All entries filed under Summer Slide

Today was a curious tour with a 9 am session in West Allentown at Muhlenberg ES and then back downtown at Washington ES for a 10:30 am gig.

I’ve played Muhlenberg many times and the school has had a reputation for an appreciation for the arts, reflecting the relative upper middle class neighborhood. The kids were waiting when I got there (on time!) and I started with I Like Peanut Butter and I was taken aback with the lack of energy in the group, especially the older kids. Not interested…. I spent some time explaining what I do and how I do it, and that the kids should be willing to take a chance.

It was consistently sluggish throughout the get-together and I made a mental note to back off a little. They did come up with a good Bear Hunt verse: an Iron Pigs game, a loud, crowded Iron Pigs game. Crack of the bat, “It’s Outta Here!” and a loud cheering sound. That was the most response I got from them.

We ended with All Around the Kitchen and the kids and teachers came up with some new moves: The Macarena, Do Ce Do, Wiggle Worm and the Hoppy, Hoppy Hoppy. Again, it was a good finish though there were kids who didn’t move.

During the reflection time, I commented that I had to just shut up about the inaction, when one teacher said, “Don’t. The kids have to hear it from someone like you.” That was a surprise! Later on, I thought that it’s a cultural flaw, and one that can be traced to the parents hands-off child rearing, with screens and devices (non-active) being prevalent in the home. Just a thought.

I headed into the inner city of Allentown for a group of kids in Washington ES. What a difference. Though there were some non-active kids, for the most part, these kids were sharp (some even said they liked math). The older kids were engaged and I leaned on the teachers to get involved as well.

The Bear Hunt addition was cool: The Bermuda Triangle, dangerous, mysterious Bermuda Triangle. We made our arms into plane wings, motor sounds and then “poof” and silence. I liked this one. I’ve been doing some discussion before Giants to have them construct an imaginary Giant and the conversation is fun. All Around the Kitchen brought out the regular Floss, Hype but new ones included Running Man, the Mate and the Fresh.

These kids were great and it was a treat to work with them. They pulled me out of a creative funk. My next Allentown sessions are on Monday. Ten down, four to go.

Today was another good day, this time in inner city Allentown: Central and Cleveland Schools. Again, traffic was snarled on Rt. 22 and I had to invent my passage into town. The folks were waiting for me at Central, including another teacher who was a fan. She said she shares my music with her kindergarten kids on a daily basis, especially I’m Gonna Tell. I got it going promptly shortly after 9 am.

There were more parents and teachers at this one and I had a great time playing off of them, encouraging them to dance and the energy flowed between them, the kids and myself. That’s why I aim for the adults, too. One enthusiastic woman came up at the end who plays for the kids, teaches pre-K and raved about what I did. The kindergarten teacher said she would share my CDs with her. Great!

These kids came up with the Bear Hunt entry of Dorney Park, Wildwater Kingdom and we did a cool trip down the water slide and a big splash at the end. I also added some dance moves from the teachers at the end: The Twist, The Shopping Cart and the Fishing Pole. Very spontaneous and creative on their part.

At the end, I try to have the kids reflect on what we did but I also ask the teachers to what they liked. That is perhaps the most valuable feedback.

I headed off to Cleveland ES, a school only a few blocks away for my 10:30 session. I’ve played this school many times with my friend and former Cleveland teacher John Christie. It’s a small neighborhood school in the inner city and, again a mix of bilingual, Latino, Black and white kids.

We were in the small cafeteria in the basement (I know it well) and the kids settled in. There were more older boys in mix, and I had to adjust accordingly. I cut out some of the ‘kiddie stuff’ and did some more ‘adult’ conversation. I focused on Giants, for some reason, and we imagined what a giant would look like. The chat was pretty lively and I admitted that they scared me. Sometimes the dialogue is as important as the music.

Some of the older boys were hard to break down and though they aren’t any trouble, they simply refuse to participate, as if it’s below their interest. This is the hardest part of some of these gigs: to try to encourage, explain why I do what I do, and not get personal. I don’t always do it right. But I have some tools in my gig bag (Thunder Tubes!) that have some effect.

For Bear Hunt, these kids came up with a haunted Tree House, with a rope ladder, bats zipping past and creepy vines growing up on us. Very creative and still somewhat macabre. All Around the Kitchen was a riot and the teachers were taken by surprise when I asked them for their dances. But, they stepped up, as expected. The teachers said they enjoyed my wackiness, the interaction and the movement.

