Study Guide for What You Want To Be By Antoine Hunter and the Urban JAzz Dance Company March 16, 2010 Written by Jennifer Daly and Miko Lee for Youth in Arts Some content provided by Antoine Hunter 999 Fifth Avenue, Suite 290 San Rafael, CA 94901 www.youthinarts.org Supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts
California Curriculum Standards and Performing Arts Field Trips California s Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) framework for students learning about the arts is divided into five strands. Following are ideas for relating each strand to a performing arts field trip. 1.0 Artistic Perception Students perceive and respond to art, using increasingly sophisticated vocabulary and concepts. Take time before and after the performance to discuss the experience. Ask children to re-enact scenes or reproduce movements, tones or rhythms. Use study guide to review vocabulary or key concepts. 2.0 Creative Expression Students use various media to express meaning and intent in original works of art. Attending a performance can inspire children to create their own art. Youth in Arts provides instruction in visual art, music, dance, theater and new media in your classroom. Antoine Hunter is available to work with students in your classroom through Youth in Arts. To learn more, call 415-457-4878. 3.0 Historical and Cultural Context Students analyze the relationship between the arts and diverse cultures of the past and present. Use photos and stories to learn about places and people associated with the art form. 4.0 Aesthetic Valuing Students critically assess and derive meaning from arts experiences. Ask students to respond to the performance, challenging them to go beyond words like good or interesting. How did specific sounds, movements or lines of dialogue create a mood or send a message? 5.0 Connections, Relationships and Applications Students apply arts learning across subject areas and with respect to their own lives. Read books related to the performance. Discuss the arts profession. How do performers learn their skills? California Standards and What You Want To Be What You Want To Be addresses K-8 VAPA Dance standards, including: Grade K: 4.1 Explain basic features that distinguish one dance from another (e.g., speed, energy, costume, music). Grade 1: 4.1 Use basic dance vocabulary to describe a dance (e.g., shapes, levels, directions, tempo/fast-slow). Grade 2: 5.3 Describe moods and ideas communicated through dance (e.g. sadness, the ocean) Grade 3: 4.3 Explain how dance skills are used to communicate ideas or moods (e.g., focus, strength, coordination). Grade 4: 4.3 Describe how a dancer effectively communicates ideas and moods Grade 5: 5.2 Describe how dancing requires good health-related habits Grade 6: 4.4 Distinguish the differences between viewing live and recorded dance performances. Grade 7: 5.2 Describe how dancing builds physical and emotional well-being 5.4 Research and compare careers in dance and dance-related fields. Grade 8: 4.1 Identify preferences for choreography using the elements of dance. 5.2 Describe how dancing builds positive mental and physical health
BACKGROUND Children learn best from a performing arts experience when they know what to expect. Following is background information about the performance you will see, including information on the performers and the art form they will present. THE PERFORMANCE Dancer/choreographer Antoine Hunter and his Urban JAzz Dance Company present a hip hop/modern dance interpretation of the Ugly Duckling story focusing on overcoming personal challenges. What You Want to Be incorporates ASL and emotionally expressive movement into a story-based dance program appropriate for all ages. THE ART FORM: CONTEMPORARY SIGN DANCE Modern and Contemporary Dance developed in the twentieth century in response to the strict traditions of dance forms like classical ballet. Instead of wearing tight-fitting costumes and pointe shoes, modern and contemporary dancers wear whatever clothes they choose and may dance in flat shoes or bare feet. There are no set rules or set dance steps like there are in ballet as soon as a rule is made, someone will try to break it. Some dances tell a story and some do not. Sign Dance comes out of a movement that developed in the 1980s to form companies of artists that include performers of all abilities. Integrated Dance Antoine Hunter companies (like AXIS Dance in Oakland) combine dancers with and without physical disabilities. Sign Dance incorporates movements of Sign Language the predominant language of the Deaf community into dance choreography. Pioneers in this art form include the Common Ground Sign Dance Theatre in England. Here is what they say about the art of Sign Dance: Sign Language, the language of the Deaf community, is a visual, spatial language taking shape in three dimensions in the air this becomes the core of and inspiration for our choreography. We create unique performances through a fusion of sign language, dance, and physical theatre, or Poetry of the Body. Common Ground Sign Dance Theatre
