Glitter & Razz Blog

Monday is our first Play in a Day Camp in honor of the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  I decided that the theme of the day will be peace and freedom.  We haven’t done this particular theme yet so I am up this morning doing some research.  I, of course, first went to the Teaching Tolerance website.  Their stuff is an amazing resource to teachers and us teaching artists.  They are high quality teaching materials that they provide mostly for free.  Any of you who are exploring issues of diversity with your work will definitely want the get connected to these folks.

So, I am definitely inspired.  Here is an activity I am looking at called Freedom Flag.  What I like about it is that it uses multiple art forms – music, words, and collage.  The purpose of the activity is to engage kids in a discussion of freedom to get to heart of what it actually means.  I was challenged by figuring out how to do this so this is is good start.  However, I will have to adapt the activity…here’s why…

“Using red, white and blue construction paper, create a class “Freedom Flag,” by writing the key words for freedom on strips of red and white paper…”

Using red, white and blue construction paper?!?  How are kids supposed to learn about freedom if we tell them they can only use 3 colors in their flag?  Actually, limiting it to 3 colors is not the problem.  That’s actually a nice parameter.  The problem is that we are telling them which 3 colors they can use.  I understand that these are the colors of the US flag as it currently exists but the purpose of teaching kids art is teaching them how to notice things that exist and comment on it in their own way.

To me, freedom is being able to be and create your true self without anyone else imposing on you what they think that is.  I might say to the group, “we are going to create our own flag that represents our own freedom here in Oakland at Glitter & Razz.  Our flag should have 3 colors.  What 3 colors should we use to create this flag.  What 3 colors would represent us?”  And then take them through a process of voting as a group.  Now, the activity is teaching democracy in action through a creative process.  It is also helping them build their identity as part of a community.  It even provides a fertile ground to discuss dissent (”yuck, I don’t like pink!”) and how important it is to freedom.

I will run it by Martin, our art teacher, and see what he says.  And I will keep researching to figure out how to take this same idea into our creative movement and drama classes.  Either way, I am very excited about this.

Oh, another little criticism about Teaching Tolerance…they do not seem too friendly to those of us who work for ourselves…their free materials go to classroom teachers, administrators, church leaders, and employees of non-profits.  You even need a signature from some boss.  Maybe I will contact them and let them know about us small business artists who are doing important work with kids too.

Maybe we’ll see you Monday.

I am incredibly excited about what’s going on in Go Girls.  We are just past the halfway point in our first ever Go Girls Afterschool Club, an afterschool class modeled after the popular summer camp, and I could not be happier.  Many of the girls in the class are returning campers from the summer and a few of the girls have been with Glitter & Razz programs for a long time now.  Our lifers…the Glitter & Razz All-Stars, if you will.  So, this program is definitely Glitter & Raz 2.0.

On the first day, I told them that we were going to create a play about something important.  Through a variety of games and exercises, we explored which problems in the world were most important to them.  The big three were friendship problems (like friends getting other friends in trouble or not being allowed to play), natural disasters (like floods and tsunamis) and violence (war, guns, car crashes, robberies).  After a great, and quite reflective conversation, the group determined that it was most interested in using our play to help reduce violence.

I thought, “Okay…the best way to reduce violence is to make and spread peace.” So, one of the first things we did was a journal activity where they had to write or draw what peace looked, sounded, smelled, tasted, and felt like.  Then, they were asked to create solo performance pieces based on their journal entries.  Remember, these girls are 7-10 years old.  Incredible.  Here are 2 from a couple of the Glitter & Razz All Stars.

Sarah, age 9, did hers as a poem.  In case it’s difficult to hear, the transcript is below:

Peace looks like a friendship just beginning
Peace sounds like silence in a dark room
Peace tastes sweet like ice cream
Peace smells like roses fresh off a rose bush
Peace feels soft like a lamb’s ear

And here’s a different interpretation on what Peace looks, sounds, and feels like as created by Lucy, age 8.  A whole different take on the exercise.

On the other side of forgiveness is saying “I’m Sorry” -  Taking responsibility for something that you have done that has hurt, upset, or inconvenienced someone else.  Saying sorry is both over and underused, I have noticed.  And both the over and under use of “I’m so sorry” are connected to a person ultimately not being able to take responsibility for her actions.

I’ll clarify.  Clearly, you can see why the under use is a problem.  Some people go through life with little regard for the fact that they are sharing the planet with others.  They cut people off.  They say mean things.  They generally disregard others as human.  And, because they are not seeing the other people as people, they feel no need to be remorseful.  No need to stand up and take responsibility for the fact that they have hurt another human.  So, they don’t say sorry.

Then, there are people like me.  People who say sorry a lot.  I say sorry usually because I have not returned a phone call in timely manner or I told someone I was going to do something for them by a certain date and I “just wasn’t able to get to it.” (Anyone else out there guilty of this?)  As an overuser, I see that this is not a good thing because, by relying on “I’m sorry” to get me out of trouble (again), I can avoid the hard work of taking responsibilty for me words and actions and changing my behavior.

