unschooly art lab

Spring session - week 1, getting warmed up.

The idea behind this class is that I provide an opportunity for the kids to explore a variety of materials - drawing, water-based paint, sculptural, found images, & objects, but it is really up to them what they wish to create.  I am providing a studio environment for an hour and a half each Friday (this particular session is 8 weeks) for the kids to ponder, explore, and chit-chat while they make art together in a fun, low-pressure environment.  This is about process and discovery.  When you are an artist, sometimes that even means sitting and staring off into space for awhile - imagine that!  I bring in examples of my own work, I show them a variety of famous artists' work, and when I see someone doing something that reminds me of a particular artist, I bring it up on the internet and show them their kindred spirit.  The kids are invited to push the boundaries and definitions of art, and learn new skills in an environment of self-discovery and inspiration.  They are invited to come with questions if you are interested in learning specific skills.  I expose them to various movements in modern art and techniques of different artists to be inspired by as they develop their work.

words & moves, numbers & grooves - week 4

   Our homeschool performing arts intensive is going strong although we are still below our minimum numbers and would love to have more families join us!  If you are a homeschooler in the DC area, visit BoundlessWorkshops.com for full details about this unique intensive in Mt. Rainier, MD.  We will continue with a new session in January.  

 

   This week after warmups and the dance portion of Hermione's class, Words & Moves, the kids moved into working with some whimsical, kinda silly poetry she brought in, identifying nouns, adjectives, and verbs, as an exercise, and then took turns reading them aloud.

 

 

   Then, mic check... Hermione had set up the microphone and amps so the kids could have a chance to experience working with the mic, see what that feels like and how they sound. First she had one of the kids demonstrate the proper way to do a mic check and talked about mic etiquette and handling (what to do and what not to do ;).  They performed the poems she had brought in, something they wrote, or sang. She set the mood with some stage lighting and played MC for them. This was beautiful to witness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   In Moves & Numbers, aka Contemporary Ballet, this week I took the kids through some floor barre work, where you work various aspects of warmup and technique while seated or lying on the floor. Then we did some center exercises and talked more about choreography composition. I split them up around the room and gave them about 15 minutes to attempt to choreograph 'four eights' (32 counts) of a dance. We talked about the difference between choreography and improv and various ways to approach creating choreography, from improv to mental rehearsal (visualizing the dance in your mind, then trying to get the body to cooperate). Then they got the opportunity to perform their individual sections as a coordinated whole. They are so uninhibited, so willing to put themselves out there. I love that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   In Numbers & Grooves, we began with drumming warmup, working as a group with quarter notes, eighth notes, and a simple groove, while trading solos, each person taking first eight-bar (32 beats), then sixteen-bar solos, with encouragement to shape their solo so that it is coherent, with a strong beginning and ending. I also worked some call & response with them, to sharpen their listening skills and expand the complexity of rhythms they can work with.

   We shifted gears to work some tap technique and then rotated groups for more improv, with half on hand percussion, half on foot percussion, and switch...

   We finished it out with the beginnings of a chair dance - yes, hoofin' while in a chair. First taste of simple tap choreography, working with the Shim Sham, which is like the tap dancer's national anthem and has many variations as well.  I have no pics from this week's class Numbers & Grooves, and I have some video to share, but they are large files, and I'm trying to figure out how to get them from the phone to computer without putting them on YouTube...