ResilieNCy:Crossing the Seven Seas 

Recommended for Grades:
Kindergarten – 12th Grade

cARTwheels Artist Fees:
$13,800
 
Contact: 
Michelle Pearson, Artistic Director
blackboxdancetheatre.nc@gmail.com     
mpearsondance@gmail.com  
(919) 345-1202

Technical Rider:
Download PDF

Website:
blackboxdancetheatre.org

General Information:

Black Box Dance Theatre is a nonprofit Raleigh-based company with expertise in making dance relevant, inspirational, and natural for all bodies and persons. Formed in 2013, Black Box Dance Theatre (BBDT) acts as a catalyst for meaningful human interactions, powerful storytelling, and transformative art making. Artistic Director, Michelle Pearson, is a master facilitator. Her 25+ years of experience make her a true ambassador of creativity. BBDT has performed and led residencies in hundreds of schools across North Carolina and is a favorite among students and teachers alike. Recently, the United Service Organizations (USO) deemed Michelle and the artists of BBDT as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and engaged them to lead Warrior Reset Programs for active-duty service members. Clients include the US Department of State, the USO, Dance Complex of Boston, Arts NC, NCSU, the American Dance Festival, William Friday Fellowship, United Arts of Wake County, the NC Museum of Art, the NC Arts Council, and numerous arts organizations and school districts throughout NC. 

Program Overview: 

“We do not always dance because we are happy, but we dance and cannot help but become happy.”— Anonymous

Nobody wants to be resilient. If you are needing to be resilient, it often means that something bad has happened. However, maybe bad events in the past aren’t necessarily bad for the future. Resilience offers people the ability to recover from setbacks, to adapt, move forward, and even experience growth. In the past few years, North Carolinians have faced unprecedented hardships. How has this affected our youngest generation? Black Box Dance Theatre, known for their deeply human and physically compelling dance, is a leader in the field of Healing Art and Healthy Community Building. This residency and performance bring the very best of their artistry to the classroom and the stage. ResilieNCy invites a select group of students to share their personal stories of adversity, change, loss, worry, and risk, and find the support of their community to keep MOVING. Dance is a natural connector of people, purpose, and passion, and our hard work should be celebrated and literally lifted up as an example of beauty and power. The option to include community groups (such as senior citizens, veterans, school volunteers) is available.  

Program Includes:

• 4 workshops per day for 4 days in K-12 classrooms
• The offering of in-depth experiences for any identified groups of students to be a part of the making and performing of ResilieNCy. These groups will meet daily for 5 days
• 1 evening workshop in the community to build partnerships with the school 
• 2 one-hour performances of ResilieNCy, featuring the powerful dancing of BBDT’s full company along with student performers. Performance includes audience engagement and time for Q & A 
• Teacher professional development workshop 

Dramatic Resiliency: A Schoolwide Theatre Intensive from Bright Star Touring Theatre

Recommended for Grades:
4th – 8th Grade

cARTwheels Artist Fees:
$15,000

Contact:
Josh Batenhorst
josh@brightstartheatre.com
(336) 558-7360

Technical Rider:
Download PDF

Website:
www.brightstartheatre.com

General Information:

Bright Star Touring Theatre’s mission is to challenge, engage and delight audiences all over the world, and for more than 20 years they’ve been doing just that! Bright Star produces theatrical programming for young audiences around a wide range of topics: History from a wide variety of cultural perspectives, Bully Prevention and Social-Emotional Learning programming, Healthy Living, and Classic Literature. In addition to their shows, Bright Star provides interactive workshops, extended Q&A sessions, and in-school residency experiences.

Program Overview:

Resiliency requires creativity. It's not only hard to come back and dust yourself off when the going gets tough, but it also demands finding novel approaches to ongoing problems, highlighting and celebrating creative solutions, and even learning to embrace "failure" as part of the process of building something really special.  