These summer sessions are turning out to be quite productive for me, and the schools, as well.

I have three consecutive days in Allentown this week with two Allentown schools on Monday: center city Sheridan and East side Ritter, both somewhat different.

The Sheridan gig was in the gym with a fairly large audience. I got there nick ‘o time with the Tilghman Street bridge out of commission. They were waiting for me so I settled in quickly and launched into Peanut Butter, a good ice-breaker. I can usually tell right away who the tough-sell kids are, usually the older kids. It’s my job to reel them in and usually do. One teacher was a big fan (as is often the case) and she made me feel welcome.

The Ritter gig was on the East side of town, more residencial (but ’50s and 60’s houses) but still a mix of Latino, Black and some whites. Again, this was a larger crowd, so I set up in a corner of the warm lunch room and away we go…..

I’m trying to add the kids’ Bear Hunt verses and Ritter came up with a good one, the local high school Dieruff, which probably is quite a daunting structure for elementary schools kids. I had to struggle to make it approachable for these kids so we did an echoing “hello” as we entered and then headed upstairs for pizza in the high school cafeteria. You just go with the flow sometimes. All Around the Kitchen worked well as a closer and some of the more recalcitrant kids got involved.

One young girl sat off to the side, her face in her hands, occasionally looking up but never smiling or reacting. I have to learn to observe and not comment. I have no idea what is going on in her life and I have to respect that.

 

Marvine’s session was my third with these kids and they are stoked when they come in. I decided to keep the scarves and instruments at home today and concentrate on some dance tunes. I started off with Sally Goes Round the Sun, a very simple circle dance with a big ‘whoop!” at the end. I knew the kids would get the whoop and hoped they would pick up the singing. Not so much, and part of what I learned today.

We did Little Sally Walker, a more involved circle song, with a progressive device that starts out with one kid in the middle, and as the song goes on, more and more kids get selected to go in the middle. It’s got a great movement chorus and they tend to pick up on that readily.

We worked on our Bear Hunt verses with the new ones added. It’s turning out well, if I can only remember them all. Good fodder for future gigs.

We finished with All Around the Kitchen, adding their dance moves to the performance. Again, it’s a great vehicle for individual dance with lots of freedom.

I headed over to Fountain Hill ES for the second session at 10:30 am. They weren’t quite ready for me (such is the state of summer schools) but they eventually gathered in the gym, again with lots of waves and hellos. These visits are especially gratifying due to the ability to return to the same kids over the course of a month.

I did the same progression of the Sally dances, Bear Hunt and All Around the Kitchen but with a much larger group of kids and a bigger space. That provided some challenges in itself (crowd control) but was a better performance piece. I felt pleased that I could do a whole session of highly active and interactive movement pieces.

What I learned: As I expected, it’s hard for this 1st grade group to sing and dance at the same time, but that’s why I try it out with them. I’m not worried that they can’t do it; I just want them to experience it for the first time. They really aren’t able to learn and sing a whole song yet, especially with all the other things I throw at them.  I have to deal with the social challenges of mixing boys and girls – holding hands in a circle (not too bad, really, at this age). I don’t think these kids have been exposed to communal dance yet, and even making a dance circle is a new concept. And culturally speaking, this seems to be quite radical, and thereby groundbreaking for these schools. There is a nice difference between the Kitchen dances (solo) and the Sally songs (circle/social) that there is a richness in the diversity. Lots going on and good information for me as a performer and teaching artist.

But, as I expected, the whole morning passed quickly and we all enjoyed ourselves, including the teachers. I hope some of these exercises pass on to them. I love what I do.

Monday was my second jaunt into Allentown’s schools, this time at Roosevelt and Mosser schools, both of which I’ve played assemblies in the past.

The 9 am session was for a large group of kids at Roosevelt. It seems the different schools have remarkably different turnouts for their summer programs. This was one of the more successful ones. We warmed up with Peanut Butter, Tutti Tah and, in memory of my dog Sam, I Wanna be a Dog. Our Bear Hunt addition was a peculiar one: 3 AM, dark, pitch black 3 AM with a wander in the dark and then a ghost sound. There seems to be a call for ‘standing up and moving’ verses this summer. Per usual, there were a couple of teachers who have raised their kids on my music.

The Mosser school was much more sparse, and the teachers less involved. In fact, some used the session to eat lunch and socialize. They did offer a unique Bear Hunt addition: Hawaii, a vacation in Hawaii with hula dance, surf sounds. I like this one. The kids were great.

