It’s no secret that rhythmic talent abounds at one of our awesome community schools, Whittier Elementary on the Lower West Side, and this video definitely proves it! Students there got expressive AND got their groove on under the guidance of teaching artists Shantal Moody (dance) and Kevin Brown (music) during their final culminating performances. We just had to share them with you!
The 6th through 8th graders learned a lot about utilizing the body as an artistic tool during each artist’s residency. Shantal’s students (who perform first in the video) were taught dances from a handful of different genres, including Step, Folk, and Jazz, with a special emphasis on Hip Hop and Contemporary. In their culminating performance, students got to convey a little personal flair through individual solos and also demonstrate their ability to work together as a community through group choreography.
And for an extra dose of awesome, keep watching to see the musical culminating performance that Kevin’s class put together. They tapped, clapped, and showed off their rhythmic prowess through the use of percussion instruments as well as the human body; during this residency they also learned about the powerful ability of rhythm and music to unite cultures as an artistic medium.
Pretty great, if we do say so ourselves! Take a look at all of their hard work right here: