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Weekend Wanderings in Music

Posted on 12/18/2009 06:00:00 AM In: , ,
Wow! You guys had so many interesting things to say about Jennifer's family visit to the art museum. Some of you may know that I don't have any kids to take to events, but being aroung pre-schoolers on a regular basis gives me some experience with this!

Jennifer mentioned needs for museums (and, really, the symphony is a museum as well) to address people with all the senses (or modes of learning, if you will), while Chris defended the "quiet reverie" that people often adopt in a museum and Marcia suggested ways to make learning museum rules fun.

Symphonies and other music entities have adopted various ways of appealing to (and educating) family audiences, with kids' and family concerts featuring works such as Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker along with jeans and popcorn. Check out this 1946 Disney cartoon version of Peter and the Wolf. It's one of my favorite "children's" pieces!


Even as long ago as 1946, orchestras were trying to reach out to younger audiences. I like Fantasia, too. When I was in middle school, my school orchestra went on a field trip to see Fantasia 2000 in theaters. So far, I've mostly been talking about the ways that orchestras and composers change themselves to make their product more accessible to children (like "baby food") with jeans, popcorn, and cartoon characters.

Why can't you take your family to a "serious" orchestra concert, say, a Mahler performance? Or Stravinsky's Rite of Spring? As Jennifer and Chris noted, it comes down to our social conditioning: children traditionally "don't belong" in these settings, and orchestras are doing very little to make Mahler and Stravinsky fun for families.

My pre-schoolers love Stravinsky. When we listen to Rite of Spring during listening time, I set the scene and tell them the "story." (I just tell them it's a really fast dance - I leave out the part where the dancer dies at the end.) They LOVE screaming as loud as possible and dancing as fast as they can.

There are so many options out there for orchestras to make "real" classical music fun for families! Maybe our idea that kids will only like music that's been de-thorned and pre-packaged for them is contributing to the struggling classical music industry. It's definitely time to shake things up!

How would you shake up social norms of non-involvement in order to make classical music fun for families? Screaming and dancing to Rite of Spring? Clapping along with Terry Riley's In C?

We want to know!

Theater Thursday: What's Your Story in the Arts

Posted on 12/17/2009 07:27:00 AM In: , , ,
If you haven't done so already watch our video "What's your story in the Arts" and then tell us your story. You can check out the post here.

Visual Arts Wednesday: Art Museums and Families with Young Children

Posted on 12/16/2009 06:02:00 AM In: , ,
( Image from the DMA website)

This post was inspired by my previous trip to the Dallas World Aquarium and the Dallas Museum of Art (check out the post here) with my 2 1/2 year old son and my 14 month old daughter. I had wanted to take the kids to the art museum for while, but I kept putting it off, it was only when we were already downtown to visit the aquarium and so close the art museum that on the spur of the moment I said, "if they are still in a good mood after the aquarium lets go to the art museum too." I asked myself why I put off the art museum even though we have been to several zoos, the aquarium, a science museum etc and I still think it goes back to that feeling of the art museum not being a "family friendly" environment.



My kids like the art...I just fear the "art people" don't like kids. Of course they were fine and very well behaved, but we were the only ones with young children in the galleries which made us a bit of a spectacle. Everyone was nice, because they thought my children were cute, and I think it was a bit of an oddity to see a two year old talking about the different things he sees in the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection. But I was constantly afraid that one of them would throw a tantrum or yell or do some other "kid thing." At the zoo that is acceptable behavior...there are other kids around some of them are probably yelling, and if not at least you can just go stand by the monkeys!



I think sculptures gardens are often more kids friendly places because they are outside and the sculptures are touchable. You can read about one family friendly experience here, but I would like to investigate how the art museum could be a more welcoming place for children and families because as we have all heard many times before, art museums are struggling (I was even told this again as I was buying my ticket on Sunday) but zoos, aquariums, and science museums seem to be thriving ( I was also told this while buying my ticket on Sunday!)



When I analyze the art museum from the perspective of the family and specifically the 5 and under crowd I see some issues. Honestly I think the issues that apply to the 5 and under crowd probably apply to the adults who find the art museum or museums in general "boring."


I have written this from the perspective of a mom who loves art museums and would like to take her kids to more, I do not have any background in museum education. I would love the input of some of the "museum" people out there so start thinking about art museum spaces and early childhood/family learning...


