| The New England School Performing Artist Directory |
DANCE
This is an alphabetical listing of performing artists whose programs support topics in Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, Mathematics, and Health. You can browse the list by scrolling down or, if you are looking for information on a particular group or individual, you can select a letter and move directly to that section of the list. |
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 Tara Ahmed
24 Notre Dame Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02140
(617) 216-7606
Email: info@taraahmed.com
Website: http://www.taraahmed.com
Tara gives dance lecture/demonstrations in the vibrant style of Kuchipudi. With elements of storytelling, rhythmic footwork and athletic grace, Kuchipudi relays vivid stories from Hindu mythology. "Taal Tales" offers both a history of classical South Indian dance and performances of lively dance pieces. In this highly interactive program, participants are engaged by watching and participating in dance sequences, and asking and answering questions. Programs are modified according to age level.
"Ahmed was a captivating presence..." - Boston Globe
"Just rave reviews!" - Newton Creative Arts & Sciences Committee
"...Tara's performance is the MOST talked about!" - Wilmington Public Schools
Program Titles: Taal Tales: Classical Indian Dance
Special Requirements: Clean wood floor, 15' X 20'; sound sytem for CDs; easel for posterboards
Fee: $475; $750 for 2 programs same day/location
Social Studies: Countries (India)
Language Arts: Myth |
 Art of Black Music & Dance, Inc.
De Ama Battle, Director
32 Cameron Avenue
Somerville, MA 02144
(617) 666-1859
E Mail: deamabattle@yahoo.com
Website: www.abdm.net
ABDM's 30 year history continues to support its mission to preserve African-rooted heritage through instruction and performance, and to bring to the classroom the diverse cultures of the African Diaspora. The dynamic ensemble of professional educators and performing artists deliver works from a rich repertoire to audiences of all ages. ABDM's success is its artistic and educational flexibility, its high powered performances and its unique audience participation. ABDM's Founder/Director De Ama Battle has studied, taught and/or performed throughout West Africa, New England, Jamaica, and Brazil.
Program Titles: Our African Heritage
Fee: $600 - $900
Special Requirements: 30 minute set-up required
Social Studies: Countries and Regions (Africa, Caribbean), Geography |
 Brian Gillie
In Massachusetts:
Gail LaRocca, The LaRocca Agency
7 Mt. Pleasant Street,Winchester, MA 01890
(781)729-1537
E-mail: GailLaRocca@compuserve.com
In Connecticut:
Young Audiences of Connecticut
3074 Whitney Avenue, Bldg 2, 2nd floor
Hamden, CT 06518
(203) 230-8101
Email: info@yaconn.org
Brian Gillie's Website: www.BrianGillie.com
Brian Gillie, 1999 YAC Artist of the Year and CCT Master Teaching Artist, is a rare artist who does it all: singer, dancer, pianist, historian and educator. His interactive performances and workshops showcase the histories, stylings and novelty of America�s social dances and popular songs from 1776 to today, and they empower students with critical thinking skills, encouraging them to believe in their creative genius and improvisational possibilities.
Brian is a Master Teaching Artist with the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism and travels New England with the Commission�s Touring Artists program. He has toured the northeast states with the Reel Nutmeg Colonial Dance Company, The Elm City Vintage Dancers and the Mountain Laurel Cloggers. Brian was principal choreographer with the Connecticut Swing Dancers for five years and currently has two nationally available swing dance instructional videos. Brian has been an annual lecturer/performer at Yale and Wesleyan Universities and was recently an adjunct professor of dance at Naugatuck Valley Community College. He has been a teacher-training leader at the National Dance Association�s annual conference in Boston, and is a dance and music historian and consultant to song and dance educators. Brian believes that early movement and dance experiences improve overall academic success and well-being.
Brian currently offers five all-school assembly programs and five residency/workshop choices for both student and teacher in-service training.
Assembly Programs:
Salute to Song in America: An amazing multi-media mix of live and pre-recorded music, biographies and history capture the essence of songs, singers and composers from patriots, Civil War, ragtime, Broadway, swing, rock and everything in-between.
