Sneak Peak at 5/27 Spread Art Showcase

Tavon "TMac" performing an original

Samira performing "On & On" by Erykah Badu

Tessa Perez and Annick Odom warming up on "Crazy for You" by Adele

Covenant House Michigan Residents Reflect on their Past Week

This past Friday was our last day of our week-long workshop series at Covenant House Michigan.

Performance later that night featuring Covenant House Michigan residents, as well as teaching artists Annick Odom, Betsy Lee, Veniece Session, Rachael Harbert, Claire Liburdi, Michael Gardner, and Sarah Schwendeman.

Participants talked about their favorite activity or performances, something new they experienced, and what they might continue to work on once we leave. Here are the heart-warming answers we received. 

"I liked the four components; art, dance, theatre, and music. This whole week I had a feeling of relaxation. These workshops helped me get coping skills and I was learning how to interact with people who may have differing of feelings."

"First coming in it was a little tough, but then when I found something I was interested in. I liked dance and became more involved."

"I found peace, it was a place where I could leave my problems."

"[DAI] activities were better than video games. I started getting along with people. Acting helped to express feelings."

"I enjoyed the opportunities to learn and expand my creativity and artistic expression. It was an equal learning space and there was no feeling of teacher versus student."

"All the teachers were very different and it was nice to see how they processed and dealt with being disrespected in the classroom. It helped me understand there are other ways to react."

"I feel like I am more human, less violent, more caring about the people around."

"I care more about interactions and how they affect people."

"I've learned how to feel better about my personal abilities. I feel intellectual, and have more thought about my actions."

"I want to go to college after this, possibly for acting."

"Acting and rapping were my favorite activities."

"I tried to dance, and the way we learned to move changed my perception on dance. I felt like I could tell a story."

"I loved dancing here."

"Participation in this week was overwhelming for me and a great experience."

"Being known and accepted as an artist helped to empower me."

What is a word that you would use to describe your week with Detroit Arts Immersion?

• Happy
• Sensational
• Successful
• Inspirational
• Anticipation
• Ohana-means family
• Eclectic 
• Talented
• Energized
• Rational
• Courageous
• Creativity
• Healing
• Serenity
• Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
• Thankful

Tessa Perez, Annick Odom, and Michael Gardner after their trio performance at Spread Art @ Detroit Contemporary.

Last Fundraiser of the Year for Detroit Arts Immersion

Are you ready for our performance next Friday? Check back for some short interviews with our performers. 

Designed by Betsy Lee.

An Amazing Night with Broadway Stars

I volunteered this past Thursday with Covenant House Michigan and unexpectedly got to see some of our students from past Detroit Arts Immersion workshops singing onstage with renowned Broadway stars.

Broadway came to Detroit for one special night at A Night of Broadway Stars, a benefit for Covenant House Michigan. The show, produced and led by renowned composer and lyricist Neil Berg whose credits include Grumpy Old Men and The Prince and the Pauper, featured solo and group performances by Broadway’s biggest stars re-creating their roles and music from Phantom, Les Mis, Miss Saigon, Dreamgirls and more.

Yes, these stars were amazing, but what wowed me even more was the poise and personality that shown through when our students were on stage. Two of them shared their personal stories and thanked Covenant House Michigan for the support that they've provided. They also talked about how passionate they are about creating a music career for themselves, one as a rapper and music producer and one as a singer. Hearing them share their passion for music made me even more excited that Detroit Arts Immersion is returning to Covenant House Michigan this week. 

-- Annick Odom, music teaching artist

Here are some terrible quality pictures to prove I was there and share some of my excitement with you :) 

For those of you who want to know which Broadway artists were present: 

Richard Todd Adams, Neil Berg, Jason E. Bernard, Roger Cohen, Rob Evan, Rita Harvey, Capathia Jenkins, Natalie Toro, Brian Walters, and Abe Saenz. 

We had a great time at our Ann Arbor performance at Canterbury House.

Betsy Lee, visual artist, proud after setting up her artwork.

Tessa Patterson, rocking out on vocals and keys.

Annick Odom and Mike Gardner, as part of the musical group Bobbiejak.

Annick Odom, double bassist and clarinetist, also performed in playwright Emilio Rodriguez's reading of one of his works earlier that night.

