Young Audiences Programs at PS/IS 217

PS/IS 217 enjoys an ongoing relationship with Young Audiences, one of the oldest and foremost arts-in-education organizations in the nation, which offers cultural enrichment programs for our youngsters. This spring, a wide range of programs are being offered to students from kindergarten through seventh grade.

The Young Audiences residency for grades K-2 is creative movement. Students explore the elements of movement, such as space, time, and dynamics, to discover how much their movements can communicate. The students learn dance movements and compose their own dances. Grade 3 has a residency in hybrid music. Students learn to make their own instruments from everyday objects, stimulating their imaginations as well as their interest in music and science.

Fourth graders work with the Richard Gold Opera Life Project, in which students choose the theme, write the lyrics, and perform their own opera in a process that integrates language, writing, art and history. In April 1996, the fourth graders performed their opera both at school and at a Young Audiences benefit at the Sheraton New York where artist Peter Max was honored. In the fall of 1995, a fourth grade class worked with Young Audiences artist Lucy Fradkin to study Mr. Max's paintings of the Statue of Liberty as part of their study of immigration. The students visited Mr. Max at his studio and were able to engage in a dialogue with him.

In Grade 5, a professional poet is in residence to work with the students in eliciting the natural poet in them by offering them keys to the imagination and techniques for creative expression. Students are introduced to poetic devices, and they write several poems in different styles.

Our sixth graders have a claymation residency, in which they participate in a lecture demonstration and then design and build clay characters. While learning about the technique of claymation, they write about their characters and how these characters would interact with others. The class then combines characters to develop a story.

Seventh graders have a residency in improvisational theater. The students are invited to join the actors to create sketches and perform in scenes while learning about the key elements in improvisational theater. Such skills as teamwork, problem-solving, risk-taking, quick thinking, spontaneity, and self-expression are emphasized.

All residencies are conducted in the classrooms, and the students also enjoy auditorium performances in which the artists introduce the students to their residencies. These residencies are funded by the PTA of PS/IS 217 and a Young Audiences grant.