I think art museums should try to engage the senses more, they already have sight (obviously), and taste and smell are both covered to some extent by the cafe although this could also be more kid friendly! (We specifically chose to eat at the aquarium restaurant because we already knew the DMA's cafe was not the most kid friendly environment.)
But what about touch and sound?


First the sound. For my children we can handle not touching the art, and not running, jumping, kicking etc....but it is a lot to ask to not shout out when you see something you are excited about. (We have this problem at the library too!) The total lack of noise in the galleries is unwelcoming and sterile to children and families. My son loved the exhibit "All the World's a Stage," his favorite part was hearing the music! Art museums have traditionally been a quiet, observational space rather than a space with music, conversation and dialogue. I think we should ask ourselves if we really want to retain this "quiet reverence" or if it is ok to make the space more welcoming by introducing some noise!


The second problem is there is nothing to touch! While I think kids 2 and up can handle the "no touching" RULE, they sure would like to touch something! Even adults would. I found my son was gravitating to the benches in the gallery more than the art work and I think it was just to have something to feel. We have two kids art books at home which have images of famous works of art and tactile objects attached to the work for the children to explore. It is amazing how much longer he will look if he can touch it at the same time. From an education standpoint I don't think this stops at age 5, I think even adults will look longer if they can touch something too. Of course ideally this would be in the form of art work that is "touchable," but museums have limited control over the artist's intention in creating their works. So it could also come in the form of creating manipulatives in the gallery space for people to touch while they are looking, I have seen books on a coffee table in the gallery before. This is a start but perhaps we could get more sophisticated with our touching (think science or history museum).



If you google "science museum" and check out the images that pop up about 1/2 of them show people and kids doing/touching something. Obviously there are concerns about they types of avtivities that can happen in a gallery space but is all touching out of the question?



The aquarium used touch screens to deliver all of the educational information about the animals which was an interesting fusion of touch and technology. Also they were placed at a height where my son could reach them!



I realize there is some concern about people knowing what can and cannot be touched when you open up this can of worms, but I think you can make it clear. I have seen in natural history museums where they have touchable education exhibits next to art or artifacts and the art or artifacts have some type of rope or other barrier to show the distance away from the work you need to stand.


Again these are just my observations...what ideas or observations do you have?

Dance Tuesday: What's Your Story in the Arts

Posted on 12/15/2009 07:05:00 PM In: , , ,
Watch our video "What's Your Story in the Arts" and then tell us your story in the comments below!


Weekend Trip - Aquarium and Art Museum

Posted on 12/14/2009 05:55:00 AM In: ,


For quite some time now I have been wanting to take my kids to the art museum but have not because I was not sure that it was a "family friendly" environment. Over the weekend we got adventurous and took them to the Dallas World Aquarium and then to the Dallas Museum of Art! They were both firsts for our family (I have been to the DMA many times before just not with a 2 1/2 year old and a 14 month old). Here is my review from the early childhood perspective:

The Aquarium was a really amazing place, I had no idea we had anything like it in Dallas and it exceeded all of my expectations. They even have a Jaguar (I know that sounds weird for an aquarium, but it makes since when you are there)! All of the information about the animals is delivered on large computer touch screens that are interactive so the visitor can learn as much or as little as they like, I particularly loved this feature as did my 2 year old!

The DMA's exhibit "All the World's a Stage" was a hit with my musically inclined little boy and I was really surprised at how much my 14 month old enjoyed finding things in the paintings. She is just learning words, but she was really excited when she recognized things like "doggie." There is a special room for the 4 and under crowd with art toys and books which was a hit with the kids, but I wish it contained actual kid safe art work (either specially commissioned or reproductions of ok to touch sculptures would be fun), it was really just a play room.

I will say I found the Aquarium to be more enjoyable overall, I think it was more "family friendly" but they were both really great experiences.


I loved Joan Miro's art when I was in high school. I considered myself a horrible artist, but as a teen, I really connected to his work. I'm not really sure why, but I think I intuitively understood Miro's sometimes-childlike imagery.

This lesson plan uses Miro's work to help middle-schoolers learn about geometry, describing curved lines, straight lines, and other geometrical objects in Miro's world. Students then create their own objects using what they have learned. My suggested musical work for this activity (to inspire different shapes)? Paul Hindemith's Symphonic Metamorphoses. Hindemith and Miro were contemporaries, although their artistic philosophies varied.