Bright Star Touring Theatre's "Dramatic Resiliency" program encourages students, teachers, and stakeholders to identify the resilience in themselves, honor the grit and determination of others, and look for new approaches to sticky problems. Beginning with a schoolwide theatre arts performance experience (which is catered to the age and interest of the intended audience), the school will jump into a week-long exploration of theatre in a variety of active and dynamic ways. After the show, classroom visits from Bright Star teaching artists will drive home the important focus questions of the week: What is resiliency? Who were the characters in the plays that we saw exhibit resiliency? What does it mean to be resilient for ourselves?

Either during or after-school (to be determined in planning with school staff), a focus group of students with subject interest (i.e. school drama club) or a larger cohort (for example, all 4th grade students) will develop their own theatrical performance to be presented alongside Bright Star's teaching artists by the end of the week. This project puts teachers, students, and teaching artists all on "the same team," building on the input of all performers and technicians. Along the way students and teachers alike will learn the process of building a show from concept to stage, encountering creative and technical challenges along the way, and exploring resiliency in analytical, creative, and interactive ways.

The remainder of students are also invited to participate through master classes and age-appropriate drama classes offered throughout the week, and as audience members for the week's final performance.

Also offered/included (depending on interest and availability) is a 60–90-minute workshop for teachers to develop theatre arts integration strategies for their own classrooms, an after-school (evening) mid-week performance for parents and friends of the school, and a final community performance on the afternoon of the final day based on the work created by students, staff, and teaching artists.

Over the week students and staff will intrinsically learn how to navigate tricky situations with new skills learned through the process of making theatrical art. Students will practice literacy and literary skills through writing and performing scripts, and the school community will gain a greater understanding of how "dramatically" theatre can affect a school culture.

Program Includes:

• Student workshops
• Schoolwide performance
• Community/afterschool performance
• Teacher professional development workshop

Drumming Up Character (3 Day Workshop & Performance)

Recommended for Grades:
Kindergarten – 8th Grade

cARTwheels Artist Fees:
$10,560

Contact:
Steve Campbell, Musical Director
Lindsay Rust, Managing Director
info@dancingdrum.com
504-444-2929

Technical Rider:
Download PDF

Website:
www.dancingdrum.com

General Information:

Dancing Drum’s mission is to educate, entertain, and inspire people of all ages through interactive, percussion-based programming and materials. They are a comprehensive resource for schools and other organizations that wish to incorporate drumming into their instructional day. Since its founding in 2002, Dancing Drum has aimed to set a national standard for innovative, integrated arts education for schools. Dancing Drum’s approach is inclusive, positive, musical, and fun! Drumming is not only about making music, but also a medium through which students can work together to build school community, learn to focus in a dynamic environment, and enjoy an energetic and productive outlet for creative self-expression.

Program Overview:

Dancing Drum’s 3-Day Workshop-to-Performance (W2P) program includes two days of hands-on drumming workshops culminating in final performances for the entire school community on the third day. 

Depending on the size of your school, all grade levels or a selection of grade levels can participate in up to six workshops per day to learn a “Drumming Up Character” ensemble piece with character rhythms, songs, and dances. On the third day, students will showcase their performance pieces at an exciting school assembly.

Dancing Drum’s “Drumming Up Character” curriculum builds resiliency through teaching students about character concepts such as responsibility, perseverance, courage, and respect in an interactive, musical way. The experience of drumming together as an ensemble and working towards a performance goal reinforces teamwork and collaboration skills.

This program also includes “Drumming Up Character” curriculum materials for the school, a Professional Development workshop for teachers, and a Family Drum Night. During the Family Drum Night, family members are invited to participate in an interactive, community-building experience centered around drumming, music, and celebrating students’ talents and accomplishments.

