Reproduced with permission from the Society for Perming Arts
Creative Writing/Choreography Program: On Dec. 18, Randall Flinn and Dan Cossette of Ad Deum Dance Company hosted the last choreography session of the Creative Writing/Choreography program with Black Middle School students. The program originally began on Nov. 12, and is designed to help students improve their creative writing skills and increase their understanding of the performing arts. The program was made possible with the provision of HISD’s DOE (Department of Education’s Arts Education Matters) grant. The first session was a writing session, taught by writer/dancer Jacqueline Nalett, and was followed by the first of the two dance/choreography sessions on Dec. 4, taught by Dan Cossette of Ad Deum Dance Company.
Thus, Dec. 18 was the culmination of the entire program and the 13 students performed the results of their choreography, formed over a number of weeks.
They performed it before each other, their teacher, the SPA representative, Randall Flinn and Dan Cossette of Ad Deum Dance Company. The media was also present to capture this event and the students made it onto television! Click here to see
Ms. Nesby's classes also participated in the program below.
Trey McIntyre Project
Dance Master Classes & Residency:
Students from F.M. Black Middle School came to watch the Trey McIntyre Project performance that night at 8 p.m. as part of a fieldtrip activity made possible by the HISD DOE grant that SPA received. The students’ evening began with dinner and they, together with their chaperones, savored every moment of the rest of the night.
Earlier that evening at 7 p.m., TMP invited patrons at the Wortham Center’s Cullen Theater to view the last 15 minutes of its company class on stage. Immediately following that, patrons were invited to participate in a 15-minute question-and-answer session with Trey McIntyre. Black Middle School students were very active participants in this session. It was great to witness!
The curtain went up at 8 p.m. and students from F.M. Black Middle School and Rice University were invited to see the company perform on stage as part of the residency. The evening concluded with a cast party at a board member’s home.
The final stage of the TMP residency took place on Monday, Nov. 16. The day began with Trey McIntyre teaching a class to a group of beginner-level dance students at Houston ISD’s F.M. Black Middle School.
Students were hyped to see in closer range the man they had seen on stage for the Q&A Arts Talk! session the previous Friday.
Two local schools, Klein IDS’s Klein Oak High School and Houston ISD’s F.M. Black Middle School, were able to participate remotely via webcams and internet access, thanks to the video-conferencing services of Vidyo, Inc.
This is the first time that SPA was able to work with two remote locations for a dance video conference master class. The pianist, Bill Marsden, was a great asset to the master class session!