Theme & Anchorworks 2026-2027
Theme & Anchor
works 2026-
2027
We are the Stories We Tell
In considering a theme for the upcoming school year, we wanted to offer entry points for all artistic disciplines and provide students with windows and mirrors¹ to explore their identities and cultures, while inviting opportunities to learn about others and deepen their understanding of belonging. The idea that kept circling was storytelling. Every culture throughout human history is connected through the sharing of stories. Storytelling serves as a way to explain the unexplainable; to mark and record time, social rituals, and environmental changes; to teach morality; to create and maintain community; and to entertain.
Building on this foundation, we are focusing this year’s anchorworks on storytelling traditions that have characteristics unique to time period, geography, and cultural roots, as well as those that demonstrate the interconnectedness of humankind and the evolution and multitude of storytelling practices.
Using storytelling as our guiding theme, Teaching Artists will frame curricula and instruction around the understanding that stories have been the primary way humans have shared knowledge, history, and cultural values across time. Teaching Artists will engage students to explore the ways in which stories are shaped by place and lived experiences, while also examining the common structures and purposes that connect storytelling traditions universally. Using the various skills from each of the four artistic disciplines, students will learn to design, interpret, and ultimately preserve stories of their own, connecting the creative process with the lasting cultural legacies of storytelling.
1. Rudine Bishop, “Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors,” Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom vol. 6, no. 3 (1990).
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
Welcome to the P.S. ARTS Theme & Anchorworks Guide
Each year, P.S. ARTS develops a Theme & Anchorworks Guide to provide a shared source of inspiration for our Teaching Artists while honoring the creativity and insight they bring to every classroom. Rather than prescribing lessons, the guide offers a common framework that helps unify our programs across disciplines and regions.
The annual theme connects classrooms through a shared idea, while the selected Anchorworks introduce artists, artworks, performances, literature, music, and cultural traditions that Teaching Artists can draw upon as they develop standards-aligned curriculum that is responsive to their unique school communities.
P.S. ARTS uses the term anchorworks instead of masterworks because the term masterwork has historically reflected a narrow definition of “great art,” often centering European artistic traditions. We believe meaningful and influential art comes from many cultures, perspectives, and voices. This year’s theme, We Are the Stories We Tell, builds on that belief by exploring artistic practices shared across cultures, demonstrating that creativity is both universal and deeply rooted in diverse traditions.
This guide is designed to:
- Inspire curriculum development across all P.S. ARTS programs and disciplines
- Create meaningful connections between the annual theme and Anchorworks while allowing flexibility for Teaching Artists
- Support standards-aligned instruction that responds to students’ interests, identities, and needs
- Highlight artists and creative traditions from a wide range of cultures, communities, perspectives, and time periods
- Foster curiosity, imagination, critical thinking, and creative exploration.
The Theme & Anchorworks Guide is not a curriculum but a resource. It serves as a starting point for Teaching Artists to interpret the theme through their own artistic practice and create engaging, culturally responsive learning experiences for their students.
At P.S. ARTS, we believe that when Teaching Artists have the freedom to create, students have the opportunity to imagine and express themselves in powerful ways. This guide reflects that philosophy and invites every Teaching Artist to build arts experiences that inspire every learner.
Guiding Questions
for teaching artists
How can we inspire students to find connection and community by sharing their unique and individual stories?
How can we draw parallels between art forms and cultures to highlight the interconnectedness and influence of storytelling practices on shaping culture and community?
Guiding Questions
for Students
Why do we share stories?
How can sharing stories connect individuals and communities?
What universal themes connect stories from different cultures and artistic traditions, and what can they teach us about people and the world?
Storytelling & English Language Arts (ELA) Connections
Storytelling offers a natural learning foundation for students. It strengthens literacy skills, supports sequential thinking, and provides a framework for key English Language Arts (ELA) concepts including narrative structure, conflict and resolution, and character development. Our anchorwork selections support listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, providing a powerful pedagogical framework to ground students in the above literacy skills in meaningful, culturally responsive experiences. These skills are in alignment with the California ELA/ELD Framework and support learning in constructing, interpreting, and communicating both verbal and nonverbal forms of expression through the arts.
Textile arts and quilting function as visual narratives, allowing students to explore theme and symbolism while organizing ideas and building upon skills through the progression of the curriculum. Storyboarding and comic design support 21st-century skill building utilizing modern modes of storytelling alongside centuries old influences.
Performance practices, including Greek Chorus, Irish and Griot oral traditions, and more contemporarily, Readers’ Theater, invite students to listen and speak with intention, connecting ancient and traditional story elements to teach the 5 W’s of story structure (who, what, when, where, and why).
Musical mapping and sound-based storytelling reinforce pattern recognition, sequencing, and phonological comprehension.
As a movement-based art form, dance develops kinesthetic awareness, gross and fine motor skills, and strengthens proprioception. Dance also offers opportunities to explore creative expression, integrating movement with nonverbal narratives to communicate character, setting, mood, and emotion.
Storytelling & English Language Arts (ELA) Connections
Storytelling offers a natural learning foundation for students. It strengthens literacy skills, supports sequential thinking, and provides a framework for key English Language Arts (ELA) concepts including narrative structure, conflict and resolution, and character development. Our anchorwork selections support listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, providing a powerful pedagogical framework
to ground students in the above literacy skills in meaningful, culturally responsive experiences. These skills are in alignment with the California ELA/ELD Framework and support learning in constructing, interpreting, and communicating both verbal and nonverbal forms of expression through the arts.
Textile arts and quilting function as visual narratives, allowing students to explore theme and symbolism while organizing ideas and building upon skills through the progression
of the curriculum. Storyboarding and comic design support 21st-century skill building utilizing modern modes of storytelling alongside centuries old influences.
Performance practices, including Greek Chorus, Irish and Griot oral traditions, and more contemporarily, Readers’ Theater, invite students to listen and speak with intention, connecting ancient and traditional story elements to teach the 5 W’s of story structure (who, what, when, where, and why).
Musical mapping and sound-based storytelling reinforce pattern recognition, sequencing, and phonological comprehension.
As a movement-based art form, dance develops kinesthetic awareness, gross and fine motor skills, and strengthens proprioception. Dance also offers opportunities to explore creative expression, integrating movement with nonverbal narratives to communicate character, setting, mood, and emotion.
The Art of Belonging
We recognize that students learn best when they feel valued and respected. In collaboration with our DEIB committee—a dedicated group of P.S. ARTS staff, board, and faculty—we have made an intentional effort to embed a focus on belonging in the first lesson of every P.S. ARTS residency.