Rachael Ahn Harbert, dancer and mover, at the beginning of an engaging piece of improvised dance.

Rachael Ahn Harber, continuing to use this child-sized chair as a dance prop.

Audience members were engaged and invited into the dance. Rachael Ahn Harbert and Jonathan Taylor continue their performance.

Covenant Idol, Round 1 to the Final Round

Michael Gardner, Tessa Patterson, and Emilio Rodriguez are excited to begin judging the first round of the Covenant Idol competition. 

Our three judges hard at work while they listen to the contestants. Once they decide who wins, they'll be back at Covenant House Michigan to do some more coachings. 

One of our participants on the right, dancing at Covenant Idol. 

We're so proud of the two young artists that we helped select at Covenant House Michigan! Tayvon and Samira took first and third place at Covenant Idol at the Hard Rock Cafe Detroit.

Planning and our first week!

Pic of us after our first get together and planning meeting for our first week of workshops. Teaching artists in top picture left to right: Rachael Ahn Harbert, Reshounn Foster, Sarah Schwendeman, Annick Odom, Betsy Lee, & Emilio Rodriguez.

We just signed into Covenant House Michigan. We're beyond excited for our first day. Pictured teaching artists: Annick Odom and Tessa Patterson. 

Any guesses what we made for our second day? Masks!

Finished masks! What emotions do you think people were channeling for each?

Sarah Schwendeman working on an example mask to show participants. 

What do participants really think?

What did participants think of our workshops? Here are a few select reviews. Overall folks really connected to acting as well as other arts forms, as they thought it allowed them space to express themselves. 

Anddd we're halfway!

We had an amazing first week of workshops this May. Here are a couple of pictures. More reflections to come! 

Thoughts Thus Far...

Wow!!  We've just completed our third day at Covenant House and the laughs and lessons are still resonating.  The students have been so open and willing to share in new ideas.  I've personally been moved and inspired by our discussions and student observations to think in fresh directions.  I'm so looking forward to what continues!! -BGO

Day 2- It was cold outside today. We even saw a bit of snow on the drive over. But once we were inside at Covenant House, it felt good to jump up and down in a circle of energy and encouragement. The feeling lingers, making me smile. New faces linked with names, poetic words, and unique sounds.  -ZK

Fall 2012 Workshop Announced!!

Hooray we are nearing another session of Detroit Arts Immersion!
This fall we will hold our workshops from November 12-16, 2012.

If you are interested or know of anyone who might be, please be in touch.  We are looking for volunteers to help us carry out the program.
This is a great opportunity to gain experience in arts teaching, cross-disciplinary learning, improvisation and helping the communities of Detroit!

*Food stipend and transportation provided for teaching artists during the workshop period

A sharing

The program has come to a conclusion for the summer and while we are eagerly working to set up more frequent workshops, the idea of sharing does not leave my mind.

Detroit has many problems, yes, and the work we do, being not quantifiable, is difficult if not impossible to measure. Yet, the amount of growth I experienced is amazing! Not only in the youth but in myself and teammates as well.

The opening up and willingness to share was heartwarming and inspiring on both ends. As a group we were accepted by the youth as we shared our tools and were rewarded with their creativity, thoughts and remarkable talents!

I was blown away by every person's agreement and bravery to stand up and share in front of the group.

It was an added treat to have many of our young Holy Cross students perform with us at our final performance as well :)

______________________________________________________________

Now a few days post-project, the gifts I've gained are starting to sink in and as I unpack and organize I want to share something I found in one of our boxes.

This is from one of our written response periods. The topic was "What do I want to share with the world?" A rough draft, these first thoughts turned into a poem:

Beauty and inspiration

Joy and passion

My life, my love, my abilities.

Openness and perspective.

I want to bring what I have and do with it what I can.

Why hold on?

To share is true living.

Make real connections

Make beautiful connections

Give and get

Always learn

Discover

and Play

Live in the present and see with fresh eyes.

Always living, always alive.

Thank you for a great project and program!!

Fun and changes

We have been teaching for three days now and some lessons are starting to set in.

Not only for the students, but for us too.

We have seen trust challenged and strengthened, communication developed and body awareness increased with comfort and openness.

