Grades: 3-12
Length: 7/60 Minutes
Rights: Perpetuity with Distribution and Duplication
Guide: FREE. Register at http://www.pwnet.org
Internet: http://kennedy-center.org/education/
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in cooperation with the Prince William Network, is pleased to offer this satellite distance learning Performing Arts Series to teachers and students across the country. The programs explore the performing arts areas of music, dance, and theater and feature artists and companies who perform at the Kennedy Center. The live and interactive broadcast format of this televised series allows students to phone in, fax, and e-mail questions to the artists appearing on the programs. A Study Guide containing program information, activities for students, and website addresses is sent to every teacher who registers for the series.
Live Monthly Feed
11:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m.
1. Allan Harris: Cross That River
Thursday, 10/23/08
Grades 7-12
Students go on a musical journey with Alan Harris and the Cross That River Band as they go back in time and explore America’s West during the 19th century. Through song, narration, and imagery, students experience an incredible story of triumph as the lives and struggles of African American cowboys are depicted in this song cycle that chronicles their escape from slavery and their journey to freedom in the West. Interweaving fiction with historical fact, each song in the cycle presents a different page in this chapter of American history.
2. Telling Stories: Carole Boston Weatherford
Friday, 10/31/08
Grades 4-6
Carol Boston Weatherford’s love for writing developed at an early age. The award-winning author composed her first poem in the first grade and soon after she began publishing her poems with the help of her father, a printing teacher. In her most recent stories, BIRMINGHAM, 1963 and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, Weatherford brings the pages of history alive through stories, poems, and pictures. During this discussion with moderator Maria Salvadore, Weatherford shares her unique talent of making music with the language of poetry and talks about developing her own voice as both a poet and author through the celebration of family stories, fading traditions, and forgotten struggles.
3. China: Shanghai Song & Dance Ensemble
Thursday, 11/6/08
Grades 4-8
Shanghai Song and Dance Ensemble is a multidisciplinary performance troupe that focuses on ethnic dance drama. Drawing from various traditional Chinese genres, artistic director Huang Doudou seeks to reinvent Chinese dance, skillfully weaving East and West, old and new, and interpreting history through a modern filter. In this demonstration and performance, the company helps students achieve a deeper understanding of Chinese culture.
4. Theater: Frost/Nixon
Tuesday, 11/25/08
Grades 9-12
Frost/Nixon is a chilling recount of one of the most monumental interviews of all time. The fast-paced production depicts former President Richard Nixon in his first interview since his resignation following the Watergate scandal. Frost/Nixon tells the story of how the historic interview came about and how it played out on television as British talk-show host David Frost elicits the apology from Nixon that the rest of the world was waiting to hear. In this program with cast members from the production and teachers of history and political science, students get a look into the historic context surrounding this play, and see how history and theater come together to reveal not only the facts but the human and emotional aspects of history.
5. Dr. Billy Taylor & Young Jazz Musicians
Thursday, 12/4/08
Grades 7-12
Join Dr. Billy Taylor, the Kennedy Center’s artistic director for jazz, and his trio (Chip Jackson on bass and Winard Harper on percussion) as they coach and perform with three young jazz musicians. Experience the best jazz has to offer from both seasoned professionals and up-and-coming students in this lively and informative program.
6. Martha Graham Dance Company
Friday, 12/12/08
Grades 7-12
Known as “one of the great companies of the world” (The New York Times), Martha Graham Dance Company is the oldest contemporary dance company in America and one of its most celebrated. In this program, company members discuss the legacy of Martha Graham, demonstrate the technique that continues to influence dancers today, and perform excerpts from some of the company’s most celebrated works, including the 1944 classic Appalachian Spring, Graham’s ode to pioneer families of America.
7. Theater: Twelve Angry Men
Thursday, 1/8/09
Grades 7-12
Join members of the cast of Twelve Angry Men as they explore the connections between the play’s themes and such relevant issues as the influence of personal history and perspective on decision making, the balance between civic responsibility and personal goals, and the power of a persuasive argument. Emmy winner Richard Thomas (TV’s The Waltons) and six-time Emmy nominee George Wendt (TV’s Cheers) star in this gripping revival of an American classic the New York Times trumpeted as “the undeniable hit of the Broadway dramatic season!”