Upstream Arts / Valley Friendship Club participants rehearsing a dance
Creativity and risk-taking are such a big part of any Upstream Arts class; but in our recent summer program with Valley Friendship Club, those terms took on a new quality as we worked to CREATE A PUBLIC PERFORMANCE. This particular residency and the rehearsal process were filled with boundless exploration and expression. There is a certain added pressure as the day of the show draws closer and closer.
Our culminating work, titled The Art of Me: The Roles We Play, was presented at Oak-Land Jr. High School on August 14, 2014 for a crowd of 150+ families, friends, and community members. We were impressed with the whole cast’s attitude, focus, and commitment as they put themselves out there and got the work done.
The performance was comprised of vignettes, all based on arts activities explored in the Upstream Arts residency. These vignettes were loosely structured around a poem, collaboratively written by participants during the residency. Scenario vignettes were inspired by specific lines from the poem, and the finale of the show – a song performed with choreography by the cast – also was based on the poem.
Poetry About Ourselves
Building things makes me think things
Dancing makes me laugh things
Routines
With a little bit of yellow
in it
Half a laugh on the green ship
Sometimes I’m angry
Like a closed lion
I walk it out
I dance it out, real good
Talk. It. Out.
I’m serious
‘Cause summer’s not here
The claws are near
I watch the videos
I look through the window
I listen to the happy
UA Teaching Artist Charles Fraser working with a participant
UA Teaching Artist Tena May Gallivan with participants
UA Teaching Artist Sarah Brown working with a participant
UA Teaching Artists Charles Fraser and Matt Guidry dancing with a group of participants
UA Teaching Artist Matt Guidry rehearsing with participants on stage at Oak-Land Jr. High School
Performance still from The Art of Me: The Roles We Play
Click here to watch the full performance on YouTube.
Click here to check out more photos of the residency and rehearsal process on Facebook.
We congratulate the cast on a job well done!!!!!