Arts and Culture Project

The purpose of this project is to establish and operate Arts and Cultural groups within the communities of Grants Pen, Trench Town and Allman Town . These groups are Dance, Music, Choir and Drama.

The main purpose of the project is that since the establishment of YOU in 1991 several of the youth it has worked with over the years have expressed a desire to be a part of such groups. This increasing request has become deafening as well as the need to have the students partake in such deeper activities.

The purpose of cultural activities is to reinforce and develop the values and attitudes of working together using creative and positive expression. Cultural training also provides skills with which the students can be self-employed.

The objectives are:

•        To establish music lessons, a dance group, a choir and drama group in 3 key inner city communities that YOU currently has programmes. All of these programmes would be at no cost to the participants within the next calendar year.

•       The groups would partake in YOU’s formal activities (graduations, workshops, training sessions etc). Additionally, these groups would perform on a paid basis to organisations for similar functions.

•        To operate these cultural groups for one year

  Many of the inner city youth YOU work with have the desire and often strong need for artistic expression. Most resort to DJ’ing as the only cultural avenue compared to the more uptown youth who go to schools with well developed classes in music, dance, choir and drama as a part of their normal educational experience. Unfortunately the inner city schools are markedly void of established cultural programmes.

 Additionally, inner city parents cannot afford to send their children to these programmes as extra curricular activities.

YOU is proposing setting up these programmes in Grants Pen, Trench Town and Allman Town

These programmes will be operated for one year and it is anticipated that from the success of these programmes similar programmes will be established in other inner city communities.

Dance, Music, Choir and Drama classes will be held on four separate evenings per week for a two-hour period in each of the communities. Each class in the communities will be for up to twenty students. A trained teacher will tutor these classes which will run along he same period as school terms for 36 weeks for the year.

YOU programme coordinators working in the communities will promote the programmes and select the students. The classes will be scheduled and YOU staff will manage all the project logistics, monitoring and evaluation.

All teaching will be to internationally recognised curricula and certification.

The music groups will be taught drums and piano.

Drumming builds community skills (team work) and helps students to develop good communication practices, sharpen listening skills, focus, cooperation and respect. Their cultural experience will be widened as music is derived from Afro-Caribbean and Latin American cultures. Based on Will Schmidt’s World Music Drumming Curriculum, developed specifically for students, they will learn:

·        Basic rhythms and patterns

·        Drum tones

·        Drum-holding techniques

·        Rhythmical diversity/dynamics

·        Performance ethics

·        Attaining the right ‘group sound’

Opportunities for group performance/presentation will also be created.

Piano lessons will be taught using the Royal School of Music curriculum. A electronic Keyboard will be used for instruction and teaching material will be Royal School of music approved books.

The repertoire will be varied and drawn from the masters: Bach, Schubert, Britten, Vaughan-Williams, Kodály, and Copland, in addition, music from all cultures including popular, folk and patriotic music. Concepts include:

• The elements of music - rhythm, melody, harmony, dynamics, form, style.
• Musical skills, including singing, theory, sight-reading, listening, and analysis.

Vocal development to the fullest potential through posture, breath, tone production and diction.

Sessions will cover the fundamentals:

·        Presentation

·        Articulation

·        Use of stage

·        Working with props

·        Improvisation

·        Theatre ethics

·        Performance skills

Dance is a powerful educational device for meeting the physical, intellectual, and social needs of students. Perceptions, thoughts, and emotions are grounded in a physical experience through dance. As a participatory experience, dance nurtures and fosters a sense of community. The value of group work and cooperation is inherent and reinforced. Dance education also provides students with exploration, selection, organization, and evaluation experiences. These experiences include:

• Movement skill development and refinement
• Sensory integration
• Exploration of values and ideas
• Performance
• Expression
• Originality in movement
• Creative approach to learning
• Appreciation of cultural/social heritage
• Critical and creative thinking
• Aesthetic cognition
• Development of self-esteem
• Respect for others
• Healthy work habits
• Self-discipline and direction
• Skills for a lifetime

Students will be exposed to Ballet technique, based on the Royal Academy of Dance, also Graham, Horton and Release techniques (Modern dance), and the fundamentals of Jazz.

Through this they will be able to:
 

·        gain significant knowledge of dance elements, principles and concepts

·        apply knowledge, skills and techniques of dance in formal dance presentations

·        effectively communicate ideas, thoughts and feelings through dance

Please do not hessitate to contact YOU is you are interested in sponsoring this project in one of our Jamaican communities and require further information please contact  info@you-jamaica.com  or call 876-469-2772.