Monday, December 13, 2010

Agent Phoenix!


Robin Canon has taken over our program over at PS15, check out what she has to report on their semester:

I began teaching with this awesome program last year, and was excited to join Step Right Up again this fall
(at PS15 on the lower east side) for another exciting experience! Our small group of 5th graders were eager
to get started, since they've had the privilege of seeing the SRU 5th grade play the past few years.
We began with improv games and lots of creative movement as an ensemble. The students also began to learn
about what it takes to create and produce a play. Over the next few weeks, we began to share ideas and create
characters to use in our script. They were divided into two groups. Each group had to come up with a specific
character and give as many details about that character as possible. Then they began to write scenes involving
their characters. Their imaginations ran wild! Daryl and I had so much fun watching them brainstorm and practice
working together.

Once the basic script was written, Rob Bryn and I sat down and ironed out the ideas. We had an exciting script full
of Phoenixes, Secret Agents, and Robot Pilgrims! Auditions were held, the play was cast, and rehearsals began. One little boy made the comment, "This is hard...but fun!"

Mary Meyer came in to paint a backdrop with the kids and they loved it! We were very pleased with how well the kids
worked together and the beautiful piece they created. See pictures below. Last week we also made giant pieces of candy and worked on a couple of sparkly trees for the set!

We are entering our final week in the process and are very eager to share such a fun and creative piece with the
audience. Alan Ostroff designed a poster using several drawings from the students, and Clayton Colwell created original music and sound cues for the piece. The students are learning a dance tomorrow and we will be putting the finishing touches on some phoenix costumes and set pieces. Whew! It's been a great 10 weeks and I am really proud of this group and their play, Agent Phoenix! Come check it out!

xx
Robin

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