The content of each lesson is differentiated by arts discipline, but all first-day lessons create a culture of collaboration where students’ individual and collective identities are respected and affirmed. Each lesson includes a welcoming activity, the P.S. ARTS “Belong Song,” and explicit messaging that students have agency and are important members of the class community.
Through these intentional opening elements, the goal is to ensure that every P.S. ARTS student experiences our classes as welcoming, dependable spaces where they are valued and empowered to engage with boldness and experience The Freedom to Imagine, The Power to Create.
How to Use This Guide
This guide is divided into four distinct sections, representing the four artistic disciplines taught in our Classroom Studio, Extended Learning, and Community programs. For each artistic discipline, you’ll find an Enduring Understanding and Essential Question. These are meant to spark ideas and jumpstart the creative process. They give an overview of the connection between storytelling and the skills and concepts we are applying across grade bands, selected artists and artworks that “anchor” and embody these connections, and curricular ideas for your P.S. ARTS lessons.
For those Teaching Artists utilizing the P.S. ARTS 10-week stARTer curriculum, you’ll find specific examples of ideas for each art form. These unit plans, activities, and projects, developed by a team of curriculum designers, demonstrate a diverse range of practical applications for connecting the art of storytelling to their respective arts discipline. They simultaneously align lesson plans with CA Visual and Performing Arts and Social Justice Standards, as well as opportunities to explicitly embed Social Emotional Learning competencies into the curriculum
For those developing individual curricula, use these examples as a guide to inspire your lesson plans. The enduring understandings and essential questions can be directly incorporated into your original lessons or used as a catalyst to encourage deep discovery as you craft your classes. The background information on featured artists and artwork can contextualize and inspire original lessons or extensions to our stARTer Unit for residencies that go beyond ten weeks of instruction.
In broadening our anchorwork selections, we provide a multitude of artists, artwork, and artistic mediums to ground and inspire lesson planning and to give students chances to connect their art-making to self, community, and the world at large. We also invite you, the teaching artist, to find meaningful connections to your artistry. The passion and inspiration you model for your students will increase engagement and enrich your lessons.
We encourage you to read through the entire guide and notice the connections between the art forms. Celia Cruz, the “Queen of Salsa,” is a featured artist in our music lessons. We directly connect her work to the dance concepts of vernacular, or community-derived,
For those developing individual curricula, use these examples as a guide to inspire your lesson plans. The enduring understandings and essential questions can be directly incorporated into your original lessons or used as a catalyst to encourage deep discovery as you craft your classes. The background information on featured artists and artwork can contextualize and inspire original lessons or extensions to our stARTer Unit for residencies that go beyond ten weeks of instruction.
In broadening our anchorwork selections, we provide a multitude of artists, artwork, and artistic mediums to ground and inspire lesson planning and to give students chances to connect their art-making to self, community, and the world at large. We also invite you, the teaching artist, to find meaningful connections to your artistry. The passion and inspiration you model for your students will increase engagement and enrich your lessons.
We encourage you to read through the entire guide and notice the connections between the art forms. Celia Cruz, the “Queen of Salsa,” is a featured artist in our music lessons. We directly connect her work to the dance concepts of vernacular, or community-derived, dance also focusing on salsa. In our theater classes, students will learn about musical modes of oral storytelling through Rhiannon Giddens and her fusion of gospel, spiritual, and Appalachian folk in her deeply moving rendition of the song “Wayfaring Stranger.” Students will analyze the ways in which stories from one culture are adapted and influenced by other cultures over time. The crossover fusion dance styles mirror quilting practices that evolved over time with various influences stemming from colonization and the resilience of indigenous communities to preserve their histories and culture. Music lessons for middle school students will explore hip-hop as a vehicle for musical storytelling, while our dance students approach similar concepts through movement. There is so much overlap and so many threads woven throughout our selections and the stARTer Unit curriculum.
The guide has been created to help you find inspiration, historical connection, and context as you envision the next year for your students. We can’t wait to see what beautiful connections you will discover!
dance also focusing on salsa. In our theater classes, students will learn about musical modes of oral storytelling through Rhiannon Giddens and her fusion of gospel, spiritual, and Appalachian folk in her deeply moving rendition of the song “Wayfaring Stranger.” Students will analyze the ways in which stories from one culture are adapted and influenced by other cultures over time. The crossover fusion dance styles mirror quilting practices that evolved over time with various influences stemming from colonization and the resilience of indigenous communities to preserve their histories and culture. Music lessons for middle school students will explore hip-hop as a vehicle for musical storytelling, while our dance students approach similar concepts through movement. There is so much overlap and so many threads woven throughout our selections and the stARTer Unit curriculum.
The guide has been created to help you find inspiration, historical connection, and context as you envision the next year for your students. We can’t wait to see what beautiful connections you will discover!
Visual Arts
Enduring Understanding
Visual narratives are a form of storytelling where we communicate our ideas, experiences, and identities through images and symbols.
Essential Questions
♦ How do the artistic choices we make shape the stories we tell?
♦ What can visual storytelling reveal about what matters to us as individuals and collectively as a community?
Overview
This year, we are expanding our visual arts anchor artist selections to differentiate lesson plans for grade bands, with the aim of providing a deeper opportunity for students to be exposed to more artists, mediums, materials, and build upon their knowledge and skills from TK through middle school.
We have selected anchor artists and artworks for each grade band focusing on three distinct modes of visual storytelling: textile and quilting traditions, cartooning and comics, and narrative and public art. While our stARTer units for visual arts will contain many examples of artists and artwork, we’ve selected a few from each band to highlight below.
Bisa Butler
Born Mailissa Yamba Butler in New Jersey in 1973, artist Bisa Butler is known for her vibrant, life-sized quilted portraits that celebrate Black identity, history, and culture. She studied painting at Howard University where she earned a BFA before shifting her practice to include fiber arts. She has an MA in arts and education from Montclair State University. Her quilts function as dynamic forms of storytelling, using fabric to depict real people, often from historical photographs. Butler connects personal narratives to broader histories through her quilting, an art form elevated from a “craft” that is historically connected to the community. She cites Faith Ringgold’s story quilts as a major influence and inspiration.
