Young Audiences's blog

There are two kinds of donations, financial and in-kind, and one of our recent in-kind donors was a huge help in our website redesign.

Visitors to our new site may notice the gorgeous photos of some of our teaching artists, taken by Marten Czamanske. New to Buffalo, Marten has an international photography career with clients ranging from American Steamship Company, Eastman Kodak and IBM to the Girl Scouts. We're lucky to have him in Buffalo! He generously donated his time to photograph some of our new teaching artists.  Verve Studio, home of our new hip hop dance group, Differential Flavor Crew , also donated use of their space for the photo shoot (pictured in their studio, an image taken by Czamanske).  To view some of the images taken by Czamanske for us, visit our supporters page on our website.

Young Audiences of Western New York is developing an innovative and exciting program that will focus on Buffalo’s integral role in one of our nation’s most powerful yet hidden movements - the Underground Railroad.  The development of this program is made possible with the support of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.

In order to develop the Underground Railroad Residency, YA-WNY is in search of artists whose work relates the story of the Underground Railroad.  We are looking for African-American teaching artists specializing in the fields of literary, dance and movement, visual, dramatic, and cultural arts to join our roster and our collaborative team.  For more information about our application process please visit our Prospective Artist Page.

The Underground Railroad Project will expand knowledge and pride in Western New York history and cultural diversity. The multidisciplinary arts rich residency will increase student literacy and provide professional development for teachers.  Combining song, storytelling, dance, and a traveling museum the residency will bring Western New York history to life for young learners. 

Western New York provides the perfect cultural intersection of outstanding artists and rich, relevant historical perspectives, ideal for the creation of a program committed to an accurate and exciting portrayal of the Underground Railroad.  Young Audiences of WNY is looking to partner with our community’s most significant landmarks, organizations, and artists involved with preservation of the Underground Railroad.

Young Audiences of Western New York (YA-WNY) and the Buffalo Teacher Resource Center (BTRC) are pleased to announce special funding for 2009-2010 Phonics Program: Alphabet Awareness and the Erie Canal Residency.  For the past seven years YA-WNY and the BTRC have collaborated to offer inclusive art residency opportunities for teachers and students in the Buffalo Public School District.  These residencies have no cost to the individual schools, and support New York State learning standards.  Once again, this partnership will support programming in 15 schools for the Erie Canal Residency and in 12 schools for the Phonics Program.

Enhance learning in an arts rich classroom environment.

Buffalo teachers - apply today to bring these programs to your school for the 2009-2010 school year.

Applications are available from your school’s Teacher Center liaison or by clicking on the links below.

APPLICATION DEADLINE – Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 3:00 pm

The Phonics Program: Alphabet Awareness is an innovative approach to reading readiness for kindergarten and 1st grade students.  Developed by Western New York composer, musician, and educator Jerry Raven, dancer and educator, Cindy Hanna, and early childhood art specialist Marna Burstein, this residency offers a multi-sensory, multi-disciplinary approach to teaching and reinforcing listening and sound recognition skills and metalinguistic awareness to young children. Using songs, dances, signing and visual arts, each consonant is attached to a variety of activities which establish and reinforce the connection of the letter to its corresponding sounds. By acknowledging that all students do not learn in the same way, or at the same rate, The Phonics Program addresses the needs of those students who struggle with the traditional approach to reading.

Apply to bring The Phonics Program to your school by clicking here.

PhonicsApplicationDOC

PhonicsApplicationPDF

The Erie Canal Residency program is designed for 4th and 7th grade Social Studies students and teachers.  It involves administrators, educators, students, and parents in a creative collaboration to strengthen the school community.  This program supports high student achievement through a variety of art forms – music, theater, museum artifacts and literary arts.

This residency invites students to take a personal journey down the Erie Canal by speaking through the voices of the era.  An experienced teaching poet or writer leads literary exercises involving vintage maps, photographs, drawings, and imaginative prompts. Students learn to write in character, helping them develop a sense of narrative and delve more deeply into the details of daily life in a small town from the past. Performances by Gretchen Murray Sepik as the surly packet-boat cook “Erie Canal Sal” and the musical group The Stringmen's Erie Canal Show give students a taste of the unique characters and songs from the period, while the Erie Canal Traveling Museum puts artifacts of the era in students' hands.

Apply to bring The Erie Canal Residency to your school.

ErieCanalApplicationWordDOC

ErieCanalApplicationPDF

Preview the Erie Canal Residency at the Albright Knox Art GalleryGusto at the Gallery on October 9 from 4:30-8:30 pm.  YA-WNY partners with the gallery to present the artists of the Erie Canal Residency.  Read more about October 9, here. 

Slam poet Gayle Danley presented at Compass House on Thursday, October 10. The shelter, for runaway and homeless youth, hosts Writing for Life, a  YA-WNY residency that encourages the expression of difficult emotions through the creation of "altered books," journals of memoir writing and found imagery. Funded with major support from the John R. Oishei Foundation, the program is taught by teaching artist Sherry Robbins and art therapist Kristen Crosson, with a performance/presentation by Danley.

