Recently Karen Montanaro sent me a photo (posted below) of a young child dancing in front of a painting by the Irish painter, John Lavery. The painting of Anna Pavlova was created in 1911. A further search lead Karen to a blog post with information about the painter and the artwork. It reminded me of a book called Dancing in the Streets by Barbara Ehrenreich that includes the traditions of dancing that are embedded in many cultures around the world. Our need as human beings to come together and celebrate through dance is a natural part of development. We can’t locate the origin of the photograph but is certainly is wonderful!
And from there another email this week from Anne Kofler with a short video of dancers who move into the shape of an elephant. Turns out it was a commercial. I sent it on to Karen Montanaro who confirmed that the dancers Pilobolus had a performance that includes the elephant. You can check it out at this blog as it was performed on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, July 2008. I know they’ve performed at Bates Dance Festival and Portland Ovations. I understand Pilobolus has other connections to Maine. The work dates back to the early 1970s. You can learn more about them in this Portland Press Herald article from 2010.
Speaking of Bates Dance Festival I just received their electronic newsletter. They’ve celebrated their 30th year and had quite a summer with wonderful performances. You can read all about it on their site. They have amazing opportunities for Maine students, along with young and veteran dancers from around the world. If you are not familiar with the program: Founded in 1982, the Bates Dance Festival is a summer program of Bates College whose mission is: to bring an artistically and ethnically diverse group of outstanding contemporary dance artists to Maine during the summer months to teach, perform, and create new work; to encourage and inspire established and emerging artists by giving them a creative, supportive place in which to work; and to actively engage people from the community and region in a full range of dance performances, workshops and discussions. Maine arts educator Nancy Salmon has been with Bates Dance Festival for many years along with dedicating many years to promoting arts education in Maine!
The Celebration of Arts Education was held yesterday at the Blaine House and Department of Education recognizing the outstanding arts education programs at Lake Region School District. The art exhibit presently at the Maine Department of Education is a photography show. The photographs depict the dance program at Lake Region High School (LRHS), many of the photographs are taken by LRHS students.
At Blaine House yesterday we were honored to have two student musical groups and one dance performance. The students engagement was obvious throughout the ceremony. One of the songs was written by a 6th grader on the topic of about bullying. The student now in 7th grade was performed by three students.
Dance educator Carmel Collins introduces the dancers and dance number
Mr. James Banks, former chair of the Maine State Board helped to present the students with certificates and art buttons. Afterwards students and their families enjoyed cookies and punch in the dining room of the Blaine House. Afterwards students and their families walked across the street to view the photographs on the 5th floor of the Department. It was a great afternoon of celebration.
You can view all of the photographs which will remain until September 30th and can be viewed during regular business hours. All of the photographs are online on the meartsed blog. The link is located on the front page under “Info” along with the other past student exhibits from the Department of Education.
Family and friends of Hayley Allen gather by her photograph for a picture
Thank you to Janet Gallagher for taking photographs at the Blaine House.
The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) writing teams met (in person for the first time) in Reston, Virginia, June 19-22. The teams include dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts. They gathered along with the leadership team of the NCCAS and had an intense productive four days.
The website to learn more is at http://nccas.wikispaces.com/ where you will find video clips of team members providing information on the work. The meeting featured a live video broadcast session entitled Embedding Enduring Understandings, Essential Questions and Cornerstone Assessments into the new Core Arts Standards. You can view the recording of the session and learn more about the details of the development of the standards document.
Each year at George Stevens Academy during the annual Arts Festival the students in dance classes have a chance to show others their accomplishments.
I received this email recently with a link to the video footage from the festival.
“We had fun and worked hard and enjoyed sharing with our friends and school. Special thanks to our guest artists Alison Chase, Kenneth Neil, & Jessica Bendig from Alison Chase Performance Group, and Nathaniel Dombek, & Maiki Saito from Maine State Ballet; we loved the energy they brought to our stage.
Throughout the year GSA Introduction to Dance class enthusiastically taught and performed Beyoncé’s Move Your Body with the goal of sharing our love and support for GSA alumnus, US Marine Jake Fox, and his healing journey after a roadside bomb in Afghanistan wounded him.”
Not only were these students engaged in their learning but doing it thoughtfully in support of a marine makes the learning that much more meaningful.