Faith Ringgold
Faith Ringgold (1930-2024) was a pioneering artist, author, and activist whose career spanned over six decades. Her work showcased textiles, painting, and narrative storytelling, and explored themes of identity and race. Born and raised in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, she earned degrees in art at City College and later taught at University of California, San Diego. Ringgold is best known for her “story quilts,” where she combined vibrant imagery with the written word to tell stories that were deeply personal while also culturally resonant. Her work celebrated Black identity while critiquing the social injustice faced by Black Americans. She was a pioneering founder of Where We At, a collective of Black women artists in the early 1970s pushing back against a hegemonic, white, male-dominated art world, and creating space for marginalized artists to have representation on the walls of galleries and museums when historically, Black people were denied opportunity and recognition in the art world.
In addition to a successful career as a visual artist, Ringgold authored and illustrated a number of children’s books, most notably “Tar Beach.” Published in 1991, and based on a story quilt she created three years earlier, it tells the story of a young girl growing up in Harlem in the 1930s, spending summer nights on the rooftop of her apartment building, her “tar beach.” She falls asleep under the stars and dreams of flying over New York City, past landmarks and imagining a world where she is free to travel and stake her claim anywhere. The lyrical text and quilt-inspired illustrations explore themes of imagination, family, and resilience. She is the recipient of hundreds of honors and awards, with “Tar Beach” earning her a Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Award.
Bisa Butler
Born Mailissa Yamba Butler in New Jersey in 1973, artist Bisa Butler is known for her vibrant, life-sized quilted portraits that celebrate Black identity, history, and culture. She studied painting at Howard University where she earned a BFA before shifting her practice to include fiber arts. She has an MA in arts and education from Montclair State University. Her quilts function as dynamic forms of storytelling, using fabric to depict real people, often from historical photographs. Butler connects personal narratives to broader histories through her quilting, an art form elevated from a “craft” that is historically connected to the community. She cites Faith Ringgold’s story quilts as a major influence and inspiration.
Faith Ringgold
Faith Ringgold (1930-2024) was a pioneering artist, author, and activist whose career spanned over six decades. Her work showcased textiles, painting, and narrative storytelling, and explored themes of identity and race. Born and raised in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, she earned degrees in art at City College and later taught at University of California, San Diego. Ringgold is best known for her “story quilts,” where she combined vibrant imagery with the written word to tell stories that were deeply personal while also culturally resonant. Her work celebrated Black identity while critiquing the social injustice faced by Black Americans. She was a pioneering founder of Where We At, a collective of Black women artists in the early 1970s pushing back against a hegemonic, white, male-dominated art world, and creating space for marginalized artists to have representation on the walls of galleries and museums when historically, Black people were denied opportunity and recognition in the art world.
In addition to a successful career as a visual artist, Ringgold authored and illustrated a number of children’s books, most notably “Tar Beach.” Published in 1991, and based on a story quilt she created three years earlier, it tells the story of a young girl growing up in Harlem in the 1930s, spending summer nights on the rooftop of her apartment building, her “tar beach.” She falls asleep under the stars and dreams of flying over New York City, past landmarks and imagining a world where she is free to travel and stake her claim anywhere. The lyrical text and quilt-inspired illustrations explore themes of imagination, family, and resilience. She is the recipient of hundreds of honors and awards, with “Tar Beach” earning her a Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Award.
Gee's Bend, Alabama
In the isolated, rural community of Boykin, Alabama, also known as Gee’s Bend, a quilting tradition has been passed down for generations. It began as an act of necessity in the 19th century, as enslaved women stitched together scraps of fabric and worn clothing to create warm blankets for their families. The quilts were nothing but ordinary, and what emerged was an expressive form of storytelling and artistic brilliance, with the creation of bold, colorful, and abstract quilt designs. Symbolic patterns were passed down, carrying with them the painful stories of enslavement, the antebellum South, and Jim Crow. In 1966, during the Civil Rights Movement, the Freedom Quilting Bee was formed to provide economic opportunity for Black women in Gee’s Bend and nearby communities, bringing national attention to their artistry. The quilts of Gee’s Bend were introduced to a wider audience and featured at museums across the country. The quilts are powerful examples of visual storytelling, sharing stories of survival, resilience, and collective memory that spans generations. Quilters Annie Mae Young, Mary Lee Bendolph, Loretta Pettway, and Lucy Mingo continue to carry forth the tradition.
Gee's Bend, Alabama
In the isolated, rural community of Boykin, Alabama, also known as Gee’s Bend, a quilting tradition has been passed down for generations. It began as an act of necessity in the 19th century, as enslaved women stitched together scraps of fabric and worn clothing to create warm blankets for their families. The quilts were nothing but ordinary, and what emerged was an expressive form of storytelling and artistic brilliance, with the creation of bold, colorful, and abstract quilt designs. Symbolic patterns were passed down, carrying with them the painful stories of enslavement, the antebellum South, and Jim Crow. In 1966, during the Civil Rights Movement, the Freedom Quilting Bee was formed to provide economic opportunity for Black women in Gee’s Bend and nearby communities, bringing national attention to their artistry. The quilts of Gee’s Bend were introduced to a wider audience and featured at museums across the country. The quilts are powerful examples of visual storytelling, sharing stories of survival, resilience, and collective memory that spans generations. Quilters Annie Mae Young, Mary Lee Bendolph, Loretta Pettway, and Lucy Mingo continue to carry forth the tradition.
Lakota Star Quilts,
Gladys Thunder Hawk-Gay
(Oglala Lakota)
Artist and activist Gladys Thunder Hawk-Gay is a master quilter with over 80 years of experience. She began making star quilts (wičháȟpi owíŋža) as a young child. These quilts hold deep social and spiritual significance within Lakota culture. The pattern is often referred to as the “morning star” and symbolizes hope, guidance, and a connection between the physical and spiritual worlds. They are traditionally given to mark significant life events or out of honor and recognition. Artists like Gladys use the quilting tradition to address narratives of social and political issues, activism, and cultural survival. Lakota star quilts are often made up of one central star but can also include patterns with multiple stars and may feature animals such as the buffalo, significant to Lakota culture. During colonization, buffalo populations were eviscerated in an attempt to break up and starve indigenous communities. The loss of the buffalo also meant a loss of warmth as pelts were used for clothing and blankets. The quilts were a new source of warmth and gave way for the Lakota women to utilize new techniques to create a usable expression of culture, identity, and pride. The star is created by patching together eight sections of diamond-shaped fabric. This design was significant as a representation of the Lakota “star people” belief, connecting them to the spiritual realm of creation. The design brought together a traditional geometric pattern with a new form of craft.
