Performance at Marillac

Lisa Golda, Opera For All Teaching Artist

It’s the times kids really step it up for the performance that make teaching artists’ work so nerve-wracking.

I mean, exciting. I mean, exciting or nerve-wracking. Which one it is, modern psychology tells us, depends upon our perception of the chemical message from our brain.

“I know your stomach hurts,” I told a particularly conscientious, and stomach-achy, student, Charmaine, just before our performance at Marillac House this past week. “It’s the kids who care who get nervous. The kids who are too relaxed will mess up. Your nerves are telling your body that it is time to focus.”  I tried to sound convincing.  After a rough dress rehearsal the day before, which with kids is generally NOT an indication that the performance will be stellar, I was convincing myself, too.

Charmaine went on to have a fantastic show, covering lines and solos for other kids last-minute, helping others to transition on time, dancing and acting with total commitment, and in general, leading her after-school group (the rest of whom did not seem very nervous) to do their very best. I was so proud of Charmaine, for a year’s worth of hard work and a new maturity evidenced so obviously in her contribution to our show. We could not have done it without her.

I was also proud of all the kids who found the focus, courage, and enthusiasm needed to make their show happen at the last minute! And not just happen, but succeed with humor, excitement, and some genuine dramatic flair. A roller coaster ride for all adults concerned, but one with a fantastic unveil at the end.

“These kids will surprise you,” Deanna, the manager at Marillac House, told me the day before our performance. It’s the first year at Marillac for COT, and the first-ever year-long residency there. What this meant for us was that kids and parents expected to transition to other projects and activities just when our participants really had to dig in and work on their material; or, from a kid’s potential point of view, right when the most exciting part of the program kicks in!

Having written their script and lyrics, memorized their songs, and created characters for most of the year, the students, come spring, get to dance and act and make set pieces. That is usually when the kids themselves are intrigued with the concrete life their formerly abstract work takes on, and that is when they get hooked on the countdown to the performance date. That’s when they start asking if we are coming back next year, and what they should wear, and mentally preparing for what can be a new (and a little scary) experience onstage.

Our kids were tempted, at that crucial point, by volleyball and a spring heat wave, sidetracked by some ISAT tutoring that they genuinely needed, surprised by the fact that there was more to come, and lacking in understanding due to inexperience as to just what it takes to get onstage and do a show. After weeks of a rotating bunch, notwithstanding a few faithful kids who were not subjected to or did not give in to other extra-curricular temptations, we finally ended up with a substantial, but under-rehearsed, cast.

Deanna, Maureen, Jalesa, Hannah, and Ersilee gave it their all once the cast solidified, adding extra rehearsal time for the kids and pushing them to succeed. Some kids got serious at that point, but some still didn’t, and we were all on that inexorable climb to the top of the coaster together. Once you get to the top—to curtain time---all you can do, no matter how prepared you actually are, is let go and enjoy the ride. But enjoying a show that is loaded with potentially unpleasant “surprises” is a tall order for a seasoned performer.

Not for these kids, evidently. Tough as life is for some of them, these kids can toss a little case of stage fright to the side with a shrug. They’ve got more substantial things to fear, which had both its advantages and disadvantages when we were trying to get them to rehearse for a far-off performance.

But when that day finally came, they smiled. They laughed. They glowed. They threw themselves into their show with greater enthusiasm and focus than I’ve seen all year. They knew their lines cold. Our beat box maestro, Jadari, kept an intricate rap beat consistent while adjusting his volume for soft-spoken kids. Sisters Dejanae and Teshara took the creative reins in their class and got the other girls on board. Britney free-styled her little heart out in the dances. Everyone soaked up the obvious pleasure of an audience of at least a hundred parents, siblings, and other Marillac kids witnessing a bunch of kids, finally, revel in the sheer excitement and postponed gratification of live performance.

As a teacher and a performer, I’ve learned to expect anything, if not to disregard the queasy stomach that the ride to the top of the coaster can provoke, and to just hang on. I was definitely relieved, but I wasn’t surprised, by the kids’ eleventh hour transformation.