Program Includes:

• Teacher workshop
• Student workshops 
• Student Performance
• Community/Family evening performance
• Curriculum materials 

Storytelling & Resiliency

Recommended for Grades:
Kindergarten – 8th Grade

cARTwheels Artist Fees:
$8,650

Contact:
Dave Klibanow, Agent/Manager       
919-471-3036
Dave@donnawashington.com

Technical Rider:
Download PDF

Website:
dlwstoryteller.com

General Information:

Donna Washington is an award winning, internationally acclaimed, professional storyteller, published author, and artist educator who has been sharing stories with audiences of all ages for thirty-six years. She works with people from ages four to one hundred and four. Storytelling is a phenomenal tool to build resiliency. In fact, that is what it has been used for since humans started telling stories. Stories are meant to help us face our fears. They encourage us to look at the world through other people’s eyes so that we might walk a mile in their shoes. They teach us how to treat others, forgive trespasses, and recognize when we are being cheated. They pass cultural wisdom to the next generation. Donna Washington uses folklore that has survived thousands of years, along with vocal pyrotechnics, bold expressions, and a deep knowledge of how stories affect language and literacy acquisition to create programs that are age-appropriate and socially and emotionally relevant to school-aged audiences. Stories of resiliency have the power to transport and transform everyone they touch.

Program Overview: 

The Art of Storytelling winds through many of the NC educational standards for language arts, history, social studies, creative writing, arts, and presentation. Students get to watch literature jump off the page and walk around in their imaginations. Stories are wonderful pre-reading exercises. They allow the brain to practice higher-level thinking skills needed for literacy without letting the mechanical activity of phonics interrupt comprehension. They are also a great way to create empathy. Programs always include a workshop for teachers about using storytelling in the classroom.

Program Includes:

• Performance/s
• Teacher Professional Development Workshop

Migration

Recommended for Grades:
Kindergarten – 8th Grade

cARTwheels Artist Fees:
$7,500

Contact:
Susan Lounsbury, Artist Manager
susan@loydartist.com
(518) 647-5916

Tech Rider:
Download PDF

Website:
loydartists.com/roster/f/c/32

General Information:

Internationally renowned in the puppetry field, and an award-winning performer, Hobey Ford is known for his excellence in puppetry performance and craft as well as his skill as a master storyteller. He designs and constructs all his Golden Rod Puppets as well as the beautiful sets that surround them, and he performs his original works all over the world. His performances incorporate a variety of puppetry styles: Bunraku, rod marionettes, Foamies, and shadow puppetry.

Hobey has received the highest awards for his brilliant and priceless contributions to the world of puppetry: two-time winner of puppetry’s highest honor, the UNIMA Citation of Excellence, recipient of three Jim Hensen Foundation grants, and The Hermitage Fellowship. He is also on the Kennedy Center's roster of teaching artists, conducting teacher workshops in conjunction with their Partnership in Education program.

Program Overview:

Drawing parallels between human and animal migration, Hobey Ford’s performance of “Migration” tells a story of how both humans and animals gain resilience through overcoming the hardships of an epic journey. 

“Migration” is the story of Beatriz, a young girl who goes with her father on a journey to a new place with a new culture and language. After she is told she must go, she finds the courage to carry on by immersing herself in a special book written by her late mother about animals that migrate. The book becomes a comfort and a lifeline as Beatriz travels into a strange new life. Illustrating the journeys of the monarch butterfly, the bar-tailed godwit, the polar bear, and the sperm whale, the book helps Beatriz successfully navigate her new life with the help of friends and her own inner strength as she finally realizes that she has completed the same migratory route as the monarch butterfly, whose powerful symbolism represents beauty born from challenge and change.

Hobey performs in full view as storyteller, puppeteer, and animator with a story that addresses environmental and multicultural issues as it integrates the Literary Arts, Storytelling, Theater, Visual Arts, and Science.

When teaching children, we frequently turn to stories which can illuminate a theme, a subject, a people, or a culture. Story activates our imagination, draws us in and opens the doors of learning. Often, we learn best that which we can hold in our hands. This residency allows students to hold the story of Beatriz’s travels in their hands; and to understand her journey of adaptation. It allows them to tap into different types of intelligences and learning to communicate through a new medium, strengthening their understanding of language and contextual meaning. They will discover the wonders of a different culture and of animal migration and learn to appreciate and understand performance theatre and how to communicate ideas and feelings through dramatic play.