Lakota star quilts are still given as gifts for weddings, graduations, naming ceremonies, and memorials. Many adorn the walls of museums, including the National Museum of African American History, which acknowledges the blending of many cultural traditions of quilting into an ever-evolving art form.
Lakota Star Quilts,
Gladys Thunder Hawk-Gay
(Oglala Lakota)
Artist and activist Gladys Thunder Hawk-Gay is a master quilter with over 80 years of experience. She began making star quilts (wičháȟpi owíŋža) as a young child. These quilts hold deep social and spiritual significance within Lakota culture. The pattern is often referred to as the “morning star” and symbolizes hope, guidance, and a connection between the physical and spiritual worlds. They are traditionally given to mark significant life events or out of honor and recognition. Artists like Gladys use the quilting tradition to address narratives of social and political issues, activism, and cultural survival. Lakota star quilts are often made up of one central star but can also include patterns with multiple stars and may feature animals such as the buffalo, significant to Lakota culture. During colonization, buffalo populations were eviscerated in an attempt to break up and starve indigenous communities. The loss of the buffalo also meant a loss of warmth as pelts were used for clothing and blankets. The quilts were a new source of warmth and gave way for the Lakota women to utilize new techniques to create a usable expression of culture, identity, and pride. The star is created by patching together eight sections of diamond-shaped fabric. This design was significant as a representation of the Lakota “star people” belief, connecting them to the spiritual realm of creation. The design brought together a traditional geometric pattern with a new form of craft.
Lakota star quilts are still given as gifts for weddings, graduations, naming ceremonies, and memorials. Many adorn the walls of museums, including the National Museum of African American History, which acknowledges the blending of many cultural traditions of quilting into an ever-evolving art form.
The Poakalani Quilt Group
Founded in the 1970s and formally established in 1988 by Althea and John Serrao in Honolulu, The Poakalani Quilt Group is dedicated to preserving and teaching traditional Hawaiian quilting practices. Sewing machines and new fabrics were introduced in the 19th century after Western colonization. Native Hawaiian quilters transformed these new materials into a distinctly local art form. Quilter and teacher Pat Gorelangton, a mentee of John’s, will have a commissioned quilt on display at the Smithsonian this year. She expands on the origins of the art form in an interview for Creative Whimsy blog:
“Not too long ago, we celebrated the 200th anniversary of quilting coming to the islands in 1820. Missionary women taught the local women to quilt patchwork style, but the Hawaiian women soon came up with their own interpretation. The story goes that a woman was sitting under a tree and noticed how the sun cast shadowy patterns of the tree onto her fabric. Most Hawaiian patterns are designed [folding]on the eighth, much like a paper snowflake. What is unique to our style of quilting are the 'echo' quilting lines…much like the waves of the ocean coming to shore.”
Rather than patchwork, the style is known for its large, symmetrical appliqué designs inspired by nature, including flowers and plants. Many quilts are connected to storytelling, visually representing personal histories and cultural values and events.
“Before designing a quilt, John always asks the quilter, ‘What is Your Story’ and from there he is able to design quilts depicting a magical place in time, a favorite flower and even dreams for the future.”
Cissy Serrao — The Poakalani Quilt Group.
The group continues to quilt and offers classes in Hawaiian quilting weekly in Honolulu on the island of Oahu.
Lalo Alcaraz
Alcaraz is an award-winning Chicano cartoonist and illustrator from Southern California who connects deeply to storytelling through his cartoons and social commentary. His visual narrative work uses humor and satire to explore complex social issues, including immigration, identity, race, and politics. Most famously, he created the bilingual comic strip, “La Cucaracha,” which tackles important social issues affecting Latine communities. A former faculty member at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, he was the first Artist-in-Residence at Arizona State University’s School of Transborder Studies.
Marjane Satrapi
Alcaraz is an award-winning Chicano cartoonist and illustrator who connects deeply to storytelling through his cartoons and social commentary. His visual narrative work uses humor and satire to explore complex social issues, including immigration, identity, race, and politics. Most famously, he created the bilingual comic strip, “La Cucaracha,” which tackles important social issues affecting Latine communities. A former faculty member at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, he was the first Artist-in-Residence at Arizona State University’s School of Transborder Studies.
Dav Pilkey
Born David Murray ‘Dav’ Pilkey Jr., Dav was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. He is an author and illustrator best known for creating the wildly popular “Captain Underpants” and “Dog Man” graphic novel series, which combine humor, comic-strip-like visuals, and over-the-top plots to engage young readers. He often draws on his own childhood experiences with ADHD and dyslexia, channeling them into stories that celebrate creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. Through his work, Pilkey has become an outspoken advocate for literacy, emphasizing the ways in which storytelling can empower young people to see themselves as both readers and creators.
Corita Kent
Born Frances Elizabeth Kent (1918-1986), Corita Kent was an American artist, educator, and former Catholic nun whose vibrant screen prints and serigraphs intertwined art and deep social and spiritual concerns. Her bold, color-rich screen prints drew on advertising imagery, scripture, literary sources, and song lyrics to amplify these themes, promoting peace, love, and social justice throughout the 1960s and 70s. Her work can be seen at galleries nationwide including the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum as well as the Corita Art Center in downtown Los Angeles.
Corita Kent
Born Frances Elizabeth Kent (1918-1986), Corita Kent was an American artist, educator, and former Catholic nun whose vibrant screen prints and serigraphs intertwined art and deep social and spiritual concerns. Her bold, color-rich screen prints drew on advertising imagery, scripture, literary sources, and song lyrics to amplify these themes, promoting peace, love, and social justice throughout the 1960s and 70s. Her work can be seen at galleries nationwide including the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum as well as the Corita Art Center in downtown Los Angeles.
Allan Houser
Sculptor Allan Houser (1914-1994), born Allan Capron Haozous was a groundbreaking artist known for his expressive work in bronze and stone. His work celebrates the cultural and historical stories of Indigenous peoples. Houser grew up on Chiricahua Apache land in Oklahoma.
After relocating to New Mexico to pursue his art, his paintings adorned the walls of numerous galleries and museums, and he was commissioned by the U.S. Department of the Interior to paint large-scale murals in their federal building. He has been lauded with numerous awards, fellowships, and teaching positions, including the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe. He is the first Native American to be awarded the National Medal of Arts (1992). His sculpture work evolved from wood to stone and he became well known for his bronze work. One such example is his bronze sculpture, “Like the Eagle (1991).” Houser’s use of the eagle and its associated motif of spiritual presence deeply connects to many Indigenous cultures’ storytelling traditions.