Many art exhibits and musical performances are happening all over Maine at this time of year. I am grateful to be invited to attend many of them and very happy that my schedule makes it possible. Recently, I traveled to MSAD#6, Bonny Eagle School District which is made up of Buxton, Hollis, LImington, Standish, and Frye Island. It is one of the largest school districts in the state.
I arrived at Bonny Eagle Middle School in the late afternoon where the K-12 Arts Night was being held. The school was filling up in the many rooms/locations where the performances were scheduled and artwork displayed. High School music teacher (and teacher leader from the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative) Jake Sturtevant met me at the door to the cafeteria where I had a chance to listen to a choral group sing and the jazz band play.
Jazz band in the cafeteria
The best of the best artwork was in one of the gyms. Wall to wall exhibits of the highest caliber and students proudly showed their work to their family and friends. I ran into retired art teacher Sheila Clough who was there with her husband, their daughter and grandchildren. Both had artwork displayed. It was delightful to meet and visit with them.
Sheila and her grandaughter
I stopped in the music room to listen to individuals and small ensembles performing from the band and chorus. The room was packed with people of all ages, many standing since all the seats were taken.
One of the many student groups in the music room performing
My mouth dropped open when middle school Physical Education/Dance (and Maine Arts Assessment team leader) MaryEllen Schaper escorted me into a larger gym where the bleachers were packed. The 5th grade chorus and high school theater groups performed followed by the 5th grade all-district band made up of 350 students. WOW! I couldn’t imagine how difficult it is to bring that many students together from the different schools to perform. Music teacher Karina Babcock did an outstanding job conducting them. I was impressed with how she interwove what students were doing as they warmed up and the layers and complexity of learning the standards that takes place for the individual learner in order to contribute to the overall performance.
All-district 5th grade band
Congratulations to the entire Bonny Eagle visual and performing arts staff for a job well done! The students and entire community are fortunate to have a dedicated teaching staff of visual and performing arts teachers and an evening to celebrate and recognize the work of students!
US Department of Education Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan
On April 2, the U.S. Department of Education released a study entitled Arts Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools 1999-2000 and 2009-10. This study was previously published in 2002, prior to implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Arts education advocates are very pleased to finally see an update, even if a full decade later.
The report offers mixed results in support of arts education. According to the report, music and visual art are widely available in schools in some form in schools nationwide; however, dance and theater are far less available. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan stated, “despite the importance of providing equal educational opportunities in the arts, today’s report shows we are falling well short of that goal.”
Despite being designated a “core academic subject” in NCLB and being included in mandated elementary school curriculum in 44 states, this survey demonstrates that access to arts education remains elusive to a tremendous number of students across the nation.
From the Department’s announcement of the study we learned that:
1.3 million of our nation’s public elementary school students receive no specific instruction in music, and nearly 4 million students receive no specific instruction in the visual arts.
800,000 public secondary school students do not receive music, and 11 percent of secondary schools do not provide the visual arts.
Only 3 percent of elementary schools offer any specific dance instruction and only 4 percent offer any specific theater instruction. In secondary schools, the numbers improve somewhat as 12 percent offer dance and 45 percent offer theater.
Finally, this report found that the nation’s poorest students, the ones who could benefit the most from arts education, are receiving it the least. A decade ago, the data showed that 100 percent of high poverty schools offered music instruction, but currently, only 80 percent offer music instruction. The percentage offering visual arts, dance, and theater is even lower.
In his remarks, Secretary Duncan called the disparity between high-poverty and low-poverty schools “deeply disturbing” and “absolutely an equity issue and a civil rights issue.”
Sharing the lessons learned over the last year and a half…
April 4, 2012
The Maine Arts Assessment Initiative was launched in the Summer of 2010 as a first-in-the-nation state effort to bring best practices in arts education to the forefront by developing and refining assessment strategies at the grass roots level. The stories of the journey are numerous, and lessons learned along the way are many. These have deep ramifications not only for the Initiative as it moves forward, but for anyone associated with arts education in Maine: parents, students, teachers and administrators. Join Catherine Ring and Rob Westerberg on their webinar on Wednesday, April 4 from 3:30 to 4:30 pm as they unpack these lessons learned.
Drawing from recent data; feedback from over two hundred professionals in the field, feedback from the Fall Conference, Regional Workshops and prior MAAI webinars, Catherine and Rob have organized this presentation into an informing set of common themes. With guest presenter Argy Nestor, Visual and Performing Arts Specialist at the Maine DOE, they will attempt to make sense of it all in a way that can help focus and direct future work for all of Arts education in Maine and beyond. Participants will be instructed to provide live, real time feedback as the webinar unfolds, and everyone’s voice is encouraged to be heard! Active MAAI educator or first time participant, single listener or in a group, as an educator, parent, administrator or student, this is THE webinar that you will want to be sure to put on your calendar and attend!