But I think that the kids surprised themselves. And as any adult who has been to a kids’ party can attest—there’s nothing quite like the joy of surprise on a child’s face. Especially if it results from your gift. Kids came out for their final bow and then stood uncertainly, all boisterous silliness and bravado suddenly vanquished by an unexpected and positive limelight. I think they were startled by how good that approval and achievement felt. I don’t think they were expecting to succeed. Perhaps they were not expecting anything.

They are, now.

“Are you coming next week?” was the breathless question asked multiple times after the show by Makhai, a faithful, if sometimes recalcitrant, attendee. “Are you coming back?”

And that was the very satisfying finale to our first year at Marillac.

Reilly and St. Vincent dePaul: 2 Legit 2 Quit

Mandy Compton, COT Teaching Artist and Choreographer

 

When I begin to choreograph a dance, the first thing I do is just listen to the music.  I sit down, push play, and let the sound wash over me.  As I listen, I try to sense how my body naturally moves to the beat.  My body tells me what will work, and what will not, as I begin to dance. 

This year I was tasked with the exciting opportunity to choreograph an original piece for all of the Opera for All schools (Gangnam Style/2 Legit 2 Quit), and a special mash-up dance for St. Vincent De Paul's after school program.  Knowing what motivates a dance in the context of a show adds zest and excitement to the overall arc of any performance.  I was excited when, for St. Vincent de Paul, I wasn't just given a song to choreograph.  I was immersed in their entire script and lyrics.  

 

Mandy and students at St. Vincent dePaul Center

 

Their mashup dance became more than a mid-show diversion, it was a full out fight scene between the good and evil super heroes!  Teaching the dance to the students proved an exciting endeavor.  Because each song in the mashup (three songs total) brought out a different element of the conflict between the super heroes and villains, each change in melody brought with it a new mood and thus completely different movement.  We began our session by exploring how each student's specific super hero (including, but not limited to, Mr. Cool, Silver Rock, and Fashion Girl), would a) move, and b) fight off enemies.  

 

Students creating characters for their dance

 

Some of the kids were hesitant at first, but by the end, everyone was excited to share their character's movement, complete with sound effects.  This helped the kids to incorporate their characters' motivation into challenging dance moves.  As I taught them the steps, I tried to instill in them the same sense of relationship to the music with their bodies as I use when I choreograph.  We alternate between listening and dancing so that  instead of relying on demonstration or example, they can connect intuitively to the movement and music. 

At Reilly, where I teach for Opera for All on a regular basis, our guest choreographer was Devery McCoy.  This was my second year to have the privilege of working with her on an OFA dance day.  She is a true joy to watch as she always has creative ways of explaining and teaching movement.  She is able to teach kids with no previous dance experience a full length (and, I might add, challenging!) dance combination in less than an hour.  She is incredibly patient and always encourages and motivates the kids to do better.  I took notes from her method last year in preparation for my own dances and teaching this year!  The kids learned "Starships," "Space Jam," and my own "Gangnam Style" during our two dance days.

It was a very special experience to see some kids, who might not have stood out during class before, find their rhythm and shine in their dancing.  As a Teaching Artist for Chicago Opera Theater, these are the moments I cherish.  I'm lucky to be part of a program so diverse that EVERY child can find a new reason to believe in themselves, in ways they might not have otherwise imagined.

Mandy and students at Reilly dancing to "Gangnam Style"

St. Vincent dePaul Performance Night

Bryna Berezowska, COT Teaching Artist

As the audience piled into the St. Vincent dePaul Center (SVDPC) theater space, the young performers seemed excited, nervous and anxious to begin.  As a teacher, there is nothing more exciting and nerve-wracking than seeing the culmination of so many months of work. It is amazing to see the students’ growth in confidence, creativity and performance ability over the year. For me, the most exciting thing was noticing how the performers reacted to the audience adulation. They were singing with more energy and dancing their little hearts out for their peers and parents. You could see genuine joy on their faces, knowing that they were entertaining and even inspiring the younger kids!

