This residency, taught by visual art and dance educator Olivia Kissel, will help students meet Pennsylvania State Academic Standards in the following areas: Geography, Language Arts, and Mathematics through experiential, hands-on activities that explore the music and dance of the Romany people in India, Turkey and Egypt. We will use these art forms as a springboard to explore a wide array of music and dance in its cultural context, and then experiment with these elements to create our own original works of art.

In their exodus from India, through Central Asia, the Middle East, and into Europe and North Africa the Romani brought with them dance gestures and time signatures from their origin as well as elements picked up throughout their travels. The path that these primarily nomadic people travelled over the course of 1,000 years is called the Romany Trail. The music and dance along this trail are vibrant and soulful and have been celebrated by such great artists as Georges Bizet, Jean-Leon Gerome and filmmaker Toni Gatliff to name but a few. Yet as a whole, the Romani people are marginalized in many countries and violence against the Romani people is on the rise globally.

This program is designed to inspire students to be active participants in the global community through the arts. As world commerce increases, so does our exposure to other cultures. As a result, new art forms arise that are inspired by, and pieced together from the music, art and imagery of many different regions. Some scholars call this rising genre "Transnational" others call it "World Fusion". What ever the name, it provides a vocabulary for addressing contemporary issues and engaging in the global community.

The overall goal of this program is threefold: develop artistic expression while also heightening cultural and self awareness. This program will expose participating students to an array of artistic styles (movement gestures and musical elements) that are not necessarily included in the classical arts cannon. It is also an opportunity to use the arts as a doorway for cultural learning in which the students develop empathy and curiosity for other cultures; particularly for marginalized cultures that are not celebrated through main stream media channels. And finally, this program encourages students to reflect on the elements that make up one's own culture. Some of the 21st Century learning skills that are addressed in this residency include: cultural awareness, embracing diversity, global awareness, self-motivation, self-reflection, social interaction, and teamwork/collaboration.

The students will watch videos relating to the history, music and dance of these regions then continue investigations online and in text.

The students will become familiar with regional music styles through recordings and instruction.

The students will learn basic folk, popular and social dance gestures and phrases from each region.

The students will keep a scrapbook journal throughout the program in which they will document information, personal notes and reflections.

The students will spend the last two weeks preparing and presenting a final project.

 

In the final week of the program, the students will be able to synthesize their understanding of the regional art forms by creating an original work of art or performance in which they fuse elements from these various regional styles. Students will also be encouraged to apply elements from their own culture to create a contemporary, world-fusion work of art. Students may work in small groups to complete their final composition.

The students will be able to choose from the following for final project:

Perform an original dance to recorded music

Play a piece of music to accompany their fellow students.