Arts in Education Booking Conference
Columbia, SC
Here are just a few of the teaching artists who have exhibited at the AIE Booking Conference:
David DiGiuseppe, a musician, storyteller and instrumentalist, has been working in schools, museums and libraries throughout South Carolina for more than 15 years. While Giuseppe’s primary mission as an artist-in-residence is education, he adds a musical twist to typical teaching styles by sharing the songs and stories of colonial South Carolina and telling tales about the Westward migration and industrialization of America. He modifies the content of each of his residencies to engage students and conform to various grade levels and academic standards.
This Beaufort-based ensemble, which was founded by Marlena Smalls, has been conducting in-school residencies since 1992. Often found teaching third and eighth-graders about South Carolina and United States history, the group’s goal is to teach children how Gullah culture has impacted not only South Carolina, but also the entire nation. During each residency, students learn the history of various native instruments and then learn how to use them. Students ultimately perform before a full assembly. The ensemble completes roughly three residencies per month from September to March, and presents performances throughout the year.
Also known as the spider woman for her unique spider toys and book collection, Francee Levin has been teaching since the 1990s. Levin customizes her residencies to meet the needs of each classroom or group of students, as well as the academic standards of each grade level. She designs her programs to prepare students of all ages for traditional assessment and testing through non-traditional arts-integrated activities. She uses theater, storytelling and creative writing to teach reading, language arts and social studies, and helps kinetic learners understand math concepts through the practice of dance and music note theory. In addition to residencies, she conducts teacher workshops, after-school arts programs and tutoring programs.
Multi-percussionist Jeff Holland has been introducing students to Brazilian and other ethnic rhythms for more than a decade. As musician, instructor and instrument maker, he uses teaches musical heritage through hands-on exercises. Students listen as Holland demonstrates various instruments and explains the history of each. Starting with simple tapping exercises to learn iconic notation, or the shape of a sound, students not only learn how to play an instrument, but also why it sounds the way it does.
Since moving to from Kobe, Japan, to Greenville, S.C., eight years ago, Yoshiko Moon has booked residencies in several schools throughout South Carolina and North Carolina. In each of her residencies - 60 to 80 minute classes lasting up to five days - Moon illustrates the basics of fine Japanese Sumi art to students in grades K–12. She introduces students to traditional paint tools, Sumi-e painting (black ink painting), ancient marbling papermaking and origami. Moon also provides a kimono demonstration and allows the children to participate in a Japanese tea ceremony.
Published poet and teaching artist Kimberly Jane Simms incorporates poetry into language arts, social studies and science classes. During each residency, she teaches third through seventh-graders how to write and perform poetry. Integrating theatre games and simile generators into her poetry residencies helps Simms to prepare students for assessment tests. Sample lesson plans include Poetry Slam! and Public Speaking, Diseases and Syllabic Poetry and Civil Rights and Personae Poetry.
Born in Guinea, West Africa into a culture of dance, traditional music and drumming, Mamady tours the country to share his culture with students and adults. Classes include dance instruction, professional choreography, lectures and performances. During most four to five-day residencies, Sano teaches traditional dance, the art of drumming and most recently, how to use authentic African musical instruments, such as the “gongoma.” Students learn basic choreography and participate together in a performance at the conclusion of each residency.
Mother-daughter team, Emily Baker Hyatt and Victoria Hyatt-Peters conduct community and school weaving residencies across the Southeast. Throughout the past six years, they have completed residencies in more than 150 locations from Alexandria, Va., to Tampa, Fla. During each residency, the Hyatts use historic utilitarian looms to weave a large tapestry, which incorporates items of sentimental value - from ballet shoes to baseball gloves - contributed by students, teachers and staff, to be left on permanent display at each school. The weaving becomes a “fabric time capsule” representing a specific time in the school's history.