Allan Houser
Sculptor Allan Houser (1914-1994), born Allan Capron Haozous was a groundbreaking artist known for his expressive work in bronze and stone. His work celebrates the cultural and historical stories of Indigenous peoples. Houser grew up on Chiricahua Apache land in Oklahoma.
After relocating to New Mexico to pursue his art, his paintings adorned the walls of numerous galleries and museums, and he was commissioned by the U.S. Department of the Interior to paint large-scale murals in their federal building. He has been lauded with numerous awards, fellowships, and teaching positions, including the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe. He is the first Native American to be awarded the National Medal of Arts (1992). His sculpture work evolved from wood to stone and he became well known for his bronze work. One such example is his bronze sculpture, “Like the Eagle (1991).” Houser’s use of the eagle and its associated motif of spiritual presence deeply connects to many Indigenous cultures’ storytelling traditions.
Curricular Units
By Grade Band
TK-2nd
The focus for our early learners is on textile and quilting traditions. These tangible and accessible applications of storytelling through visual arts include narrative quilts weaving together pattern, color, and imagery to share personal and collective stories. Students will explore quilts as a familiar household item that may hold historical significance, design and color choices connected to emotion, story, and location. Quilting may be done as individual as well as collective projects, inviting self-expression, community building, and collaboration.
3rd-5th
Upper grades will focus on sequencing and storytelling through the rich history of cartooning and comics; from the first newspaper comics of the late 19th century to the superheroes featured in the Golden Age of Comic Books, to the diverse and personal narratives of contemporary graphic novels. While learning about the history of comics and cartooning, students will also explore a more diverse set of artists, stories, and perspectives.
Students will build skills in character development, designing a series of unique characters that will serve as the basis for several short and long-form comic projects. Collaborative projects, such as an “exquisite corpse” drawing activity, offers students an opportunity to work together collaboratively to create 3-panel comics and cartoon characters. Through cartooning and comics, there is a distinct focus on the fundamentals of storytelling, including the five W’s (who, what, when, where, why), the narrative arc from introduction to conclusion, and how to craft a compelling visual story by creating a rough draft storyboard and designing an 8-page mini-comic or zine.
6th-8th
Our middle school students will explore art as storytelling through large-scale visual narratives, poster art, sculpture, and murals. They will design and create posters to express a social or global issue that they want to amplify. They will explore visual storytelling through stencil street art, designing a series of original stencils to create their own interpretations drawing inspiration from street artists.
The exploration of storytelling will continue with a project inspired by Allan Houser’s bronze sculpture, “Like the Eagle (1991).” Students will use this as inspiration to mold their own human/animal hybrid out of model magic or air dry clay and share their own devised “creation story” of how their hybrid came to exist.
In addition to the artists mentioned in our Featured Artists and Anchorworks section, middle school students will draw inspiration from the murals of Diego Rivera to learn and apply the grid technique to plot and transform images on a large scale. They will also examine the importance of the immigrant experience through designing ocean images inspired by Laurence Blanchard’s migrant series of paintings.
Curricular Units By
Grade Band
TK-2nd
The focus for our early learners is on textile and quilting traditions. These tangible and accessible applications of storytelling through visual arts include narrative quilts weaving together pattern, color, and imagery to share personal and collective stories. Students will explore quilts as a familiar household item that may hold historical significance, design and color choices connected to emotion, story, and location. Quilting may be done as individual as well as collective projects, inviting self-expression, community building, and collaboration.
3rd-5th
Upper grades will focus on sequencing and storytelling through the rich history of cartooning and comics; from the first newspaper comics of the late 19th century to the superheroes featured in the Golden Age of Comic Books, to the diverse and personal narratives of contemporary graphic novels. While learning about the history of comics and cartooning, students will also explore a more diverse set of artists, stories, and perspectives.
Students will build skills in character development, designing a series of unique characters that will serve as the basis for several short and long-form comic projects. Collaborative projects, such as an “exquisite corpse” drawing activity, offers students an opportunity to work together collaboratively to create 3-panel comics and cartoon characters. Through cartooning and comics, there is a distinct focus on the fundamentals of storytelling, including the five W’s (who, what, when, where, why), the narrative arc from introduction to conclusion, and how to craft a compelling visual story by creating a rough draft storyboard and designing an 8-page mini-comic or zine.
6th-8th
Our middle school students will explore art as storytelling through large-scale visual narratives, poster art, sculpture, and murals. They will design and create posters to express a social or global issue that they want to amplify. They will explore visual storytelling through stencil street art, designing a series of original stencils to create their own interpretations drawing inspiration from street artists.
The exploration of storytelling will continue with a project inspired by Allan Houser’s bronze sculpture, “Like the Eagle (1991).” Students will use this as inspiration to mold their own human/animal hybrid out of model magic or air dry clay and share their own devised “creation story” of how their hybrid came to exist.
In addition to the artists mentioned in our Featured Artists and Anchorworks section, middle school students will draw inspiration from the murals of Diego Rivera to learn and apply the grid technique to plot and transform images on a large scale. They will also examine the importance of the immigrant experience through designing ocean images inspired by Laurence Blanchard’s migrant series of paintings.
Theater
Enduring Understanding
People share stories for many reasons, including to pass on historical knowledge, express feelings and ideas, inspire others’ imaginations, and share common human experiences.
Essential Question
How do the stories of my community connect with and reflect the experiences of different cultures across geography and time periods?
Overview
This year, we are highlighting some of the rich and varied oral traditions of storytelling: from Thespis and Sophocles and the invention of the “chorus” in Ancient Greek theater to West African Griots and the Celtic seanchaís of Ireland, to the many Indigenous first nations peoples of the Americas. Students will explore the art of storytelling as they build creative confidence, strengthen collaboration and ensemble skills and implement grade-level appropriate theater skills and concepts.
The Wayfaring Stranger by Rhiannon Giddens
Born in North Carolina in 1977, composer and musician Rhiannon Giddens is known for blending folk, gospel, Celtic, blues, and classical influences. Her identity as multi-racial (having European, African American, and Native ancestry), deeply informs her artistic vision, as she draws from these influences and highlights the interconnected roots of American music and challenges narrow genre boundaries and the “whiteness” of musical traditions that are most widely associated with American folk and country music.