History of Social Dance in America: Seen your students dance lately? History, humor and period music accompany dances from Charleston to Cha Cha, Ragtime to Rumba, and Lindy Hop to Hip Hop. Students participate throughout the presentation of over 35 dances.
Song, Dance and the Possibilities: Try Brian�s �anyone can write a song and anyone can invent a dance� experience. Learn the predictable ingredients of song and dance, then dare to break the rules to create the extraordinary. Sing a ragtime classic in doo-wop style; add rap rhythms to a rap tune; create a hip-hop version of the Charleston. Students learn to trust their own imaginations.
Song Dance and the Possibilities � the Holiday Version: Based on Song, Dance and the Possibilities, Brian and audience explore elements of song and dance, then invent a hip holiday dance to a funky seasonal tune, and all in the house mastermind an original holiday song full of local color and personalities and perhaps some flying reindeer and dancing snowmen. Ho Ho Ho!
The History of Early Rock & Roll: History, humor, costumes, props, original sound bites, stand-up piano playing, radio commercials and impersonations serve to reveal rock�s evolution from blues to doo-wop, Motown to Beatles and more. Sh-BOOM!
It�s a Grand Night for Singing: (for family night, festivals, celebrations) Brian�s original songs and dances require audience participation to help complete cool lyrics and funky moves. Creative, up-lifting fun!
Workshops, Residencies and Teacher Training
Songwriting Workshop: Students are introduced to the elements of song: rhythm, lyrics, melody, theme, harmony and style. Using these elements students build a song from scratch. Students also learn how technology, business and �pop�culture, and the rules of grammar, poetry and music determine a song�s effectiveness, clout and popularity.
Never Too Small to Dance and Boogie (grades K � 2): Research shows that movement exploration and simple dance choreography work to open up the cognitive pathways of our youngest students. These benefits last a lifetime and cross over in to all areas of physical and mental behavior. Brian and students explore the basics and do �em large, loose, low, in reverse, in slow motion and �your way.�
Folk Dances: 1700 � 1900 (grades 3 and up): a regular addition for those students studying America�s 18th and 19th centuries. Selections include square, line and circle dances as well as marches, waltzes, polkas and early couple dances, particularly of the Revolutionary and Civil War eras.
Ballroom Dances of the Twentieth Century (grades 3 and up): Starting with ragtime and animal dances at the turn of the century, students participate in the progression of dance from blues to roaring twenties, Latin, swing, country, novelty, rock and additional possibilities for the next generation.
Swing Dance Intensive (grades 4 and up): Swing dance is �in,� so invite Brian for a workshop or residency to learn the hops, spins, jumps, kicks, spins and twirls that made swing dancing famous. Learn some hip combinations or a full swing routine.
Fee: $400/one performance; $700.00/two performances; $450.00/evening and special events; Workshops: $600.00/day. Libraries and camps; $250/one performance
Social Studies: American History, Holidays
Language Arts: Creative Writing |
 Somaly Hay
6 East Bishop Street
Waterford, CT 06385
(860) 444-6390
Fax: (860) 441-3811
Somaly Hay is a Cambodian dancer. Certified as a Master Teaching Artist by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, Somaly also presents her own story in her workshops. She encourages young children to open their eyes a little wider and look a little deeper, beyond their first impressions, to understand the many levels involved in cultural differences. For older audiences, she offers an unforgettable history lesson of a woman surviving four Cambodian regimes. Her strength of character and creative spirit are demonstrated, both in her dancing and her life.
The principal dancers in the Somaly Hay & Company's ensemble are trained by Somaly Hay.
Dance videotape and audio tapes are available.
Audience Limits: 20-25/class; Assembly
Fee: Assemblies start at $300; Classes - $200
Funding Source: Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism
Social Studies: Countries and Regions of the World - Cambodia |
 Inca Son
Cesar Villalobos
PO Box 881899
Cambridge, MA 02299-1899
(617) 864-7041
Fax: (617) 491-7088
E-Mail: CIncasonV@aol.com
Web Site: www.incason.com
Electronic Press Kit: http://www.sonicbids.com/IncaSon3 (includes photos, biography, press reviews, video, audio files!)
