Randy Foster

Alabama Institute for Education in the Arts is pleased to offer this special workshop for our participating schools and teachers. Come join us for an exciting time and a unique opportunity! Learn in Rhythm: Concept-based, rhythm-infused lessons for the classroom with John Scalici and Hilary McKinney WHO: John Scalici is an award-winning teaching artist, author, musician, master drum circle facilitator, and professional speaker. He began his teaching artist career in Memphis, Tennessee. Under the guidance of the Memphis Arts Council, John received extensive training in the Lincoln Center Aesthetic Education methodology, learning to integrate the arts into core curriculum. As a result, he began documenting his rhythm-based activites to integrate arts into core aubjects. Fast forward about 12 years to a chance meeting with gifted education teacher and musician, Hilary McKinney. John needed someone to help craft these activities into a teacher resource book that would address the core subjects through rhythm and be accessible to classroom teachers. After a year of additional writing and collaboration, the book Learn in… Read More »Learn in Rhythm: Concept-based, rhythm-infused lessons for the classroom

Alabama Institute for Education in the Arts and Alabama Dance Council are pleased to offer this special workshop for our participating schools and teachers. Come join us for an exciting time and a unique opportunity! Dance and Literacy: Using Text as Inspiration for Original Movement and Choreography with Susan McGreevy-Nichols   WHO: Susan McGreevy-Nichols is the Executive Director of the National Dance Education Organization. Previous to becoming executive director she taught part-time at Loyola Marymount University and was a national consultant on Arts Education. Susan’s consulting work involved coaching districts in Los Angeles County as part of the Arts for All initiative and in Northern California in Alameda County as a part of that county’s initiative Revitalizing Classrooms Through Arts Learning: Strategic Plan. As a teacher at Roger Williams Middle School in Providence, Rhode Island from 1974-2002, Susan founded and developed that institution’s nationally renowned middle school dance program. She is the developer of a cutting edge reading comprehension strategy that uses text as inspiration for original choreography created by children. This literacy-based… Read More »Dance and Literacy: Using Text as Inspiration for Original Movement and Choreography

We Are Like Rivers, We Are Rivers: Movement, Action and Art Through Metaphor and Simile with Peter DiMuro WHO: Peter DiMuro is the Executive Director of The Dance Complex in Boston, where his first professional performance was with Gerri Houlihan’s Boston Dance Project at The Dance Complex of Cambridge. Ruth Birnberg, Susan Rose and Concert Dance Company (dancing the works of Deborah Wolf, Bebe Miller, Lucinda Childs, Wendy Perron, Keith Terry and many others) also provided Peter mentorship early in his career. He received an MFA in Dance from Connecticut College under Martha Myers; a BFA in Theatre from Drake University, early study with Sally Garfield, and continued study in New York, Boston and at the American Dance Festival. WHEN:  FRIDAY, January 09, 2014                         8:30-3:30 WHERE:  Children’s Dance Foundation 1715 27th Court South Birmingham, AL 3520 http://childrensdancefoundation.com/WhoWeAre/Directions.aspx WHY:   Participants will work with simile and metaphor – and related lessons stemming from them – in two parallel ways. In the first “doing” way,  we will create mini-dances based on simile… Read More »Dance Festival – January 2015

WHO:  John Scalici is an award winning teaching artist, internationally recognized drum circle facilitator, musician, and speaker. He uses experiential learning to Inspire, Motivate, and Empower all people through the universal language of rhythm.  One of John’s objectives is to open your senses and empower you to think, act, and play more rhythmically. As anyone who has ever met John knows, this will be a fun and powerful learning experience! WHEN:  April 4, 2014 (FRIDAY)      1:00-7:30  WHERE:  TBD (depending on number of participants)  WHY:   This workshop will teach 1) basic rhythmic foundations, 2) WHOLE body approach to rhythm, 3) learning universal patterns 4) learning creative concepts 5) learning how to improvise on the drum 6) learning how to be creative “in the moment,” 7) Producing the basic tones of the drum consistently and 8) how to apply universal rhythmic concepts.   DETAILS:         FREE                            Light supper is furnished. Dress comfortably—you’re going to be working! ENROLLMENT IS LIMITED TO 30 PARTICIPANTS. Download: Realize Your Rhythm Flyer Apr 2014

WHO:  Frank Fleming is an award winning Alabama sculptor who makes his home in Birmingham. Fleming draws upon his childhood and upbringing to create a world of wonderful creatures. Raised in rural Alabama, he developed a deep kinship with wild creatures and a refined eye for forms in nature. The easy combination of animal and human elements comes not from antiquity and polytheistic beliefs but from observations that reveal the kinship between animal and human behavior. This combined with an incisively whimsical sense of humor, produces works that appeal to everyone fascinated with things of this world. His work is on display throughout the country.  For more information, go to his web page www.frankflemingart.com. WHEN:  February 08, 2014                                    10:00-2:30 WHERE:  Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Studio 2 Blount Cultural Park (Call if you need directions) WHY:   Come join us for an exciting time and a unique opportunity—spending time with Frank and learning about clay sculpture! Hands-on is the way to get over your fear of using clay (or… Read More »The Great Clay Adventure: Clay Sculpture with Frank Fleming