“…Giddens has centered her work around the mission of lifting up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been overlooked or erased, and advocating for a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins through her art.” (https://rhiannongiddens.com/about, 2026).
She is a Pulitzer Prize and two-time GRAMMY award winner and a recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” grant. She co-founded the “innovative Black string band” Carolina Chocolate Drops in 2006.
In her rendition of “Wayfaring Stranger,” she delivers the song like a dramatic monologue, portraying a traveler’s journey through hardship toward peace and belonging. A traditional spiritual and American folk song and spiritual, with roots dating back to early 19th century Appalachia, its precise origins are unclear. It was likely passed down through oral traditions until its first notable recording by a captured Union soldier during the American Civil War. It has been performed and recorded by dozens of musicians including Paul Robeson, Burl Ives, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, and Neko Case. Giddens’ version powerfully demonstrates the evolution of storytelling through song as it traveled to the Appalachians and merged with African musical traditions and rhythms (i.e. the Banjo).
Dell’Arte Theatre Company & “theatre of place”
Founded in 1971 by Carlo Mazzone-Clementi and Jane Hill and based in Blue Lake, California, Dell’Arte International focuses on physical theater, ensemble-based performance, and the commedia dell-arte tradition. They blend mask work, clowning, mime, movement, and storytelling, bringing a beloved European theater practice to the
US. The company trains actors through rigorous short workshops and a full-time professional training program. Dell’Arte’s “theater of place” is an opportunity for community engagement, as performances respond and interact with specific physical, social, and cultural aspects of the environment in which they are performing. The setting becomes part of the theatrical experience.
The Wayfaring Stranger by Rhiannon Giddens
Born in North Carolina in 1977, composer and musician Rhiannon Giddens is known for blending folk, gospel, Celtic, blues, and classical influences. Her identity as multi-racial (having European, African American, and Native ancestry), deeply informs her artistic vision, as she draws from these influences and highlights the interconnected roots of American music and challenges narrow genre boundaries and the “whiteness” of musical traditions that are most widely associated with American folk and country music.
“…Giddens has centered her work around the mission of lifting up people whose contributions to American musical history have previously been overlooked or erased, and advocating for a more accurate understanding of the country’s musical origins through her art.” (https://rhiannongiddens.com/about, 2026).
She is a Pulitzer Prize and two-time GRAMMY award winner and a recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” grant. She co-founded the “innovative Black string band” Carolina Chocolate Drops in 2006.
In her rendition of “Wayfaring Stranger,” she delivers the song like a dramatic monologue, portraying a traveler’s journey through hardship toward peace and belonging. A traditional spiritual and American folk song and spiritual, with roots dating back to early 19th century Appalachia, its precise origins are unclear. It was likely passed down through oral traditions until its first notable recording by a captured Union soldier during the American Civil War. It has been performed and recorded by dozens of musicians including Paul Robeson, Burl Ives, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, and Neko Case. Giddens’ version powerfully demonstrates the evolution of storytelling through song as it traveled to the Appalachians and merged with African musical traditions and rhythms (i.e. the Banjo).
Dell’Arte Theatre Company
& “theatre of place”
Founded in 1971 by Carlo Mazzone-Clementi and Jane Hill and based in Blue Lake, California, Dell’Arte International focuses on physical theater, ensemble-based performance, and the commedia dell-arte tradition. They blend mask work, clowning, mime, movement, and storytelling, bringing a beloved European theater practice to the
US. The company trains actors through rigorous short workshops and a full-time professional training program. Dell’Arte’s “theater of place” is an opportunity for community engagement, as performances respond and interact with specific physical, social, and cultural aspects of the environment in which they are performing. The setting becomes part of the theatrical experience.
Curricular Units
By Grade Band
TK-2nd
Students will explore collaborative storytelling using folktales. These stories, typically passed down through oral traditions and then recorded over time provide an engaging and developmentally appropriate bridge to improvisation and Reader’s Theater. Students will learn new and familiar folktales and bring them to life using voice and movement to understand the narrative elements of storytelling as creative and playful.
Along the way, students may improvise dialogue as they explore character development and simple plots. The inclusion of choral reading will introduce students to the concept of the “chorus” and allow for the historical context of ancient Greek theater to support their learning.
Theater Teaching Artists may also use Reader’s Theater to give students the opportunity to focus on vocal expression and comprehension as adapted scripts are read aloud, rather than memorizing lines of dialogue. This will support early readers while allowing all students, regardless of reading level, to fully participate in bringing the folktale stories to life “on stage.”
By including both improvisation and Reader’s Theater, students will deepen their understanding of story structure while developing performance related skills, confidence, language skills, and collaboration.
3rd-6th
Students will explore the vast history of Irish storytelling through song; from the unaccompanied/ acapella forms of Sean-nós singing, to traditional laments and ballads, to the evolution of its form as it traveled the Atlantic and mixed with African musical traditions and the creation of Appalachian ballads. This will encourage student-led research and ideation regarding the multidisciplinary performance of storytelling, including singing, theater and dance.
Beginning with a review of the elements of storytelling, students will investigate the cultural role that stories play in all our lives. They will learn about the unique culture of the Irish and the storytelling traditions that have emerged through both a deep connection to the land and a painful history of colonization and the strength of resistance.¹ These themes are very much a part of many indigenous cultures around the world and students will make connections and explore the ways in which theater and storytelling can be empowering tools of expression.
Drawing inspiration from Dell’Arte’s “theater of place,” students will create an original story inspired by issues, characters, and events occurring in their community. These stories may include a number of elements that students will refine throughout their theater class time. Skills will be scaffolded, allowing students to incorporate ensemble-authored stories with student narrators, tableaux, vocal soundscapes and sound effects, and shadow puppetry. This also allows teaching artists to connect their professional acting, writing, and directing skills to support and guide student learning in specific areas of the art form that they are experienced in as performers and educators.
“Port na bPúcaí (The Fairies’ Lament),” “Tír na nÓg,” or “Fields of Athenry” all recorded in Ireland are examples.
Curricular Units
By Grade Band
TK-2nd
Students will explore collaborative storytelling using folktales. These stories, typically passed down through oral traditions and then recorded over time provide an engaging and developmentally appropriate bridge to improvisation and Reader’s Theater. Students will learn new and familiar folktales and bring them to life using voice and movement to understand the narrative elements of storytelling as creative and playful.
Along the way, students may improvise dialogue as they explore character development and simple plots. The inclusion of choral reading will introduce students to the concept of the “chorus” and allow for the historical context of ancient Greek theater to support their learning.