During the “Gangnam Style” dance the younger grades in the front rows were doing the hand actions along with the performers. The young audience members were mesmerized by the operatic alien song, and amused by Mr. Cool zapping all the aliens cool. The fashion girls sounded particularly lovely in the climactic song “We are the fashion girls, and we’re here to accessorize you”! Overall, everyone did a fantastic job pulling the show together. Transitions were smooth, voices were clear and strong, and lines were delivered with confidence and character. I couldn’t be more proud of the group, and I’m sure we have some budding opera performers and opera goers in our midst. I believe we also reached the parents of the Opera For All students as well. So many parents came up to me and gushed about how amazing this experience was for their children and how much they enjoyed it and wanted to see more. Nothing honors a teacher more than a student who feels a sense of accomplishment due to the growth they’ve experienced over the months of work. It wasn’t always easy. One of the older boys in the class started out as unsure, standoffish and even a little “too cool for super school”. By the second half, he was the leader of the group, knew all his lines, and all the dance moves. After the performance he came up to me and asked to take a picture with me. This warmed my heart and reminded me why we are doing all of this. His mother was glowing with pride, and both have been instilled with a love of music and opera from now on.

Chicago Opera Theater for Teens - Performance

Chris Richard, COT for Teens Music Director 

What a whirlwind of a week!  Chicago Opera Theater for Teens is having a busy end of program.  On Monday, April 8 we had a big performance with other After School Matter programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art.  It was a wonderful evening of performances by 2 of the dance ensemble and 2 of the vocal groups.  We were lucky enough to set off the night on a bright and positive step with our dazzling performance.  Our teens have been working very hard this term on being a true ensemble - learning how to act, dance and sing as one.  We concentrated this term on 5 strong chorus and group pieces from the world of opera and musical theater.  The students really enjoyed our selections and dove in whole heartedly.  Our list of numbers which we have been able to perform are:

The Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi

Dance a Cachucha from The Gondoliers by Giblert & Sullivan

Fie on Sinful Fantasy from The Merry Wives of Windsor by Otto Nicolai

The Ballad of Sweeney Todd from Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim

One Day More from Les Miserables  by Claude-Michel Schonberg

My co-teach, Caryn Ott Hillman and I decided on these pieces because they would showcase our students talents and really wow the audience.  The Anvil Chorus is such a standard in the opera repertory we wanted to make it our own and have the students give some input as to how we staged it.  We talked with the class about what was going on in the opera's storyline when the chorus comes and asked if they could come up with any ideas how they would stage it.  We asked if they could relate to the chorus and if there were elements in their own lives that could be brought into the piece.  It turned out to be a wonderful piece of a work by all!

Ms. Ott Hillman had a great time delving into the choreography for Dance a Cachucha, really giving it a spanish flare.  I'm sure she can tell you more about in her own blog.

The chorus from The Merry Wives of Windsor is something I brought to the table. I thought it had such interesting juxtaposition of darkness and brightness and the teens really got into the idea of characterization thru those themes.

We were able to show off some of the amazing individual talents in our program by splitting up the solo work in The Ballad of Sweeney Todd.  Again, Ms. Ott Hillman inventive staging of it really took the audience to a creepy and spectacular place.

What can one say about One Day More from Les Miserables?   It is truly a show stopper of a piece (not to mention it finished the first act!)  Our students were so excited to get to work on this piece.  Every day they would ask, 'Are we going to work on One Day More?'  Their enthusiasm was overwhelming.

Today we performed at the Garfield Park Conservatory.  What a beautiful place!  It is such a treasure that our city has.

We were able to sing and dance amongst the stunning flowers.  All of the azaleas and bougainvillea were in full bloom and it framed our students so wonderfully.  The space was gorgeous and our students singing was glorious - what a combination!

We have one more week of program and already we've done so much!  We are proud of each and every one of them!

One more week and one more performance.

In bocca al lupo!

Mr. Richard

Six Years and Counting at Clinton

Lisa Golda, COT Teaching Artist

This year marks my fifth at Clinton, and the sixth that Chicago Opera Theater has been in residence there.
Our program has changed so much in the interim, both in terms of what our students at Clinton are currently accomplishing artistically, and in terms of how much Opera for All has grown!

