Hoosac Valley Third-Graders Perform Drumming, Dance for Families
ADAMS, Mass. — While Hoosac Valley High School's seniors were preparing for graduation last Friday, the district's third-graders were performing drumming and dance for their families and fellow students.
The district's third-grade students learned African and Caribbean drumming and dance after receiving a STARS Grant (Students and Teachers working with Artists, Scientists, and Scholars) from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Parents and others filled the auditorium of Hoosac Valley Elementary School on Friday morning to watch the children perform.
"I'm grateful to the family and friends who came to visit. They worked so hard on this," said art teacher Elizabeth Kick, who worked with students to prepare for the show.
Aimee Gelinas, founder and director of Tamarack Hollow Nature & Cultural Center, was one of the teachers who helped the students learn the drumming and dance routines.
"Some of these kids might have roots that go back into some of these cultures. And they're finding a voice and being like, 'Wow, my voice is center stage right now. My culture, my family's history, my family's history. And so that's, that's a huge part of us, bridging so many gaps we have."
Gelinas also led parents through the performance and explained the history of the many dances and instruments. She said the program helps students develop an awareness of other cultures at a young age.
"We're carrying on traditions that our teachers' teachers have taught us and that our teachers have asked us to teach," she said. "Because they can't be everywhere and so, especially our teachers from West Africa, this is spreading their message and their community's art form."
In addition to the dancing and drumming, students created and showcased artistic decorations during the performance. Kim Waterman, another teacher from the program, said the arts are a core part of the learning process for students and adults.
"People seem to think that the arts are separate from every other part of the curriculum, and they're really not when you're doing art. There are so many other skills that are infused into it ... the dancing and the singing and the drumming is definitely about the content, but it's also about broadening your awareness to the world at large to your community, to working together."
Waterman said they have been successful with this program in other school districts and have been able to work with students over several years.
"We have been able to follow kids from kindergarten, all the way up through fifth grade, with this program every year. And the impact has been tremendous," she said. "And we see how they gel together as a group; it helps tighten their bond, it helps tone their skills.
"These kids are more comfortable singing; they're more comfortable moving. They relate in in different ways."
Tags: art show, dance, HVES, music,