Program Includes:

• Teacher workshop
• Student workshops (Grades 2 – 8)
• Two student matinee performances

Jazz Means Joy!

Recommended for Grades:
Kindergarten – 12th Grade

cARTwheels Artist Fees:
$15,000

Contacts:
John Brown, Musician
jb@jbjazz.com
(919) 616-8000

Technical Rider:
Download PDF

Website:
www.jbjazz.com  

General Information:

Grammy and Emmy nominated artist John Brown was born and raised in Fayetteville, NC, and is well experienced on stages, studios, in classrooms, and on sets for film and television alike. He holds a degree from the School of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and from the School of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. John has been on the faculty of Duke University since January of 2001 and is currently the Vice Provost for the Arts, the Director of the Jazz Program and Professor of the Practice of Music.

John has performed at major venues and festivals in the United States and abroad. He boasts a Grammy Nomination for his performance and co-writing on Nnenna Freelon’s 1995 Concord release, Shaking Free, and an Emmy nomination for producing the Duke Arts Student Showcase in 2021. Equally gifted in classical music, John has performed as a regular substitute with the North Carolina Symphony, and has extensive performance experience in ballet and opera orchestras, film, television, theatre, and recordings. He served on the juries that awarded the 2017 and 2019 Pulitzer Prizes in Music.

Inspired by his mother and grandmother who sang and played piano, and by hearing the North Carolina Symphony as a 5th grader, John went on to pursue a career in music and perform with the North Carolina Symphony in 1992. He now leads multiple ensembles in performances and education activities all over the state and beyond.

Program Overview:

The Joy of Jazz! program is a high energy and comfortably paced interactive performance that gives students an immersive experience with the creativity of jazz musicians. This rousing performance of the 11-piece John Brown “little” Big Band features music that shows the wide range of jazz music and takes students on a journey to experience of the Joy of Jazz; the joy they feel by hearing the music, and the joy they see in the musicians who are performing. During this interactive concert, John and his bandmembers demonstrate how they have found a love for jazz music, and how various pieces inspire and enlighten them, so a positive and joyous experience is woven into the performance of every single tune. As a genre, the mere existence of Jazz music itself is the very representation of resilience, fortitude, survival, and triumph- all messages today’s students need to hear. Not only does this jazz performance provide a good atmosphere and a good time for students, it also creates a space for healing, decompression, belonging, and inspiration. Students sing, dance, and clap as they become a part of the performance, and the program is paced to give them the space to just “be” and enjoy the music.

The performance includes selections to introduce students to the different sounds of instruments and some of the different styles within the genre of jazz music. They will hear how jazz musicians transform tunes to turn them into jazz pieces when the musicians take a popular song they are likely to know and “turn” it into a jazz song. The high-energy performance will highlight the music of at least one legendary North Carolina native jazz musician (i.e. John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Nina Simone, Max Roach, etc.) and will help students realize how they are all a part of North Carolina when it comes to jazz.

This concert experience will be one students will remember. The John Brown “little” Big Band packs a punch that shows the power of a jazz ensemble and will be a finger-snapping, toe-tapping good time for everyone, leaving students energized, inspired, and ready to tackle the world!

Program includes:

• Performance/s
• Teacher professional development workshop

Tissue Paper Workshop: Resilience

Recommended for Grades:
Kindergarten – 12th Grade

cARTwheels Artist Fees:
$15,000

Contact:
mayafreelon@gmail.com
(919) 491-4209

Technical Rider:
Download PDF

Website:
www.mayafreelon.com

General Information:

Maya’s grandmother, Queen Mother Frances J. Pierce, was a schoolteacher and owned a hair salon. She was also dear friends with Dr. Maya Angelou (Maya’s godmother and namesake). As a child, Maya spent summers with her Granny Franny in Cambridge, MA. Granny and her sister, Great-Aunt Deborah, taught Maya how to make quilts with old fabric, piece by piece. She remembers them holding her hands and telling her, “This is how you make something out of nothing, and how to make a way out of no way.” 

