We are fundraising in part to bring on more programs from the Marquis Studios ( www.http://marquisstudios.org/ )
Currently, Marquis is working with our PS84 first graders. Ms. Hernandez, (first grade dual language teacher, 1-258), had this to say about Marquis:
"I am very impressed with the Marquis program! The teachers are amazing. They have helped to build confidence in each of the students. Even my "shy" students are inspired to stand up, speak and perform in front of their peers. The students have also learned how to work better as a team and how to praise one another. Another benefit of the Marquis program is that the students have also developed better communication skills ...."
For further information, please read David Marquis' description of their programs:
Marquis Studios has provided a variety of arts-in-education services to New York City public schools for the last 35 years. We seek to foster a greater partnership between artists and classroom teachers by providing arts programs as a supplement to traditional classroom teaching techniques.
Over three decades, Marquis Studios has worked with over 285,000 students, 26,000 teachers and 10,500 parents at schools and cultural institutions throughout New York City. We work annually with between 70 and 75 NYC Public schools serving 20,000 students each year.
Marquis Studios is so very pleased to be partnering with PS 84. We have worked together on many occasions since 2004 and are now back after a few year’s hiatus with our Circus arts program.
The Circus Arts program is designed to reach all ages. For the younger student, techniques such as role playing, mimicking of animals or feather balancing are some of the activities. For older students, we add plate spinning, scarf juggling, comedic improvisation, advanced juggling and prat falls and tumbles. This residency brings to life techniques of clowning and physical comedy, as well as introducing the student to the significance of circus in many cultures. The program promotes physical education, gross motor skills and improved hand/eye coordination as well as teaching such skills as juggling, feather balancing, tumbling, comedy and improvisation. Students learn the different types of clown character (Auguste, boss clown, sad clown, silly clown) and compare and contrast these styles as they develop their individual clown characters. The program promotes freedom of expression and creativity moreover builds self confidence by its intrinsic “sky’s the limit” approach.
Another program that we hope to revive at PS 84 is our Percussion of the World residency.
This residency is a multi-cultural exploration of the use of drumming in many different parts of the world and fosters a sense of community by way of hands-on instrument playing. With broad-based creativity as the focus, these programs also incorporate simple movement, literacy, global studies and mathematics in the course curriculum. The student learns to play percussion in several cultural styles. By the end of the course, the class is able to identify and play the different percussion styles of Sicily, Egypt, and Turkey, and compare and contrast the works with the corresponding cultures.
As part of the curriculum, the class explores the relationship between vibration and sound. Concepts and skills learned include:
Using percussive instruments and student’s bodies, hands, feet and breath to to explore the question “What is music?”
Understanding the meaning of “orchestration”
Comparing and contrasting different styles of music-making through listening and performing
Exploring the relationship between vibration and sound
Arranging sounds into patterns and performing those patterns based on visual cues
Creating a score
Establishing procedures for working with instruments, applying the concepts of following a conductor to instrumental performance.
The students compose, conduct and perform an instrumental piece using dynamics and another piece containing 2 instruments and different tempos. Younger students learn to read and compose their own music using symbolic notation. Older students learn or expand their familiarity with solfege, depending on their previous musical training. The program usually ends with a shared performance.
After so many year of bringing art programs to public schools we sometimes need to remind ourselves that there are plenty of parents who still do not know our work. Please visit our web site www.MarquisStudios.org for a complete list of programs offered. The video on our home page is a three minute documentation of what principals, students and teaching artists have to say about the Marquis Studios experience.
Best
David Marquis
