SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Assembly Programs (Performance-based)
Verb Ballets Assembly Programs feature 45-minute presentations of Verb Ballets dances with interactive activities, behind-the-scenes information, and a question-and-answer period. Suitable for students in grades K-8, our Assembly Programs can accommodate up to 250 students per program. Assembly programs offered for the 2004-05 school year include:
Planet
Soup
This program guides students along a cultural journey exploring how others
live and dance. Traveling to different parts of the world, students experience
African, South Pacific, and Celtic movements and sounds. This multi-cultural
excursion allows students to understand traditional stories from various
civilizations. Students are challenged to become storytellers, investigate
rhythmic patterns, and discover different cultures while developing their
creativity and imagination.
MoonDogg:
A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasia
Join the exciting dancers Verb Ballets as we step back in time to the
1950's, a pivotal moment in Cleveland's history with MoonDogg: A Rock
'n Roll Fantasia. Set to the light melodies and sweet lyrics of popular
1950's tunes, Cortez's choreography combines contemporary modern dance
with the fun and infectious excitement of sock hop dance trends. In this
school assembly performance, history comes alive through dynamic narration
and engaging interactive activities. Students learn about musical rhythms,
dance movements, and the social issues of the time as local history is
connected to their own lives and interests. MoonDogg: A Rock 'n Roll Fantasia
promises to be a creative and innovative way to learn about Alan Freed
and Cleveland's own Moondog Coronation Ball, and will have you singing
along and dancing in your seat!
Everday
Dance
Dance is all around us in the movements we do each and every day. Choreographers
often take inspiration from everyday movements and ideas as they make
dances. In this program, Verb dancers perform excerpts from master works
by acclaimed choreographers Paul Taylor and David Parsons and demonstrate
how humor, storylines, theme and variations, cannons, shapes, and levels
are used to construct dances from familiar movements. Students and teachers
are encouraged to join in as we discover the dancer in all of us!
Integrated curriculum residencies offer students and teachers the opportunity to learn how movement relates to subjects such as science, social studies, language arts, and math. Through improvisation and dance composition exercises, students create dances to explore and reinforce themes they are learning in other subjects. Integrated curriculum lessons are created in collaboration with classroom teachers, and are tailored to the specific needs of each class.
Past topics for integrated curriculum residencies have included:
The Four Seasons / Kindergarten science
The Movement of Birds / First grade Science
Dance Around the World / Second grade social studies
The Water Cycle / second grade science
Storytelling through Dance / Third grade language arts
Simple Machines / Fourth grade science
Freedom and Improvisation: Dance and Jazz Music / Fifth grade social studies
Moving in Outer Space / Fifth Grade Science
After-school dance classes are offered in conjunction with existing after-school
enrichment programs. Dancers lead students through a warm-up, across the
floor, and center combinations and may coach students through developing
their own choreography. A fun and healthy alternative after-school activity,
dance classes can reinforce a positive group environment, exercise, and
creativity while encouraging students to have fun and express themselves.
Dance workshops and master classes are offered for dance students in middle and high school and college dance programs. These classes can include ballet and modern dance technique, partnering, and repertory, and provide students with the opportunity to study with gifted professional dancers and experience the unique style that is Verb Ballets.
Repertory-based residencies are intensive projects where Verb dancers restage works in the Verb Ballets repertory on advanced high school and college dance students, who perform the work in a public concert. Students are expected to thoroughly investigate the master works through challenging rehearsals and feedback sessions, while also reflecting on their personal performance and rehearsal process through guided journal writing. Several works in the Verb repertory can be restaged on students please call to discuss a project.
Verb Ballets school-based programs in the Cleveland area are offered through Young Audiences of Greater Cleveland. Please visit www.yagc.org or call 216-561-5005 for more information.
For more information or to explore options for bringing Verb Ballets to your school or center, please contact the office at 216-397-3757 or info@verbballets.org. We are available to assist you in finding funding to bring a Verb program to your school or center.
Support for Verb Ballets outreach programs comes from government, foundation, and corporate grants, presenting fees, and individual donors. To make a donation in support of Verb's Education and Outreach programs, click here or call us at 216-397-3757.