When Maya attended graduate school at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, she lived with her grandmother once again and often searched her basement for creative inspiration. Floor to ceiling was filled with items she had been collecting for over 78 years. One day she came across a stack of assorted tissue paper that was folded in half and tucked between dusty books. In the middle of the paper was a beautiful stain that blended all the colors together. This watermark, something others would call an accident, came from an old leaking pipe. The discovery of bleeding tissue paper changed the trajectory of Maya’s artist career. When she asked Granny Franny if I could have the stack of stained tissue paper, she replied “Of course, I was saving it for you!” 

Since then, Maya has used accessible and recycled material in her artwork. She loves to challenge the idea of “high” and “low” art by asking viewers to join her in celebrating a familiar material: tissue paper. She loves making art that is collaborative and inclusive, as well as transformational and boundary breaking. 

When creating artwork together during a Tissue Paperwork Workshop, students and teacher join at the same table, on the same level, without judgment. Maya feels it is important to start every workshop from a place of equality. Tissue quilt workshops, like quilting bees, often bring up memories surrounding family, storytelling, childhood and exploring creativity. When a participant sits next to someone, they must eventually find a way to connect, both physically and mentally. Each participant leaves having the shared experience of watching one small piece of tissue paper grow into a quilt larger than themselves. 

Creating tissue quilts has more significance for Maya now than it did before the pandemic. Folks are excited to enter spaces together again and find new ways to safely interact. She feels that the energy and appreciation she receives after each workshop confirms her life’s purpose: to remind everyone she comes in contact with that they have power, they are significant, and that when we work together, we share more peace and love with the world!

Program Overview:

This interactive art workshop invites students to join artist and educator, Maya Freelon, along with a professional assistant, in a collaborative art making experience. Using simple instructions and wide parameters, participants of various abilities and ages can join together to help create this new work of art. No experience is necessary, all that is needed is an open mind and a resilient spirit. 

A single scrap of paper alone can seem insignificant, small, unnoticed, or like nothing at all, but when joined together with others there is power, unity, and beauty. If people can come together, with the same materials and help create monumental artwork together, it’s a shared, transformational experience. 

Program includes:

• Grade level tissue paper installation residency experience
• Teacher workshop

Black to the Future

Recommended for Grades:
Kindergarten – 8th Grade

cARTwheels Artist Fees:
$15,000

Contact:
pierce@piercefreelon.com
(919) 697-7728

Technical Rider:
Download Technical Rider

Learning Guide:
Download Learning Guide

Website:
www.piercefreelon.com   

General Information:

Pierce Freelon is a Grammy-nominated musician, author, and educator from Durham, North Carolina. He is the co-creator of Beat Making Lab, an Emmy Award-winning PBS web series and is the writer, composer, and co-director of the PBS animated series The History of White People in America, an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival. His Grammy-nominated Children’s Music album Black to the Future has been featured on NPR, Billboard, and MSNBC. Little Brown Books for Young Readers published his debut children's picture book, Daddy-Daughter Day, in 2022, and will publish his next book, Daddy and Me: Side by Side, in 2023. Freelon is a former Durham City Councilman, a husband, and a father of two based in Durham, North Carolina.

Program Overview:

In the Black to the Future cARTwheels program, students will learn about traditional African American hair styles, setting healthy boundaries and creating consent culture, all while dancing and singing along to some great music. Through humor, storytelling, dance, puppetry, and video projections, Pierce will help students tap into their resiliency and have fun while exploring his family history. Pierce debuted Black to the Future at the Kennedy Center and has adapted it for cARTwheels audiences.

Program Includes:

• Performance/s
• Teacher Professional Development Workshop