This year, our teaching artist staff has tripled, with teaching artists in several schools throughout Chicago. Several fundraising campaigns, a video, fantastic donors, and a supportive new Artistic Director seem to indicate that our program will live up to its name!

We are no longer a team of three or four intrepid TAs toughing it out in isolation, but a big strong group of multi-talented artists led by our tireless and dedicated Education Director, Linden Christ. I'm sure that the increased support and expanded teaching staff is making a huge impact throughout Chicago in the same way that an extended tenure at one school, such as mine at Clinton, can make a qualitative difference in program participation and artistic end result.

I almost quit Clinton my first year. I was commuting from Wisconsin two days in a row, once a week, and a snow-related car accident at Christmastime put my car out of commission for a month. Aside from that interminable four-hour drive, Clinton was challenging at that point; or at least, it seemed so to me. I was a rookie TA. The following year, our sixth-grade kids were a challenging bunch and went through several substitutes after their primary teacher took maternity leave. We ended up with just about a third of that class participating in a dance number in the final show and gave their parts to younger kids. The rest of that class was not able or willing to participate and sat it out. At that time, we provided the kids with a script that we had written and a score of excerpts from existing classical music. We kept props and costumes to an absolute minimum because just getting students onstage to say their lines on cue was a challenge.

What a difference a few years, and a new principal, Mr. Eduardo Cesario, can make!

This year is the second that I have taught students how to write their own script, starting with character development and ending up with dialogue that they themselves create. The late great Mary Scruggs introduced song lyric writing two years ago, which was continued this year by Alyssa Sorresso, and the students themselves; Clinton kids are so invested in this program that we ended up with an EXTRA song, the lyrics of which a few students wrote independently as journal entries that were supposed to be a warm-up exercise for songwriting sessions. We continue to have delightful guest composers helping the kids to craft their own melodies.

But never before have we enjoyed the level of participation and excitement that we do now at Clinton, after six years of being in residence. 

My partner teacher Justin and I had MULTIPLE kids auditioning for roles, sometimes two or three for the same part. We were not able to cast everyone in a featured role due to the fierce competition. These kids had created these characters over a period of several months, and they were determined to play those parts! The kids wrote an incredibly complex script, with three-dimensional characters whose roles continue throughout the show. Classes will be onstage together in several scenes. In the past, we did not mix classes at all due to potential issues with management. Roles were kept short due to the inexperience of our performers and dialogue was minimal. But this year, we've got kids with the talent, the commitment, and the performing bug to make a show like this happen! 

Best of all--all four classes are sixth graders. Four classes of kids the same age as those that dropped out three years ago. We may even have some guest instrumentalists this year--the Assistant Principal, Mr. Turner, is a violinist and expressed his wish to participate in the performance.

I am so happy to be a part of the ongoing evolution of Opera for All at Clinton. As are, obviously, our kids. And that is what OFA is all about.

On with the show!

What is this going to be?  Wait till you see the finished costume piece!!

Student making alien head-pieces.

A finished product!  

The Young Composer

Bryna Berezowska Tallman, COT Teaching Artist

After years of working with students, I have found the immense value of adding music to children’s shows, especially when it is their own music. Students seem exponentially more interested and excited about singing and dancing to their own songs. In addition to adding music, dance and movement are equally helpful.

In our class at the St. Vincent de Paul Center, the students wrote their own lyrics. We worked with a composer to notate some melodic ideas they thought of during the process. The songs came back slightly altered and perhaps a bit un-intuitive for the kids to sing. As we were practicing, the students were having a hard time remembering rhythms in some of the parts, mainly when extra rests were added.

The last class at St. Vincent de Paul, worked on putting their own choreography to the songs they wrote. The improvement in their rhythmic timing was ‘night and day’. When the students had actions to correlate with the rests, they never forgot to wait and rest!

Dancing and creating music helps students feel the beat and music with a flow and consistent meter.  Dancing keeps kids active, helps them burn that extra energy and maintains their focus. 