Maybe you've seen this fun little interactive area at the MoMA featuring Miro? It's where I got today's image.

What contemporary art have you been surprised to connect with? How do you think students could understand it in order to connect with it better?

Honestly, I don't know anything about dance. I think I've seen "The Nutcracker" a few times, but I haven't seen much that wasn't on my DVD of Stravinsky ballets.

How does this make me qualified to blog about dance? I am a neophyte. But I write in a blog.

Where do I begin with contemporary dance? What place does it have in a curriculum?

If I woke up tomorrow morning and someone asked me to teach a lesson about contemporary dance, here's what I would do:

- This how-to on ARTSEDGE describes the basic elements of dance: space, time, and energy, and mentions a few more elements, like patterns of motion and body parts.

- I found "this is not en exit" on Youtube. Even though I don't know anything about dance, it's stunning.



What place does this have in the curriculum? Watching this dance could be a jumping-off point for many teaching topics.

- In a biology class, students can talk about how the dancers use different parts of the body in different ways. They can invent their own dances (the elbow dance, the clavicle dance, etc.) to help them learn the different body parts.

- The "zombie walk" and "nausea" featured prominently in this particular dance remind me of Jean-Paul Sartre's La Nausee. Students in a literature, philosophy, or French class can discuss the similarities between this dance and the ideas in the novel.

- This ARTSEDGE lesson plan is super cool! Students create a dance to help them learn atomic and molecular structure.

How do you think this dance could be included in your curriculum?

Music Monday: Contemporary Culture

Posted on 12/07/2009 07:55:00 PM In: , , , ,
In my other posts, I've (offhandedly) mentioned the importance of understanding contemporary music in the context of contemporary culture. Today's post will examine the different ways music provides a window into the ways we see ourselves today, and (my) posts for the week will reflect this theme.

This lesson plan from ARTSEDGE is an excellent way to use contemporary opera to understand contemporary culture. While many contemporary operas have some decidedly grown-up subject matter, and this must be considered very carefully before showing the film to the kids, they can be a fabulous learning tool. Consider operas such as:

- Philip Glass' Einstein on the Beach, which deals with personal connections to famous figures, math, science, and the atomic bomb. It is exceptionally long (five hours), so students could pick segments for a report. Glass did not intend for audience members to listen to the opera very closely since it is five hours long.

- John Adams' Nixon in China is a historical opera about Nixon's visit to China. This opera can spark discussions about communism and propaganda.

- Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar would be suitable for a high school Spanish class. It is one of my personal favorite contemporary operas. Golijov's music is quite accessible, and high-schoolers will identify with the main character's struggle for identity and acceptance (be aware of the sexual themes, though).

Rock operas like The Who's Quadrophenia would be another excellent way to reach students, although many deal with very adult issues. Although we shouldn't force these issues on kids, it seems like it would be better to give them the proper tools to understand sex and drugs than to pretend like these issues don't exist.

What place do you think "adult" issues (such as sexuality, drugs, violence) have in the classroom? Contemporary opera, like contemporary life, is full of these.

Casual Friday: Preschool Music

Posted on 12/04/2009 07:36:00 PM In: , ,
In my first post, I talked about the difficulties I was having with teaching my preschoolers Christmas songs for their Christmas pageant. Now it is quickly approaching, and the head teacher has asked me to teach them even more songs!

I had thought it was unrealistic to try to teach them many songs, with "music class" once every two weeks, and they had difficulty paying attention at first because they couldn't remember from two weeks ago. The head teacher finally realized it was important to practice every day, and that problem was solved.

We had an activity making jingle bell necklaces to go with our main song (Jingle Bells). While the kids kept pulling their necklaces apart, they really enjoyed playing (with) the bells while they were singing, and it made what became an hour of learning Christmas songs more bearable. I even managed to squeeze in another activity with the bells, practicing "crescendo" and "diminuendo" as we rang our bells and moved (normally this is a favorite activity that involves movement).

Adding these activities made the lessons more bearable for the kids, but there were still several behavior issues. I really question the head teacher's desire to teach the kids NINE Christmas songs when we had been working on TWO. Practicing every day helps now that she finally realized they need reinforcement, but I honestly don't see the value in teaching these kids songs they will sing once a year as entertainment for their parents (in my opinion, singing holiday songs should be a family, friendship, or religious activity, and being forced to "speed-memorize" doesn't really teach the kids anything).

