PS 48M's Step Class

13 Jan 2011, 2:47 PM by kaya, Elementary School

At PS 48M Step Class has been learning so much in a short time! The class has mastered the Chaos step and is on to the next routine. Just before the break they had an exchange with the Percussion Class which ended in a great holiday party. Stay tuned for more pictures and some of the reflections, drawings, and other work this class does. Great job everyone!!

Here's a class photo!

Chorus Program at the Tilden Campus

22 Dec 2010, 1:37 PM by Lisa LH, High School

The Urban Arts Choral Program at the Tilden Campus, led by teaching artist Taione Martinez, introduces students to a wide range of choral literature, from early Baroque to Modern Gospel and Vocal Jazz.  Students are learning vocal technique and pedagogy, as well as basic concepts of music theory and history.  Basic sight singing and vocalise are being explored by employing the music educational techniques of the “Zoltan Kodaly Method”.

Here are students from CAAS (Community Arts and Science Academy) working on their music theory problems.

Here is Chelsie singing the opening solo section of the song "He Still Loves Me" from the movie The Fighting Temptations.

Keep up the good work!!

PS 48Q's holiday share!

22 Dec 2010, 12:15 PM by kaya, Elementary School

Urban Arts Chorus Class with teaching artist Bradley Valentin

On Dec 21st, Urban Arts students shone at the PS 48Q holiday share! Video Club screened both their 2nd&3rd AND 4th&5th grade films, theater presented amazing scenes where superheroes saved the world and chorus sang thee songs with choreography! Students got to see the cheerleading, breakdancing, and music presentations as well, all washed down with some great sandwiches and treats. Thanks to the teaching artists (Elliot Montague, Audrey Neddermann & Bradley Valentin), the school (Especially Ms. Fletcher, Ms. Diamond & Ms. Preiss), and parents for a great time. We can't wait to see what's next!

Focus Group Share-Out: Type Cast meets The Violence Movie

19 Dec 2010, 4:30 PM by Elizabeth Rodd, Urban Arts MediaLab

Story by Robert Matos

Viandra McCarthy, representing Kurt Hahn's The Violence Movie, and Robert Matos, representing MediaLab's Type Cast

On Saturday, December 4, the afternoon session of the Urban Arts MediaLab team received guests who were students and also filmmakers from the Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning School in Brooklyn.

The Kurt Hahn students gave us a preview of a rough cut of their film The Violence Movie, which showed acts of direct and indirect violence both in and out of school. The students featured in the film performed skits and shared personal stories of their encounters with violent situations.
 

Kurt Hahn students lead The Violence Movie Q and A session.

After the screening we had a Q and A session with the Kurt Hahn students in which we were asked to give feedback. I recommended that they be careful about possible copyright infringements when using archival film clips and that they think about whether they want to present a radical point of view or be more objective.  Other than those two comments I can see their film being very successful and popular with the public.

Then we turned the tables . . .

The MediaLab crew leads a discussion of Type Cast.  Yep, that's Viandra McCarthy again... She worked on both films!

After The Violence Movie Q and A session the MediaLab crew presented our film Type Cast, which deals with the diabetes epidemic in the adolescent community.  We received useful feedback from the Kurt Hahn in-school crew: they felt a strong connection with our main subjects, Josh and Tiffany, but recommended that we use our audio in a stronger way so that the audience feels like the audio is a character in the film.

Teaching Artist Vee Bravo has some thoughts about audio.

In the end, the MediaLab crew learned something from the Kurt Hahn film crew and they learned a few skills from our side, based on our experiences inside the industry.

Keep checking back over the holidays. . . . There's always news from the MediaLab crew!

PS 48Q's Film Production

01 Dec 2010, 1:24 PM by kaya, Elementary School