In the classes I am teaching at elementary schools this fall – Chabot and Cleveland schools in Oakland – I am doing a lot of work with the proper and appropriate use of “I’m sorry.” I am doing my best to coach children as young as kindergarten to notice when they interrupt someone or accidently bump into another kid or use language that might hurt another’s feelings.  This is hard work because I don’t want to turn these kids into under or overusers of “I’m sorry.” So, we also have to stop and practice.  We actually practice talking and listening without interrupting.  We actually practice walking around a small space without bumping into each other (all the while I am sidecoaching, “Notice other people around you.  You are not the only one in this space.) We actually practice asking questions and sharing our ideas and opinions in ways that do not judge or condemn other people.  This is the only way that kids can understand what they are saying sorry for when they make a mistake.

At the same time, I am doing my own practice.  Daily practice of very structured planning and follow-up that allows me to show up on time and keep my commitments – both to myself and others.  And it’s working.  I find myself saying “I’m sorry” much less often these days.

The movie opens this Friday, Oct 16

Is anyone else as excited as I am about the upcoming release of Where the Wild Things Are?  There really isn’t a better storybook for kids, when you think about it.  It’s simple and it’s beautiful and it’s the ultimate adventure story.  It’s the same story as The Wizard of Oz, right?  A kid is growing up and getting sick of the adults who care for him/her.  “They just don’t understand me!”  It’s time for her to strike out on her own.  Explore new lands.  Meet new and interesting characters.  This experience forever changes him.  It is a necessary experience for his development.  And then, she takes all that she has learned from all of the characters she has met and goes back home…

“…to find supper waiting for him.  And it is still hot.”

There really isn’t a better allegory for real life, when you think about it.  And this adventure never stops.  We keep going in a series of these kinds of adventures throughout our lives, taking risk after risk to venture out in the world, expand our visions, learn new ways of being, and bringing all of that home to our families, our community, ourselves.  We are changed and we change the little space of world around us by our example.

Yes, we are playing games and singing songs and making up dances, but this is actually what we are teaching at Glitter & Razz.  We are supporting and celebrating the spirit and the skills that it takes to make this kind of adventure.  To step out from your current “known” into the scary “unknown” and allow yourself to be changed by the interesting characters you encounter there.

This week in our Itty Bitty Theater Workshops, the classes were focused around the story of Where the Wild Things Are.  I am asking kids “Where is your favorite place to go on an adventure?”  I have heard answers such as “Fairyland,” “Green Valley,” “My neighborhood on Halloween,” and “the ice cream shop.”  Then, we are using our bodies and imagination to explore all types of adventurous locations: the desert; the beach; the snowy mountains; the jungle; the city; and the farm.  This exploration will allow us to come up with a location or series of locations that will provide the foundation for the play that we are creating.

We are also reinforcing the idea of neutral bodies.  One of the first skills that young performers have to learn is when to stop and when to go.  They are working on how to keep their body in a focused, relaxed neutral position.  A neutral position establishes that they are “ready for anything.”  From neutral they are asked to run, jump, twirl, climb, move and groove (any action really) and then show that, on cue, they can come back to neutral as quickly as possible.  Thus, being ready for the next thing.

Like the Wild Thing adventure, neutral is home.  Young actors are learning that they can explore scary and exciting lands in safe ways if they start from a relaxed and focused place.  And there is always a time to come back to this place.  Where the food is always hot.

This post is one of the 37 I have challenged myself to post in one week (in celebration of my 37th birthday).  Join me in the challenge.

Yesterday, I got to teach for Niki Selken at our afterschool class at Chabot Elementary School.  Chabot is just a few blocks away from us and I am so glad that we are teaching there this Fall.  There are about a dozen or so kids in the class (grades K-3), mostly girls and 1 amazing boy!

Niki established the custom of having a question of the day in the opening circle, so, given that this is a cool practice, I followed suit.  I asked the kids, “What is one thing you want to do or be when you grow up?”  Here were there answers:

• “An astronaut, a doctor, and an artist” -Chloe
• “An astronaut and an artist” -Leyla
• “A Horse Rider” -Jordan
• “A Police woman” -Imani
• “A princess, an actor, and an artist” -Ashlee
• “A doctor.” -Amara
• “A Zookeeper” -Mira
• “A veterinarian” -Josie
• “A carpenter” -Jackson
• “A doctor for dogs.” -Skylar
• “A veterinarian” -Ruby
• “A singer, an artist, and a dancer” -Nicole

After we were done with the circle, I told them that I hope I know them when they grow up.  They sound like they are going to be “ones to watch.” Until then, they are pretty cool right now, just as they are.

This post is one of the 37 I have challenged myself to post in one week (in celebration of my 37th birthday).  Join me in the challenge.