MAINE ALLIANCE FOR ARTS EDUCATION ANNOUNCES 2012 AWARDS
The Maine Alliance for Arts Education is pleased to announce Brian Walsh, Principal at Hermon High School and MaryEllen Schaper, dance educator and teacher at Bonny Eagle Middle and High School as the winners of its annual awards for excellence and service to arts education in Maine.
Walsh was selected as the 2012 Outstanding Administrator Advocate for Arts Education Award, which is given each year to a school or organization administrator who has: demonstrated outstanding leadership and support of the arts, established exemplary or innovative arts education programs, and promoted the importance of arts in education.
Schaper is the recipient of the 2012 Bill Bonyun Artist/Educator Award which is given each year in honor of Bill Bonyun whose career as a folklorist, storyteller, singer, writer, and educator spanned over half a century. The award is given to someone who has: made significant contributions to arts education, shown outstanding commitment and dedicated service in arts education, and been an inspiration to students, teachers, and the community.
In nominating Walsh, Cheryl Olson Lorenz said, “In a small community with a high school known as a ‘sports school,’ the support of the principal can make the difference between the arts acting in anonymity or stepping into the spotlight. Brian Walsh has made that kind of difference at Hermon High School through his leadership and support of the arts, arts advocacy, and artistic expression.”
And in her nomination letter for Schaper, Nancy Salmon describes her contributions to dance education by saying, “MaryEllen has provided countless students with their first taste of the joy of dance and movement.”
Schaper and Walsh will receive their awards at a ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion, Blaine House on March 14.
MAAE will also honor Carol Gardien Trimble at the March 14th Blaine House Arts Education Celebration for her dedicated service as its Executive Director. In December 2011, Carol stepped down from her post, having served ten years in this role. During her tenure, Carol guided the organization through a period of program and service expansion and helped the board of directors to make major changes that strengthened MAAE as an important state and national networking and advocacy entity. Under her leadership MAAE created and managed two important programs that offered direct services to Maine students and teachers: Learning in Community – Arts (LINC) in Hancock County) and (with Susan Potters), Building Community Through the Arts (BCTA). To support these programs and other MAAE initiatives, Carol garnered funding through innumerable, federal, state, and foundation grants and corporate supporters. Her administrative skills and gracious presence at the heart of MAAE is greatly missed.
This post is about a TEDx presentation by John Bohannon, an American, who presented in Brussels on this theory of dancing to present information instead of using power point. He is a biologist and a journalist and uses an alter ego known as the Gonzo Specialist. He runs the “Dance Your Ph.D.” contest.
This presentation is not only about that concept but John does it with an example of teaching/conveying science ideas. It also is about the information age and creativity and so many other ideas may popped into my mind as I watched this TEDx. John has challenged his students to use dance to present findings for Ph.D. research and it has turned into a world-wide contest. If you google Ph.D. dance you will see numerous examples of submitted ideas for the contest. But if you don’t have time right now to look at several right you can bookmark this link that has the 2011 winners of the contest. I suggest on the next snow day you can view them. And, perhaps this might give you ideas on how to engage your students in their learning/assessment in a different way. And here is one example that shows the epic mating battle of the fruit flies stars three dancers who undertake extremely clever choreography to depict various stages in the process. Consider sharing this information with your students. It would be great to hear their feedback.
Thank you to Karen Montanaro for sharing this information.
On Google yesterday in recognition of dancer Martha Graham‘s birthday they had a very short animation created by Ryan Woodward. Below is a full song of the animation with the same dancers that is a You Tube and it is sooooooo very COOOOOOOOL! Enjoy!
Argy Nestor
Arts Educator, Blogger, Artist, Connector meartsed@gmail.com
https://sites.google.com/view/anestor/
Argy’s Blog
The purpose of this blog is to share stories about people and places; and to celebrate the amazing work (and play) that students, educators, and organizations are doing in and for arts education. In addition, the blog has a plethora of resources and innovative ideas. This forum gives blog readers the opportunity to learn from each other. It is essential that we listen, learn, and collaborate in order to build on teaching practices for the benefit of every learner in Maine and beyond.
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