THE ARTISTS: ANTOINE HUNTER S URBAN JAZZ DANCE COMPANY Antoine DeVinci Hunter began dancing in high school in Oakland, California, and went on to study West African Dance with C.K. and Betty Ladzekpo and contemporary dance through Paul Taylor Summer Intensives. Antoine has performed with Savage Jazz Dance Company and has also been featured with The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Nuba Dance Theater, Alayo Dance Company and Robert Moses' Kin Dance Company. He attended the California Institute of the Arts and is currently studying for a B.A degree in dance from St. Mary's. Antoine is a faculty member at Youth In Arts, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center and East Bay Center for the Performing Arts. He has served as Urban Jazz instructor for Dance-A-Vision and rehearsal director for the Ross Dance Company with Tecsia Ross. He is the Founder and Director of Urban JAzz Dance Company, for whom he created original choreography for Expedia.com commercials and Amerikana The Musical. Antoine s statement about What You Want to Be : I believe that all people are born with creativity, which is as an essential element of selfdiscovery. It is my goal to help people realize their creative selves through dance. Most of my choreography expresses triumph and struggle, reality and fantasy and the interface between different worlds, all of which is expressed through the poetry of urban movement. I am working to cultivate an environment fully accessible to people of all abilities and ages. Through art, I want the world to know you can be anything you want. This piece is inspired by The Ugly Duckling. As a Deaf or Hard of Hearing person, it is hard to get people to accept you. You miss out on the sounds of everyday life, and do not know certain sounds even exist. People are unsure of how to approach you, or see you as less than. When I was a child I used to watch cartoons, and I saw the Ugly Duckling as an animated movie. I cheered on that Ugly Duck in his dream of being accepted. Dance saved my life. It was a way for me to communicate with Hearing and Deaf people. I felt I was not really accepted in either community, but once I started dancing, both Deaf and Hearing people were able to understand my feelings and struggles and eventually accept me. This is the reason I decided to become a professional dancer. My company is called Urban JAzz Dance Company. Urban: RAW-gritty-edgy-tough-street smart-minority influenced- fresh with unexpected movement and visible sound. Jazz: we dance in any way we can express ourselves ballet, African, hip-hop, Praise, Sign, modern and more. Combined we are Urban JAzz Dance Company. Why JAzz and not Jazz? Because I can't Hear the zz!
DISCUSSION & ACTIVITIES You may want to talk with students before or after the show about perceptions, stereotypes and ideas about people with disabilities. You can research famous people with disabilities. You may also want talk about dance. What and who is a dancer? Is all movement dance (or potentially dance)? What kinds of dance styles can you name? Talk about being a good audience member and encourage students to make mental notes of things they notice during the presentation. After the performance, encourage students to share their observations. What were their favorite dances? What do they remember about these dances encourage them to go beyond It was good or I liked it. Be specific. Pre- or Post-Performance Activity: 1) Divide class and have one half of the students wear earplugs. 2) Call up one pair of students and have them model a hearing student assisting their partner with earplugs in a short, simple task that involves hearing (i.e. listening to teacher s verbal directions). Talk about eye contact, facial expressions and using motions to express themselves. Have students remove earplugs and discuss. What would have made the task easier? What if both students knew ASL? 3) Have students take a short walk around the schoolyard with their partner for 5-10 minutes. Suggest students try to point out things they find interesting, perhaps introduce each other to their friends. Have students switch places for the next 5-10 minutes (make sure you have clean earplugs for each student). Return to class. Without discussion, have each student write a few sentences about what they did together on their walk. Discuss. 4) Announce that you will be having a dance party! Put on a favorite piece of music (keep volume low enough that students with earplugs can not hear). Have students model how the hearing partner can tap out a rhythm or use hand motions to show the rhythm of the piece. Try turning up the bass and treble separately and have students with earplugs see which is easier to dance to. 5) Dance together! Make sure to have students switch places halfway through. Antoine Hunter can visit your class through Youth in Arts Artists in Schools program to provide a workshop on contemporary dance and Deaf/Hard of Hearing arts. Call us at 415-457-4878 if you would like to discuss bringing Antoine to your classroom.