Theater Teaching Artists may also use Reader’s Theater to give students the opportunity to focus on vocal expression and comprehension as adapted scripts are read aloud, rather than memorizing lines of dialogue. This will support early readers while allowing all students, regardless of reading level, to fully participate in bringing the folktale stories to life “on stage.”
By including both improvisation and Reader’s Theater, students will deepen their understanding of story structure while developing performance related skills, confidence, language skills, and collaboration.
3rd-6th
Students will explore the vast history of Irish storytelling through song; from the unaccompanied/ acapella forms of Sean-nós singing, to traditional laments and ballads, to the evolution of its form as it traveled the Atlantic and mixed with African musical traditions and the creation of Appalachian ballads. This will encourage student-led research and ideation regarding the multidisciplinary performance of storytelling, including singing, theater and dance.
Beginning with a review of the elements of storytelling, students will investigate the cultural role that stories play in all our lives. They will learn about the unique culture of the Irish and the storytelling traditions that have emerged through both a deep connection to the land and a painful history of colonization and the strength of resistance.¹ These themes are very much a part of many indigenous cultures around the world and students will make connections and explore the ways in which theater and storytelling can be empowering tools of expression.
Drawing inspiration from Dell’Arte’s “theater of place,” students will create an original story inspired by issues, characters, and events occurring in their community. These stories may include a number of elements that students will refine throughout their theater class time. Skills will be scaffolded, allowing students to incorporate ensemble-authored stories with student narrators, tableaux, vocal soundscapes and sound effects, and shadow puppetry. This also allows teaching artists to connect their professional acting, writing, and directing skills to support and guide student learning in specific areas of the art form that they are experienced in as performers and educators.
“Port na bPúcaí (The Fairies’ Lament),” “Tír na nÓg,” or “Fields of Athenry” all recorded in Ireland are examples.
Music
Enduring Understanding
Music is a dynamic form of storytelling that connects culture, history, and community across generations.
Essential Question
How can we express ideas and experiences through sound and movement?
Overview
Our music program will invite students to explore and create listening maps as they learn a diverse repertoire of musical works. They will create “sound stories,” focusing on making music that connects to their lives and histories. With lessons inspired by the Orff Schulwerk approach, students will experiment with multiple instruments, learning as they play.
“Finding the Music / En pos de la musica” by Jennifer Torres
Connecting to the impact of intergenerational storytelling, K-5 students will explore the story of a young girl who accidentally breaks her grandfather’s guitar and, through that experience, learns the value and importance of Mariachi music. The book will be a launching pad for all students to connect with their own families and histories, emphasizing that the stories they carry hold value.
By sharing the story of Reyna and her grandparents, students are invited to explore their family and cultural stories and traditions and creates space to share stories of resilience and creativity. Published in 2015, “Finding the Music” was author and illustrator Jennifer Torres’ first picture book. Torres began her career as a newspaper reporter, has multiple journalism degrees, and holds a doctorate in education. She credits her Mexican-American heritage and “stories about home, friendship and unexpected courage.” (Jennifer Torres, 2026).
“Finding the Music / En pos de la musica” by Jennifer Torres
Connecting to the impact of intergenerational storytelling, K-5 students will explore the story of a young girl who accidentally breaks her grandfather’s guitar and, through that experience, learns the value and importance of Mariachi music. The book will be a launching pad for all students to connect with their own families and histories, emphasizing that the stories they carry hold value.
By sharing the story of Reyna and her grandparents, students are invited to explore their family and cultural stories and traditions and creates space to share stories of resilience and creativity. Published in 2015, “Finding the Music” was author and illustrator Jennifer Torres’ first picture book. Torres began her career as a newspaper reporter, has multiple journalism degrees, and holds a doctorate in education. She credits her Mexican-American heritage and “stories about home, friendship and unexpected courage.” (Jennifer Torres, 2026).
Celia Cruz
Legendary singer Celia Cruz (1925-2003) grew up in Havana, Cuba where she began what would become a legendary career. She was the lead singer of La Sonora Matancera and was a rising star in her homeland. After the Cuban Revolution, she went into exile. While she was not able to return to Cuba, it remained central to her identity and music. She rose to worldwide fame in the 1950s, bringing Afro-Cuban rhythms to a global audience. Known as “the Queen of Salsa,” she earned the title through her ability to transform everyday emotions into compelling musical stories. She sang about love, joy, exile, and resistance. Her stories connected with audiences, making her a lasting cultural icon.
Celia Cruz
Legendary singer Celia Cruz (1925-2003) grew up in Havana, Cuba where she began what would become a legendary career. She was the lead singer of La Sonora Matancera and was a rising star in her homeland. After the Cuban Revolution, she went into exile. While she was not able to return to Cuba, it remained central to her identity and music. She rose to worldwide fame in the 1950s, bringing Afro-Cuban rhythms to a global audience. Known as “the Queen of Salsa,” she earned the title through her ability to transform everyday emotions into compelling musical stories. She sang about love, joy, exile, and resistance. Her stories connected with audiences, making her a lasting cultural icon.
Curricular Units
By Grade Band
TK-K
Beginning with connecting music and movement through picture stories, students in this grade band will bring these stories to life exploring possibilities with instruments and movement. They will learn about musical genres and languages including music in Arabic, Vietnamese, English, and Spanish.
1st-2nd
Students will explore music and identity through their names. They will create a “name story” and orchestrate it from shared stories in their class. They will also draw inspiration from the legacy of a pioneer in musical storytelling, artist Celia Cruz. They will learn circle singing games from Australia and the Philippines.
3rd-5th
Upper elementary grades will learn about Mariachi music as an invitation to make connections to their own identity through musical stories. Inspired by Celia Cruz, they will learn a salsa/mambo dance sequence set to Cruz’s “La vida es un Carnaval.” They will play instruments as they learn about timbre and improvise to Salsa and Mariachi music using barred instruments.
6th-8th
Building on the impact of the rap section of “The Belong Song,” middle school students will explore the origins of
hip-hop culture (differentiating it from commercial rap), musicianship in hip-hop (i.e. musical curiosity/fusion, beat and rhythm, speech rhythm and connecting it to spoken word), and hip-hop as empowering musical storytelling. Using Latine and Native artist examples as a bridge, they will also focus on salsa and Celia Cruz, bossa nova, as well as jazz, with opportunities for students to explore the connection between all these genres and compose through improvisation.
