IS 528 Holiday Share

23 Dec 2011, 11:54 AM by keith, Middle School

Students in the Video and Visual Arts after school programs at IS 528 in Washington Heights held a Holiday Share event at the school to celebrate present their recent work.

Visual arts students displayed recent pieces covering serveral projects, all rooted in cultural traditions from around the world.  They discusses their process and decision-making, highlighting various visual arts concepts they had worked on, such as realistic body proportions, symmetry and patterned decoration.

Video students held a screening featuring two of their finished projects, the IS 528 Digital Portrait and "Revenge," a short horror movie that tells the story of the ghosts of bullied teenagers that haunt the students that harmed them, wreaking havoc on their Halloween party.  They also alswered questions from the audience and gave a preview of their current project which consists of paper characters in stop motion scenes with original dialogue.

"Our party is about celebrating the long time we worked together on out videos.  We wanted to show our work.  It's fun and I have been learning a lot of new things about video.  My favorite thing I learned was to make a stop motion video with characters and making them move so that people couldn't see our hands moving them." - Mark, 6th grade

"Today was a holiday party for the good work in video and visual arts.  I'm in both clubs, so I felt more proud.  I'm excited about the kachina dolls we're making.  They come from Native Americans and I'm not finished yet, but I really like it." - Gian, 6th grade

"In video we're working on animating paper avatars.  The stories are about heartbreak and friendship and stuff.  I'm excited about what we will try to do in 2012." - Isabel, 7th grade

"In visual arts we share our projects.  We help each other to do good work and encourage each other.  We're working on adding lines and patterns to a photo of a face.  We could do our own face of another face.  I like that so many people get to see our art and when they ask me questions about my art, it makes me feel like a real artist." - Joseline, 6th grade

PS 90 Holiday Preparations

23 Dec 2011, 12:26 AM by kaya, Elementary School

At PS 90 in Coney Island, dance students are busily preparing for their winter dance concert today! Over 40 1st and 2nd graders, working with teaching artist Kathy Fleurissaint, have been honing their dance moves.

Here’s what they had to say:

Analia,6 – I like the songs we have for freestyle  

Eman, 7- In dance we practice our dance a lot and have fun.

Michael, 7 - we are practicing for a Christmas show, where we’ll be dancing for the parents and the rest of the school!

Ariel, 6- my favorite part is the freestyle dance because you freeze and then you dance and even when you are disqualified you’re not out, because you can help Ms. Kathy with the pausing and calling out numbers.

Bruce, 7- the most exciting part of dance when we dance and play games because dance shows you how to move your body.

(Also in the class interview, Mark wanted to share was 7)

Life Stories at Stick Fly

22 Dec 2011, 5:18 PM by frank, Life Stories

The Life Stories and Media Lab students went to see "Stick Fly" on Broadway by playwright Lydia R. Diamond at the Cort Theater on Wednesday, December 21.

The play follows the LeVays, an affluent African American family who come together to spend a summer weekend at their Martha's Vineyard home. Themes of class, race and identity politics intersect in this contemporary comedy. Starring Dule Hill, Mekhi Phifer, Tracie Thoms, Ruben Santiago- Hudson, Rosie Benton, Condola Rashad and direction by Kenny Leon with producer and  composer Alicia Keys.

 I was immediately captivated by the storyline and the plot twists which kept me engaged and intrigued as it unfolded. My fellow ensemble members loved the play as it related to some of the themes we are exposed to and exploring in our own work.

After the play we had the opportunity to take a stage tour-the set was so unique because a lot of it was functional and the design of the rooms allowed us to view what was occuring in more than one room simultaneosly.

We were so lucky because acclaimed actress Tracie Thoms gave us an exclusive talk back on the set; and invited her co-stars Mekhi Phifer and Dule Hill to say hello, answer some questions about their experience in this show, and take a photo.

We learned so much from speaking with Tracie. It was amazing to find out how complex and time consuming it can get as a working actor on such a big production like this one. Tracie also pointed out that she is still discovering and evolving her character which was interesting to find out because I had this misconception that once you start performing your piece, then there is no more room for enhancement of your character. I remember first seeing Tracie in he movie "Rent" and was so moved by her performance and talent, as well as in "Stick Fly." All of us were blown away by her many skills humor, honesty, and overall how down to earth she is.

What made the night even more special was being able to tell Tracie how her peformances inspire me personally and help me develop as an actor.

Everyone should see this show!

THANK YOU TRACIE!!!

written by Devin Mojica

PS 112 Holiday Share

20 Dec 2011, 1:00 PM by kaya, Elementary School

Students at PS 112 shared the great work they've been doing in their music class with the whole school this week. Their percussion unit focused on bucket drums, and teaching artist Martin Urbach led them in showing off their skills. This reviewer's favorite part was then they ended the show throwing paper snow all around the stage. Great work guys!

Winter Showcase at Brandeis High School

16 Dec 2011, 3:07 PM by keith, High School

Students in all three of UAP's 21st Century Community Learning Centers after school arts programs at Louis D. Brandeis High School recently presented their work at a showcase for family and friends.

First up was the Good Lookin' Photo Club led by teaching artist Yarrow Lutz, represented by a slideshow of students' images from recent projects, some of which involved the photo students collaborating with students in the Fashion Club run by The Leadership Program.  The images highlight not only their amazing creativity and technical skill, but also show their willingness to take risks with the camera.  The slideshow can be seen in video format below. 

The Drama Club and the Music Club also presented collaborative performance pieces.  Working with teaching artists Heather Acs and Erika Kapin, students jointly explored the theme of heroic love to create short scenes accompanied by live musical soundtrack.  Drama students presented two scenes backed by performers from the Music Club, which made for a truly unique experience for the audience.

"First we learned the keys and fingering and then we learned how to play the pieces.  We collaborated with the Drama Club.  We both had a theme of "heroic love," then put our parts together.  We shared our work, then we added some things and edited some stuff out.  I was nervous to perform, but I just acted like nobody was there and played my part.  Before the program I didn't know anything about piano.  I wish we could have the program for more days." - Quadry, 12th grade

"Our topic was heroic love.  Our group was all boys, so we did a scene that dealt with brotherly love from 'Boyz in Da Hood."  It was like a Broadway show to have the live music during the scene.  As an actor, it makes you feel it more.  i was influenced by mafia movies and actors I like.  This is what I want to be, so that's why I study it and work hard.  I love acting and drama and it's something I plan to do as I get older." - Raymond, 11th grade

"We've been working on heroic love and my scene involves drug dealers.  We chose this because it relates to life.  It's a story about when a character has to do something he doesn't ever imagine he would do.  We wanted the audience to think about how there are ways to get money and things you want, but you have to choose the good ways to do it." - Courtney, 11th grade