However, we are singing the "Do(e) A Deer" with our Kodaly hand signs. Although this is purely to show the parents what the kids are learning, I am proud that I can show these techniques to the parents. Using the Kodaly hand signs allows the kids to sing advanced harmonic and melodic patterns that people would normally work on in a middle-school choir.

I know lots of you have dealt with difficult bosses. Let's commiserate! What are your stories? How do you DEAL with it?

Theater Thursday: Appropriation

Posted on 12/03/2009 07:28:00 AM In: ,
We have looked closely at the concept of appropriation from the angle of ownership and taking an original art piece and transforming it into a "new" piece. All the same issues and questions can of course be applied to theater, and we challenge you to think about those questions and issues in relation to theater.

But for today let's look at a different side of appropriation, cultural appropriation. This is an issue that is faced in all of the arts particularly with the rise of globalization. Here is an interesting summary of a conference on Asian and African Theatre in Higher Education that was held in the UK, one of the topics it deals with is appropriation. We will look at it from the perspective of theater today but feel free to apply the questions it raises to any of the arts. Rather than me telling you all the issues that cultural appropriation presents I would like to hear from you.... what are your thoughts and experiences?

**note the phrase "cultural appropriation" generally has a negative connotation but you do not need to approach this from a negative point of view, feel free to address the positive aspects as well (the link includes positive issues)

Attention:

Posted on 12/02/2009 07:33:00 PM


Hi guys. It has come to our attention that some of you have had trouble leaving comments. We have finally fixed this issue so EVERYONE can comment now! We want to hear from you!

Visual Arts Wednesday: Appropriation

Posted on 12/02/2009 08:25:00 AM In: ,
Yesterday we looked at appropriation and how it impacts the dance. Today, let's contemplate appropriation in the visual arts and visual culture.

Here are some questions to contemplate:

What do you consider “fair use” in relation to an artist’s image? What about the image of an individual? When is it OK to “borrow” and image in order to create something new? What constitutes “new”? If someone is inspired by the work of another artist, should it be acknowledged? If so how should this acknowledgement take place? Does it matter if the new artist has paid for rights to use the original image? Should it still be acknowledged? If so how should this acknowledgement take place?

Now let’s look at two current examples:

Recently, an image and quote of John F. Kennedy has appeared in a 2009 advertising selling Omega Speed- master watches. (see images below)

JFK is also appears in a TV ad for Omega that uses historical film footage of a speech he gave in 1962. (see clip below)








Omega Speedmaster watches have history with the U.S. space program; as does JFK, Omega is linking the two by association. There was never any agreed upon endorsement.
It is important to note that there is not copyright infringement here. Omega obtained the required permissions to use the JFK material from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in Boston. The amount they paid for the use of the image has not been revealed publicly, but there is a drawing of the library building in the lower left hand corner of the ad with a line urging readers to “learn more” by visiting the JFK Library at their website, http://www.jfklibrary.org/. So it is possible this was part of the agreement.



Does this impact how you feel about the appropriation of this image?

Here is the second example…

This image is also of JFK, it was taken on the day of his assignation. It appears in an advertising flyer for a bicycle race which created much controversy around the DFW area. (See image below)



You can see the image on the bike shops website here.

The really interesting part is that the image that was creating all this controversy was not even an original image; it was actually copied from a 1978 Misfits album cover “Bullet.” (see image below)



So this begs the question whose image is it? Did anyone have the right to use the image of JFK in the first place? How does appropriation of images impact the way you teach?

Dance Tuesday: Appropriation

Posted on 12/01/2009 08:08:00 AM In: ,
For the next few days let’s take a look at appropriation and how it impacts the arts. Today, let's contemplate appropriation in dance. Here are some questions to contemplate.

What do you consider “fair use” in dance? When is it OK to “borrow” choreography? Should the movement be reinvented or different entirely? What about reproductions of other’s work, and the quality of the dance. Is there a problem is the dancers can’t execute the movement in the way it was originally intended? Or perhaps there is there something interesting and unique about that failure? If someone is inspired by the work of another choreographer, should it be acknowledged? If so how should this acknowledgement take place?

To read more about this issue check out this article on choreographer Julia Rhoads and her position on the use of copyright and appropriation.



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