Curricular Units By Grade Band
TK-K
Beginning with connecting music and movement through picture stories, students in this grade band will bring these stories to life exploring possibilities with instruments and movement. They will learn about musical genres and languages including music in Arabic, Vietnamese, English, and Spanish.
1st-2nd
Students will explore music and identity through their names. They will create a “name story” and orchestrate it from shared stories in their class. They will also draw inspiration from the legacy of a pioneer in musical storytelling, artist Celia Cruz. They will learn circle singing games from Australia and the Philippines.
3rd-5th
Upper elementary grades will learn about Mariachi music as an invitation to make connections to their own identity through musical stories. Inspired by Celia Cruz, they will learn a salsa/mambo dance sequence set to Cruz’s “La vida es un Carnaval.” They will play instruments as they learn about timbre and improvise to Salsa and Mariachi music using barred instruments.
6th-8th
Building on the impact of the rap section of “The Belong Song,” middle school students will explore the origins of
hip-hop culture (differentiating it from commercial rap), musicianship in hip-hop (i.e. musical curiosity/fusion, beat and rhythm, speech rhythm and connecting it to spoken word), and hip-hop as empowering musical storytelling. Using Latine and Native artist examples as a bridge, they will also focus on salsa and Celia Cruz, bossa nova, as well as jazz, with opportunities for students to explore the connection between all these genres and compose through improvisation.
Dance
Enduring Understanding
Dance is a dynamic form of storytelling that draws from diverse styles and traditions allowing movement to communicate ideas, experiences and cultural perspectives in meaningful ways.
Essential Questions
♦ What artistic choices do dancers make to communicate meaning?
♦ How can I use movement to express my own story or perspective?
Overview
Our dance program has grown over the past few years, and with that growth, the opportunity for our Teaching Artists to infuse their classes with a diverse range of dance styles encompassing many forms of storytelling through movement. This year, we are expanding on this foundation by including anchorworks that encompass multiple forms and styles of dance that connect movement and story.
We are especially excited to share the concept of vernacular dance, as a form that originates within a community or culture, rather than being formally taught in studios and codified in technique books. These dances are often passed down through social gatherings, family celebrations, in the streets at community events. Vernacular dance exists in cultures worldwide. Examples include, salsa, flamenco, hip-hop, dancehall, Irish stepdance, lindy hop. These forms include elements of improvisation and “conversation” between dancers, making it a perfect fit with our theme. We are highlighting two distinct forms of vernacular dance, hip-hop and salsa, to explore these distinct styles’ mutual elements, as well as the ways they’ve influenced other forms of dance.
Fusion & Connection
The development of salsa and hip-hop aren’t linked, but these forms do share interesting connections. The energetic rhythms of salsa, especially the strong percussion breaks, were subconsciously and consciously absorbed by early hip-hop DJs like Grandmaster Flash. This ‘sazon,’ or Latin flavor, influenced the way they built their beats, adding another layer to the emerging sound of hip-hop.
“In choreography and on social dance floors, we now witness an infusion of ballet, modern, ballroom,
and acrobatic dance elements, creating a more diverse expression of salsa.”
Camille A. Brown
Tony-nominee Camille A. Brown (1979) is a New York City based dancer, choreographer, director and dance educator celebrated for her ability to weave personal, cultural, and historical narratives rooted in Black identity into her choreography.
She serves as the artistic director of Camille A. Brown & Dancers, which she founded in 2006. She has been nominated for multiple Tony awards, including Best Choreography and Best Direction, multiple Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Awards, and has been awarded multiple Princess Grace Awards and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among other distinctions and honors.
Brown credits iconic dancer, choreographer, and director Debbie Allen as a “she-ro,” paving the way for up and coming artists to find their unique voices through movement. Her style is deeply personal, blending multiple forms to create something that is wholly new.
“You see African, you see step, you see modern, you see hip-hop, you see jazz. But it’s all like a pot of stew, and there are all these ingredients but then when you take it out, it's a very specific soup...I’m making it specifically me.”
Camille A. Brown
Tony-nominee Camille A. Brown (1979) is a New York City based dancer, choreographer, director and dance educator celebrated for her ability to weave personal, cultural, and historical narratives rooted in Black identity into her choreography.
She serves as the artistic director of Camille A. Brown & Dancers, which she founded in 2006. She has been nominated for multiple Tony awards, including Best Choreography and Best Direction, multiple Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Awards, and has been awarded multiple Princess Grace Awards and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among other distinctions and honors.
Brown credits iconic dancer, choreographer, and director Debbie Allen as a “she-ro,” paving the way for up and coming artists to find their unique voices through movement. Her style is deeply personal, blending multiple forms to create something that is wholly new.
“You see African, you see step, you see modern, you see hip-hop, you see jazz. But it’s all like a pot of stew, and there are all these ingredients but then when you take it out, it's a very specific soup...I’m making it specifically me.”
CONTRA-TIEMPO Activist Dance Theater
Los Angeles based dance theater company CONTRA-TIEMPO was founded in 2005 by Cuban American choreographer Ana Maria Alvarez. As a graduate student at UCLA, she studied dance as a “way to express social resistance within the US immigration battle.” For more than twenty years, the company has developed a “physical vocabulary” that combines salsa, afro-cuban, hip-hop, and contemporary dance with theater, text, and original music.
Curricular Units
Hip-Hop
Our K-2 and 3-5th students will be introduced to hip-hop as a key example of vernacular dance and a uniquely American art form. They will learn the origins and nine elements of hip-hop: breaking (b-boying/b-girling), emceeing, graffiti art, DJ’ing, beatboxing, street fashion, street language, street knowledge
(or knowledge of self), and the DIY mindset of street entrepreneurialism. They will also explore the fusion of hip-hop with other global and contemporary dance techniques in the style of Camille A. Brown & Dancers. They will use choreography to tell individual and collective stories, connected to themes that Teaching Artists will support students in identifying.
Salsa
Communication and emotional expression are at the core of salsa, which blends African, Caribbean, and Latin influences, showcasing the powerful ways in which dance can preserve and pass
on cultural narratives and shared traditions. A salsa dance sequence may depict familiar story elements including conflict and resolution. Within a shared structure, dancers use call-and-response and improvisation to listen and respond as they create the movement together. One popular form of salsa, originating from Cuba is rueda. Rueda de casino involves call and response, where each move serves as part of the story. Students will learn the history of salsa rueda, and experience learning the collaborative process of partner and circle elements.
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