An emotional day three as we performed at Covenant House in the evening for students and other residents there.

We were able to thank the students for their sharing and openness.

Many of the artists are seeing why what we do is so important. With a student telling us this is the first time he hasn't felt ashamed of his situation, perspective is setting in.

We are so thankful for the opportunity to get to work with such great young people and share ourselves with great response!

More to come....

Check out our coverage on the news! Look at the videos, ours is called "Juilliard students provide inspiration"

http://www.wxyz.com/subindex/v

ideo

Looking forward...

Tomorrow our teaching begins!

We are looking forward to sharing with the students.

The team is prepared and excited... starting bright and early we will head to the Covenant House for our first workshop, followed by two more at Holy Cross Children's Services.

Our goal: Respect. Develop mutual respect, listening and a clear understanding of who we are.

After a great weekend of performances, we are rested, energized and inspired to begin!

More to come....

Photo taken at our Artist Village performance on Saturday, June 25th.

Late night/early morning poem for DAI

Winking drivers and sometimes drinking drivers.
This is Motor City.

Oh, but a wealth of inspiration.
We worked alongside the works in progress of Tyree,
walked past larger than life mural de Diego Rivera housed at the DIA,
and were invited to perform in a marble room with high ceilings and encased suits of armor,
and in the room next door, the Saline Fiddlers were gettin' down.

And yes, the Temptations are still alive, a pulse still present.

Most unbelievable, is the real fun is yet to be had.

by: Zoe Kumagai

First performance... (for each other too)

Today was an extremely productive day of planning and discussions about why we volunteer and how to create curriculums and lesson plans!

On top of that, today was the first day we showed one another our art!!

We worked through potential performance pieces and presented them for each other... and may I say wow!! This is going to be a great week of performances!

From original poetry to dance improv with solo bass music, the pieces are thoughtful and meaningful. Truly, a performance made for Detroit.

We have many performances but our first is tomorrow!!

See us at the Detroit Institute of Art. Friday, June 24, 8 pm

and remember... Free ; )

First day, Great day

Gathering today, for our first team meeting/orientation far exceeded any expectations I could have had!

At once, it was as though we had all been friends for years!

Bringing together students/young artists from around the country, it was exciting to discuss the importance of our arts and what we want to work to accomplish.

It is a varied group, in discipline and background, but in spirit we were very much on the same page!

How wonderful to be in a room with eight (soon to be ten) exuberant, passionate, dedicated, talented and smart young artists who want to make a change in the world not just live in it "as is".

After spending time playing various "name games" and discussing what drew us all to the program, we were able to compile a list of words and phrases of what we want to accomplish (specifically for the workshop portion).

What follows is a first draft of our personal mission statement. A phrase we can keep with us and return to throughout the week.

"By establishing respect and open communication with exposure to the arts, we hope to encourage positive change in order to celebrate with love, each person's unique greatness."

Here's to a great start!

Bree

List of our Performances!

Our performance flyer is out!

We have many great free performances coming up and we would love to see you there!

Click on the image to enlarge it and read our performance flyer

First Performance

Our first performance will be this Friday, June 24: 8:00pm at the Detroit Institute of Art!

Join us for a night of multi-disciplinary art.
Including Dance, Drama, Music, Comedy and Visual Art!

We will be performing in the beautiful Great Hall, next to the Diego Rivera mural.

Check out the link: http://www.dia.org/calendar/event.aspx?id=2815&iid=

"Drawing inspiration from Detroit, the pieces performed remind the students of the city and aim to support the spirit of art and community found here. As a group of young artists they demonstrate the vitality of the arts, as well as its future direction. This group performance will feature all of the arts working together to create the final product!"

The team!

The program is fast approaching and our team is very excited!

We have a great group of artists from all disciplines, including visual art, dance, drama, music and comedy!

Coming from the Juilliard School, Wayne State University, University of Michigan, and College of Creative Studies this is a great opportunity for collaboration too.

Here are our Juilliard participants:

Breanna O'Mara (dance) - Founder and Director

Allison Job (music)- Founding team member

Brittanie Brown (dance)- Team member

Richard Dent (drama) - Team member

Corey Dorris (drama) - Team member