The world-acclaimed Peruvian band Inca Son will transport you to the Andes of South America with its ancient melodies, vibrant dances, and colorful native attire. Inca Son (meaning "Sound of the Inca") has been described by Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart as "cultural ambassadors of a nearly lost South American folk tradition." The group includes both musicians and a company of dancers who placed first in their country's annual Folkdance Competition.
Inca Son offers schools a variety of dynamic and enriching activities, which complement arts, history, and modern language education. Workshops in Andean Music, where students learn to play their very own panpipes; Andean Dance, where students learn the basics of different folkdances; and an Inca Workshop, in which students learn about the beliefs, medicine, and way of life of this ancient people. This workshop is taught by the Head of Inca Son,Cesar Villalobos, whose own father, a Shaman, bequeathed to him the lore and knowledge of the Inca.
Schools may combine a classroom workshop, or workshops, with a performance by the band, with or without dancers. The band explains the meaning of each song and dance, and its place in Andean folklore; and describes their instruments, from reed panpipes to the stringed "charango," made from the body of an armadillo!
Program Title: Music and Dance of the Andes of South America
Fee: Workshop on Music, Dance, or Inca Beliefs: $500 ($150 for each additional workshop) -Full Band Performance: $1000, 1 show; $1500, 2 shows; $2000, 3 shows; $3000, 1 show with band and dancers. (NOTE: If a school wishes a combination of workshops and performances, a special price can be provided by Inca Son)
Funding Sources: New England Foundation for the Arts, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the New Hampshire State Council for the Arts, and the Maine Arts Sponsors Association.
Social Studies: Countries and Regions of the World - Latin America, Geography |
 Abigail 'Ifatola' Jefferson
P.O. Box 176
Peacedale, RI 02883
(401) 932-6565 or (401) 783-4982
EMail: abijef@cox.net
Website: www.abigailjefferson.com
Abigail "Ifatola" Jefferson, storyteller, dancer and arts educator, performs and conducts woprkshops nationally. Through a unique blend of story, dance, song, and rhythm, Abigail brings to life traditional stories from around the globe. Her performance presentations are highly interactive, educational and fun-filled. Audiences of all ages have described her performances and workshops as inspiring, informative, and energizing.
Abigail has conducted workshops and performed in schools, churches, prisons, shelters, theatres, festivals and libraries. She is a graduate of Howard University with a B.F.A. in theatre, and holds a M.Ed. from Lesley University. Currently, Abigail is an adjunct professor for Lesley University's Creative Arts and Learning Program, and the co-director of Celebration of Culture, a program designed to increase students' and educators' appreciation of diversity. She has traveled to Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, and Cuba to study cultural traditions.
Program Title: Dance, Drum, Story or Celebration of Culture
Audience Limit: 200
Fee: $500 plus travel
Funding Source: New England Foundation for the Arts, Rhode Island State Council for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, local councils.
Language Arts: Folk Tales (General, African)
Social Studies: Holidays (Kwanzaa), Countries and Regions of the World (General, Africa), Black History
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Regina Laskowski
98 Bellevue Road
Squantum, MA 02171-1009
(617) 328-1307
E Mail: laskowsk@fas.harvard.edu
Regina Laskowski has been dancing, performing and teaching dance for over 20 years, including International folk dances, Polish National/Regional dance and creative movement. She has degrees from Simmons College and Lesley College. She has also studied dance and ethnography in Poland at the Warsaw and Krakow Ethnographic Museums. Regina has worked extensively in the Boston and Boston area schools and is an Artist for the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Regina teaches folk dances from all over the world, including American traditional and historical dances. Dance programs, which may or may not culminate in a performance, can be tailored to include simply a variety of folk dances or a combination of folk and body/shape awareness work. All teaching strives to reinforce ideas of community and working together.
Program Title: Folk Dances From Around the World
Audience Limit: 20-25/class (Class or residency only)
Fee: negotiable
Social Studies: Countries and Regions of the World, Geography, American History, Community
Marvelous Marvin Novogrodski (See Theater)
Program Title: Dance/Science Experience
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