Another hot day in Allentown. Good work.

I had a great session with the small group of kids at Marvine this morning. This was the second of four sessions and one somewhat removed from my last one. It was good to reconnect with the teachers and kids. We were all excited.

I have some things up my sleeve from some other SS’s I’ve been doing and it’s nice to not to have to rely on some of the same old same old tools. I brought out Rosalie, Where Are You Going to develop some individual performance skills in front of their friends and it was mildly productive. We worked on Bear Hunt and they came up with “volcano, hot lava volcano with a nice leaping movement. It also formed the basis for an idea I used later.

I brought out the scarves for a session, using some techniques I’ve used recently. We used the scarves to “disappear” (a nice way to provide some ‘self-safe space’) and explored some facial emotions. Some great stuff came up, including the teachers input. We then did some scarf writing, doing the alphabet (ABC’s) and then went into Jelly in the Dish with some controlled tossing in the air (great visuals), free form dancing and singing, as well as trading scarves with each other. It’s turning out to be a wonderful performance piece.

At the end, I acted on my instincts about scarves/fire/volcanoes. We formed a tight circle with our scarves and formed a cauldron of boiling scarves, with occasional flame-ups with a big explosion of scarves in the air at the end. Bam.

As I left the school, I thanked Cesar for the opportunity and he wants me to do some steady afterschool work during the school year with the K’s. The work seems to be spreading out. Every gig creates another future gig.

Today was the first doubleheader for my series of Allentown summer slide programs. The first one was a Lehigh Parkway ES, a school I’ve played many times. The principal and security guard welcomed me a showed me to the nice lawn behind the school, a new ‘bird sanctuary’, with grass, shade overlooking the large industrial plant nearby. It was the perfect place to set up for my first set this morning.

The kids and teachers were hip and I went through my standard set of tunes, taking some time to talk ( about why we are here during the summer and how this is going to set them up for success in the fall. I decided to concentrate on building ‘verses’ for The Bear Hunt, ones that I will pass on to the next schools. They decided on a haunted house, as spooky scary haunted house. One kid suggested (and demonstrated) the movement of walking slowly and deliberately on a creaky floor. This was great, so we all did it; they all creeped up on me and I told them that was scary.

I took time to reflect with them about what we did so that they had a chance to recall singing, dancing and playing instruments and how that was something that we don’t get to do everyday.

I headed over to Union Terrace ES for a 10:30 am session. This was a bigger group in the gym this time. Again, I rolled through my repertoire, noticing the echo in the room, reverse engineering the Tutti Tah (thinking backwards over the steps of the song), and worked on a new Bear Hunt. This time it was an elevator, an elevator stuck on the 10th floor. Again, we stood up for the movement, pushing buttons, doing a mechanical sound and then drop to our knees. Very creative.

As we reviewed what we did, I asked the teachers what they liked. That was interesting. They like the interactivity and the reverse Tutti Tah exercise among other things. It was good to get their perspective.

As I packed up, one teacher came up and inquired about my CDs. She was about to travel to China and wanted some tools to take with her, so, sure enough, I supplied her with Peanut Butter and Playground. Nice to know that my music will be used educationally in a foreign country. Cool.

I was done at 11:30 am and headed home, two sessions under my belt before noon. I will pass along some of this to the next school.

I had my first of four summer slide programs in Bethlehem today – one session at Marvine and one at Fountain Hill. As I found out each site has three of the local schools represented so the kids are mixing with other kids outside their home school. I’ll be working with new 1st graders in this program.

Marvine had about 15 kids and it’s interesting to see them warm up to me, the other kids and the situation. Eventually  they loosened up as a group and as individuals. The teachers also got a slice of my tricks, too.

We did Bear Hunt and added a verse about a spidery forest, and we did All Around the Kitchen with their dance moves. I hope to graft their work with the kids at Fountain Hill. I didn’t get around to using the bag, but that’s not bad. Later.

Fountain Hill was a much larger group of about 30 kids so we met in the gym. I decided to to do one session with the big group and perhaps do two smaller sessions in a smaller space for the remainder of this residency. It was good to do the whole group to start off with and get a sense of a larger community. Again, some of the teachers were not aware of what I do, so that was cool.

We added a Red Tornado to Bear Hunt which was wonderfully peculiar. I will share this with Marvine next time. I opted to break out the bag and give the kids some jump time.

All in all, it was a good breakout session with both groups. We now have a relationship we can build on.