Music Center Collaboration
As part of our collaboration with the Music Center (funded in part
with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts) our students will
participate in a series of seven workshops with professional teaching
artists. Students in the K/1 and 2/3 classes will work with Shyamala
Moorty and students in the 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8 classes will work with
Malick Sow.
Shyamala Moorty is a dancer, choreographer and educator who benefits
from the duality of two distinctly different cultures. Part East Indian
and Part Caucasian, her own work draws from contemporary western dance,
classical Indian dance and theater. She has an MFA in dance from UCLA’s
World Arts and Cultures department where she studied choreography and
modern dance. She also specializes in classical Indian dance (student of
Malathi Iyengar and Medha Yodh) and has performed with Iyengar’s Rangoli
Dance Company since 1994. Ms. Moorty, a performer and educator with the
AMAN Folk Ensemble from 1997 until the company disbanded, contributed
classical Indian dances and creative concepts to AMAN’s Creative World
Dance curriculum. In addition to teaching dance to children, she teaches
at the college level and performs contemporary Indian dance with Post
Natyam, the dance collective she co-founded.
With Shyamala, students will use their bodies as active tools to learn
about different cultures and to understand their own communities in new
ways. Participants will experience traditional folk dances from a
variety of cultures and engage in creative activities that teach them
how to create their own unique movement vocabulary that will culminate
in a new community dance.
Born in Dakar, Senegal, Elhadj Malick Sow is a member of the Puele Tribe
of West Africa. He is a master drummer, singer, dancer and choreographer
who performs and teaches throughout the world. Mr. Sow has studied West
African history and is well-versed in the folklore of the Wolof,
Mandinka and Djola people of Senegal. He also speaks nine languages
fluently.
Mr. Sow is the Music Director of the touring group Mussukeba Sane West
African Dance Ensemble. He has taught drumming and singing to students
from Los Angeles to New York and has choreographed for the professional
dance troupes Dundu Dole in New York and Kuumba Dancers and Drummers in
Tampa, Florida.
Mr. Sow has appeared in several films, including Poetic Justice with
Janet Jackson, Distinguished Gentleman with Eddie Murphy, and Steven
Spielberg’s Amistad. He has also been featured on the Arsenio Hall Show,
Family Accents and True Talent.
With Malick, students will discover the dynamic world of West African
culture through drumming, singing and dancing. They will play authentic
drums, hand craft their own instruments and learn rhythmic interplay.
Students will experience the various elements of music, such as
dynamics, rhythm, and tempo as well as incorporate traditional songs and
dance movements with these rhythms to create a symphony of African music
and dance. Each session is connected to a West African historical
perspective, allowing students to appreciate the universal joys of music
integrated into an exciting traditional culture.
Parents are welcome to observe workshops with Shyamala and Malick.
Shyamala will be with us 2/21/06, 2/28, 3/21, 3/23, 3/28, 4/4 from
9:00-12:20. Malick will be here on 2/16/06, 2/23, 3/2, 3/9, 3/13, 3/20
from 9:00-12:20. |