So, we are excited to have our choreographer, Amanda Compton, visit for the next two classes in April, and continue our own student choreography!

FunderHut Campaign

Jessica Weber, COT Education Assistant

Today was my first experience with being part of a funding campaign going live!  We started our 90 day $10,000 campaign to raise funds for the Opera for All program.  This money will be a great way for us to expand the program to hundreds of more needy students in Chicago.

Check out the program, make a donation, and receive one of the awesome Kudos, many of which are straight from our current OFA students.

Oh, and if you are lucky, you will get a thank you note from me!

Click here to donate!

Creative Chicago Expo

Linden Christ, Manager of Education and Outreach

As the Manager of Education and Outreach for Chicago Opera Theater, I had the opportunity to network with many other arts organizations.    The Chicago Cultural Center hosted a two day event on March 1st & 2nd for arts organizations.   We were a vendor and shared out information with over 7,500 interested people passing through.   Our Education Assistant, Jessica Weber, was an immense help with sharing our information about COT's season and our Education programs.   In addition, our vendor table had a clear view out the Cultural Center second floor of the Harris Theater which was quite helpful in pointing the way for new patrons to attend our performance that night of 'The Fall of the House of Usher'.

We made new connections and reconnected those we already knew.    We were happy to see the Atheneaum Theatre booth, which had COT pictures in their anniversary video from when the Atheneaum used to be our home theater.   This week I'm following up with many different people like Dan from Funderhut, Stephen Carmody a set designer, David - the intrepid songwriter, and many other artists to see what collaborating opportunities we can think of over coffee.  

It was especially exciting to hear people's positive comments about COT and several people knew a bit about our education programs!

Jessica and Linden at the Chicago Opera Theater Booth

Art Day at Reilly Elementary School

Mandy Compton, COT Teaching Artist

Monday was the day that our students have been anticipating for quite some time--Art Day with Ms. Sonja.

 As each class filed in to begin their all-too-short class period, they were treated to the wondrous materialization of their imaginations that Sonja had designed.  Alien Dogs made out of crunched scrap paper and brightly colored tape, Star Cars made out of foam board with push lights for headlights,

and three-dimensional canvasses for the Green Sun, Ummm Burgers, Worm Waffles, and Squid Sandwiches that comprise our "Alien Buffet." 

As we assigned projects for our first class to work on, we had so much interest for each project that we had no trouble putting everyone to work right away.  As the painting and decorating got underway, it was encouraging to see how invested the kids were in the importance of their work.  One little girl was so specific with her project that she insisted her dog have a collar so she could write his name on it.  During the two second-grade classes, we focused on creating their alien antennas (pipe cleaners attached to headbands) and alien skin (puffy paint designs on knee highs for their arms). 

 

 

The kids were really dedicated to putting just the right colors in just the right place , and finishing their projects.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

In fact, one little girl who was only able to attend the last five minutes of class was intently focused on finishing her headband and having the googly-eyes in a specific pattern.  We stayed a little late to help her finish and she was thrilled when we let her take her newly created treasure home with her. 

 

Art Day during Opera For All exemplifies one of the many reasons that I am proud to be a part of this outstanding educational program.  We teach kids about every element of an operatic performance, not just singing or music.  Giving each child an opportunity to shine during the different guest artist visits and diverse projects we assign gives them a sense of ownership of the final performance, and a new means of connecting to the operatic genre.  Keep checking back for more news about Reilly's progress in 2013!

Reigniting the Stars

Caryn Ott Hillman, COT Teaching Artist - COT for Teens

Hello, my name is Caryn Ott Hillman.  I am the new stage director and choreographer for After School Matters’ COT for Teens at Gallery 37. 

Let’s see…where to begin?  I grew up in Milwaukee, WI where I took dance lessons from ages three to eighteen. 

Me at the tender age of 10, in one of my many dance costumes.

I started voice lessons in high school and was inspired to study music in college.  I moved to Chicago to attend Roosevelt University where I studied voice under Maria Lagios.  

