June 4-8, 2012
Fort Worden State Park
Port Townsend, WA
During Tales, Texts & Theater, the entire sixth grade student body of Port Townsend's Blue Heron Middle School will work with vital, contemporary artists in a variety of disciplines—creative writing, theatrical movement, music, and visual art—for a weeklong immersion in creativity.
Beginning each day with a core subject, students get an in depth concentration on a genre of their choice. Then they explore by learning about other art forms in their other three classes, seeing how the different arts interconnect.
Each afternoon, the core artist faculty show and talk about the work they do. At the end of the week, students share their creative experiments with the community in a student showcase performance.
Now in its 9th year, this innovative collaboration between the Centrum, the Port Townsend School District, the Washington State Arts Commission, and PT Artscape, provides both students and teachers a model experience in arts immersion.
Tales, Texts & Theater is funded through the generosity of community sponsors. Donations from Homer Smith Insurance Comapany, Kristin Manwaring Insurance Company, Port Townsend Hospitality and Rotary add to funding provided by Centrum, PTArtscape, 7th grade families, and the Port Townsend School District to make this experience an ongoing program.
In addition, this program is partially funded by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Baker Foundation, Forest Foundation, The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Kirlin, PONCHO, Rayonier Foundation, Washington State Arts Commission, the Congdon Hanson Family, and thousands of individual donors whose generosity celebrates the power of creativity to change lives.
For more information, please contact Martha Worthley at 360.385.3102 x120.
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CLASS DESCRIPTIONS
Make Your Mark:
Drawing (Lauren Atkinson)
Everyone can draw, but from an early age, many of us lose our confidence in our ability to depict the world around or inside us because our drawing doesn't look real or we compare our drawing style to someone else's.
This workshop will guide students in discovering or recovering their mark through play and exploration of many materials in a fun, physical and imaginative journey. Students will learn the tricks of the trade while being introduced to the drawing styles of many artists and cultures through history and develop confidence in making their mark.
Wooden Jewelry (Julia Harrison)
Tired of bling that doesn’t mean a thing? Learn to make your own jewelry so you can make it matter! This class will introduce real jewelry skills including sawing, wirework, chain-making, and knotting.
Our main material will be wood, which is lightweight, beautiful, and easy to find here in the Northwest.
Combining these new skills with personal designs, create custom one-of-a-kind earrings, pendants, rings, and bracelets that you will be proud to wear or give.
Finally, we’ll head into the woods to gather materials for making souvenir jewelry that captures the essence of our Centrum experience.
Hip Hop Dance (Rex Kinney)
This energetic urban dance style incorporates several different styles and techniques into a fun hip hop routine.
As a great cardio and conditioning work-out, learn some basic to advanced moves and dance combinations.
Come challenge yourself and build your dance repertoire or just have fun!
Japanese Taiko Drumming (One World Taiko)
Teachers Nancy Ozaki and Gary Tsujimoto of One World Taiko introduce you to Japanese culture through the study of Japanese drumming.
They bring traditional Japanese instruments such as the chudaiko (medium sized drum), shimedaiko (small, rope-tied drum), shinobue (bamboo flute) and atarigane (small brass gong).
Learn the history of taiko in Japan and the United States as they teach the intricacies of Japanese drumming. Learn from their drumming style which is energetic and athletic with a mix of modern and traditional rhythms and whole body movements similar to the martial arts.
Marimba (Dana Moffett)
Zimbabwean-style marimba music offers you a unique cross-cultural opportunity to explore an in-depth and wide range of music from Africa. Build your musical confidence and have the opportunity to experience success quickly.
Learning in ensemble form, on soprano, tenor, baritone and bass marimbas, encourages the importance of listening to each other.
In addition to hands-on instruction, Dana introduces you to the African culture, rhythm, song dance and language associated with the instrument’s origins.
Theatre Ensemble (Beverly Thompson Lackey)
Beverly Thompson Lackey helps you become a confident, creative, relaxed stage performer. Beverly guides exercises that inspire an expressive body and voice, a focused mind, and an active imagination.
A typical session begins with an open-ended discussion, physical/vocal warm-up, then free writing/relaxation.
In the second half of the session, learn community-building and improvisation through ensemble work, culminating in the performance of an original theatrical presentation inspired by free writings, music, visual art, poetry, visualization and sensory exploration.
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ARTIST BIOS
Lauren Atkinson is a founding member and teaching artist with Arts Corps, an innovative and nationally recognized arts education program in Seattle, WA.
Lauren’s creative practice has evolved and developed over a 20-year period as a collaborative visual artist and teaching artist working with people of all ages and backgrounds.
Lauren’s work is grounded in the power of learning by doing. She prefers to use materials that are readily available to students, integrating an experimental and intuitive approach to making art that is similar to methods she uses in her own studio practice.
Julia Harrison is a Seattle-based artist and educator specializing in wood jewelry and sculpture. Having been blessed with many generous teachers, Julia is thrilled to be able to share their skills and her own with students in her workshops.
While she loves to see students whip up something great in class, Julia’s real goal is to set them up to succeed outside of class. She strives to give students solid skills, in-depth knowledge, and confidence in their own abilities and creative vision.
Julia has shown her carved wood sculptures and jewelry at galleries on both coasts and in England, and was included in Metalsmith magazine's 2006 Exhibition in Print. She has taught wooden jewelry workshops at the Penland School of Crafts and the 92nd Street Y in New York City.
Rex Kinney grew up in Seattle and was introduced to hip hop at the age of 14. He has performed and choreographed for events and venues such as Seattle Seahawks, Sonics and Storm Half-Time shows, Experience Music Project, Kube 93.3 FM's Summer Jam Concert and more.
He is currently the director and choreographer for the Shorecrest High School Dance Team, where he has led them to 6 straight District Titles and three WIAA State Dance/Drill Championships, and three National Titles in 2010.
Rex has danced with several Seattle-based hip hop groups and is an instructor through UW Experimental College and Westlake Dance Center. Dana Moffett has undertaken a long journey into the complex and beautiful music of Zimbabwe, resulting in her creation of Rubatano Center on Whidbey Island. The center's focus is marimba instruction and a direct exchange of instructors from Zimbabwe.
In addition to teaching in the Northwest, Dana has taught at numerous camps and festivals including the annual Zimbabwean Music Festival, Nhemamusasa North in Canada, The Canvas in Juneau, Alaska, and Matanho Project in Zimbabwe.
Dana is a performance artist with Ruzivo, touring in the United States, Canada and Zimbabwe.
One World Taiko is a professional Japanese drum ensemble that captivates audiences with their heart pounding beats, dynamic movement and rhythmic grooves. Founded in San Francisco, CA,
One World Taiko is led by Gary Tsujimoto and Nancy Ozaki.
Their music is drawn from Japan's tradition of lively festival drumming along with their own creative rhythms, arrangements and choreography, adding their energetic spirit to the ancient art of taiko.
Their repertoire includes arrangements of traditional pieces and original compositions which are infused with contemporary rhythms.
Beverly Thompson Lackey graduated from Hendrix College in Arkansas with a B.A. in Theatre and Education. She spent two years at the St. Louis Black Repertory Company, performing five shows that toured throughout the Midwest.
Since settling in Seattle almost ten years ago, Beverly has kept busy by working as an actor, director or teaching artist with the Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Freehold Actors Studio, Empty Space, On The Boards, Seattle Public Theatre, 5th Avenue Theatre, GAP Theatre and Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center.