LEARN MORE: READING LIST Dance! With Bill T. Jones by Susan Kuklin Reading Level: Ages K-4. The renowned performer and choreographer shares his deep love for dance and movement in this photoessay. The text is brief and to the point. "I am a dancer. I want to dance." Colorful closeups contrast with full-body shots, all set against a stark background. Jones's simple attire accentuates his remarkable grace. He warms up, creates lines and curves, flies high, hugs the ground. The placement and sequencing of his poses convey the excitement and many moods of dance. Use for picture-book hour or any opportunity to share a beautiful book. Through Sophie's Eyes by Catherine Gibson Reading Level: Ages 4-8. Sophie is a young deaf girl who loves ballet and wants to learn to dance. Unable to hear music like the other girls in class, Sophie learns to persevere, her friends learn what it is like for her to adjust to life in a hearing world, forging understanding and the spirit of friendship. Through Sophie's Eyes introduces its readers to the finger spell alphabet with examples of vocabulary words from the book. Silent Lotus by Jeanne M. Lee. ISBN: 0374466467. Reading Level: Ages 4-8. Lotus, a beautiful, graceful child who can not hear or speak, is a source of joy to her parents. Near the lake where she grows up, Lotus walks among the herons and egrets, but feels rejected by other children. Looking for a sign from the gods, her parents take her to the temple in the city, where they see temple dancers. When Lotus imitates their movements, this is the sign to her parents. They go to the palace and Lotus dances for the king and queen, who are delighted with her beauty and grace. Lotus becomes a dancer in the Cambodian court, telling the tales of gods and kings with her hands, body, and feet. Moses Sees a Play by Isaac Millman. ISBN: 0374350663. Reading level: Ages 4-8. Moses, a young Deaf child who in previous books has gone to school, attended a concert, and been to the circus, now sees a play: the Little Theater of the Deaf is performing Cinderella at his school. Ink-and-watercolor artwork tells the story in the traditional way, but each page also features Moses describing the action in American Sign Language (ASL). Moses meets Manuel, a boy from the other school, who speaks only Spanish, but they become friends; their relationship is a bridge to the various ways people communicate. I Can't Always Hear You by Joy Zelonky. ISBN: 0811452050. Reading Level: Ages 9-12. Kim is concerned about attending school with hearing children after attending a special school for the Deaf. She feels different, and is laughed at when she makes speech errors or misunderstands. She feels much more comfortable after meeting the principal, who also wears a hearing aid, and after discussing individual differences with the other students. You Don't Need Words: A Book About Ways People Talk Without Words by Ruth Belov Gross. ISBN: 0590438972. Reading Level: Ages 9-12. A book for young people about the ways to communicate non-verbally. Included are gestures, American Sign Language, Indian Sign Language, facial expressions and body language, commonly accepted hand signals, international symbols, and Indian and Hobo picture writing.
The Gift of the Girl Who Couldn't Hear by Susan Richards Shreve. ISBN: 0688116949. Reading Level: 12+ The summer she turns thirteen, Eliza decides she doesn't like herself. She becomes moody, insecure and overweight. Her grades drop and she decides not to try out for the lead in the seventh grade musical, her goal since third grade. Lucy is her personable, outgoing classmate and neighbor. Lucy is also Deaf and determined to have a role in the musical. Eliza agrees to teach Lucy to sing for the audition. Not until the audition does Eliza realize Lucy's gift to her. Introduces readers positively to what it means to be Deaf.