times, but I think I managed to motivate them. I think that when we have the final show, everyone will participate, but if the foundations are not in place, it can be difficult to rally. This class has some good ideas and I am looking forward to seeing them get the show on it's feet. This class, they also presented a possible melody for a song they have written as well as a some fab dance and movement pieces which I will incorporate into the final piece.
Design wise, my vision for this piece is a modern rock concert. Could be fun to work on some props like the apple and maybe some fan signs...I will send my ideas to Mubeen and Amanda for them to decide with their classes what they want to do.
For Amanda and Mubeen, the homework will be same as Sona's class:
-cast the script based on the breakdown I will send
-rehearse the new script and songs for the next time I see them
We are at the point in the collective creation process when we must put everything together, so it can seem like things won't ever come together, but I have faith in the process and after today's class I have some concrete ideas of how to put it all together. Looking forward to the next class.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)