Posing with Maria and my accompanist at my senior recital

Hugging my Candide when I played Cunegunde in CANDIDE at Roosevelt

After graduation, I performed both opera and musical theater throughout Chicagoland.  

My fellow fairies- I am in orange as Cobweb in A Midsummernight’s Dream at Metropolis Center for the Performing Arts

Model face with another gypsy in GYPSY LOVE at Light Opera Works

Ready to dance in THE STUDENT PRINCE

Now, where did the teaching come into play, you ask?  Well, in college, I returned home to Milwaukee to teach musical theater at a summer camp at First Stage Theatre Academy.  Since then, I have joined the team at Light Opera Works to direct and choreograph their winter/summer workshops and I teach at Emerald City Theatre, as well.  My first thought of working at Chicago Opera Theater came from my dear friend - Chris Richard.  We have performed together on stage in KISS ME KATE and have taught together side by side at Light Opera Works.  My first thought was that working teens was going to be much different than working with grade schoolers, but I was thrilled by the idea!  Having students that appreciate classical music or have a love of singing was going to be HUGE!

I am now only two weeks into the process and I have already witnessed the class come alive when they sing the chorus to the Merry Wives of Windsor. I am filled with so many ideas that I want to add to the pieces that Chris and I have selected for this term:

·        Flamenco dance to Dance the Cachucha

·        Embodying demons from Hades instead of woodland creatures for the chorus in Merry Wives of  Windsor

·        Perform on a dark stage with flashlights for the Ballad of Sweeney Todd

That is just a start!

I truly am inspired by these teens that may have more “real life” issues to deal with than the average teen.  I hope I can be a mentor that can create a Safe Zone for them to feel supported so that their self-esteem can flourish.  I am a foster parent to two beautiful girls.  Therefore, I feel I have a small insight as to how to take a “broken” child and help rebuild him/her.  No child is lost forever, he/she just needs to be harbored and nurtured. 

This is me with my husband Kyle and the girls, Kyla and Shauntae.  Their adoption will be finalized later this month!!!

Dim stars can be reignited – I intend to do that for these teens through preforming.                      

They deserve it!

Composing Through Collaboration

Myron Silberstein, Opera for All Guest Composer

           

          It was a pure delight to participate in Chicago Opera Theater’s Opera for All Program for my first season as composer at two schools: Clinton and Saint Vincent DePaul. I particularly valued the interactive aspect of my work with COT’s elementary students. Composing is a notoriously solitary act; in both schools, though, we enjoyed a genuine collaborative experience in which each student had input into their songs’ rhythms, melodies, and harmonies. My role as a composer was simply to put the students’ ideas together.

           I began each class by asking students to read the text we would be setting. I next facilitated discussion about the text’s emotional content and asked for another reading emphasizing the emotions of the text. We were then able to notice when students’ voices instinctually went up or down, when the speed increased or decreased, and when volume changed. 

Once the broad-strokes structure of our music was on paper, I asked students at Clinton to form small groups to collaborate on creating the rhythm of their song. As Saint Vincent DePaul, the class size was small enough to continue our discussion as a full group. Each group had five to ten minutes to discuss, and then spoke the text in rhythm to the entire class. And then we voted on which rhythm to use. We did the exact same thing when constructing a melody. This is true composition by committee!

I offered occasional coaching: when a group set a text to a repeated interval, I asked whether the repetition produced the tension they had found in the text. We discussed the possibility of using different intervals or of transposing the same interval to different scale degrees and voted for the transposition. I also presented options for the piano accompaniment: should it be bouncy or flowing? Should it stick to a few basic chords or should it have more harmonic variety? But the ultimate decision was in the hands of the students.

And so I left class each day with a notebook full of scribbled transcriptions and jottings about decisions the students had made. I entered the melodies directly into my notation software and then set to work creating an accompaniment that fit the students’ intentions. 

Among the highlights of my work with Opera for All was the students’ reaction to hearing the realization of their melodies. One young singer, who had improvised a very beautiful alien welcome song, was particularly moved: “That’s exactly what I imagined,” she told one of the school’s teaching artists. And she was one of many young composers who are on the verge of bringing their imaginings to reality.