Arts and Education Director Sunnylee Mowery and Program Director Palmer Davis attended the performance. Both were inspired to witness firsthand the ways the arts empower youth, enrich lives, and erase barriers between different age groups, as interns, staff, teenagers and performer discussed poetry, relationships and self-expression in a productive setting.

Announcing to the group seated in chairs and couches that she was going to perform some slam poetry, as soon as pen and paper were passed around, Danley engaged the young people by insisting they score her work, and encouraging a conversation about what to title her newer pieces. Danley soon had the entire group laughing, singing and crying along with her, as she shared personal memories of her parents, children and early years as a poet. After a set of fourteen poems, Danley asked everyone to share their scores, giving the young people the opportunity to provide some gentle critique of her work.

The evening wrapped up with three teenagers spontaneously sharing poetry of their own. One read a piece he had written during Danley's performance, one recited a piece from memory, and a third read from her cell phone several poems she had posted online. Danley provided personalized suggestions for each of them, urging everyone to use writing as a safe outlet for their feelings.

In September, YA-WNY is beginning a long-term residency at Heritage Centers After School Program with funding from the Children’s Guild Foundation.

A Rhythm Runs Through It is a long-term arts integration program incorporating dance, music, yoga, and visual arts for young people throughout the year, in a 33-visit residency at the Heritage Centers After School Program.  A Rhythm Runs Through It includes multi-session residencies with YA-WNY Teaching Artists — Sarah Hooper, Miriam Minkoff and Jen Russo.  The program builds sequential skills that develop physical coordination, visual communication abilities, and confidence, using rhythm as the unifying element.  As multiple artists introduce participants to their art forms, the program progresses through a variety of skills.

A Rhythm Runs Through It is a unique program because it leverages kinesthetic activities, literacy skills and creative expression to help participants develop comprehensive coordination and communication abilities.  The program uses the arts to apply the findings of current research on how kinesthetic activities enhance brain development, physical and mental coordination, and language processing.

A Rhythm Runs Through It is also unique because of the unusual partnership between an arts organization like YA-WNY and a human service agency such as Heritage Centers.  The program provides a learning opportunity for all stakeholders that builds capacity for long-term partnerships between YA-WNY and special needs educators.

The ultimate objective of A Rhythm Runs Through It is to help young people with special needs become more independent, confident, and productive.  Young people who have special needs often find success through the arts, leading to greater confidence in all academic subjects. 

theatreFigüren will present  ”Underground, Over the Moon” at:

Open Hand Theater & Puppet Museum, Syracuse, NY
Feb. 6th, 2010 - 11:00 a.m.

Lancaster Opera House
Feb. 9th, 2010 - 10:00 am

Riviera Theater
Feb. 23 & 24th, 2010 - 10:00 a.m.

Kenan Center
March 25th & 26th, 2010 - 10:00 a.m.
also,  ”The Great Shiner’s Show” will be presented at the Kenan Center on the evenings of March 26th & 27th

Gusto at the Gallery October 9 at Albright-Knox Art Gallery

Save the Date! Join us for a FREE showcase of our programs for families, young and old alike.

Travel on the Erie Canal with Young Audiences

4:30pm-8:30pm October 9, 2009

• Traveling Museum – with Helga MacKinnon, explore artifacts from the era
• Journeys and Journals – imagine you live during the Canal’s heyday with Melissa Kate
• Collage an Erie Canal Postcard with Gerald Mead
• Gretchen Murray Sepik is Surly Sal, a cook on the Erie Canal
• The Stringmen, Doug Yeomans and Geoffrey Perry play the songs of the Erie Canal Era

Chinese Theatre Works — March 10-12, 2010
Cubanana — October 19-21, 2009 and May 24-26, 2010
Dance China — March 15-19, 2010
J.P. Somersaulter — May 24-26, 2010
Taikoza — May 3-7, 2010

1 day ago

Young Audiences artists, Cindy Hanna and Sarah Hooper recently completed a five week residency at the Cradle Beach Summer Camp in Angola, NY. Using dance as a tool to promote socialization and self-expression, these artists helped students with various disabilities to engage with a range of musical genres and discover the joy of movement through dance.

Sarah Hooper, a new addition to the Young Audience roster, taught five Salsa and Hip-Hop workshops. Sarah used sequenced dance moves and freestyle, improvisational “krumping” techniques to introduce campers to urban modes of popular dance. Sarah noted a strong student interest in her Hip-Hop classes and aided her students in incorporating their newly acquired moves into creatively choreographed group dances to be performed at the Camp de Cirque closing ceremonies.

In her sixth year as a teaching artist at Cradle Beach, Cindy Hanna provided campers with the chance to explore the art of tap dance and designed a Tribute to Michael Jackson workshop where students learned about “The King of Pop” through his music and dance. Cindy was honored with an award dinner and interactive dance party where she was thanked for her long-running commitment to the Cradle Beach community.

With support from General Mills, YA-WNY will provide fitness and nutrition education through Keep it Moving! a 35 week after school dance residency. Led by Cindy Hanna, Sarah Hooper, Leslie Wexler and Kip Ralabate, this program will be offered at Buffalo’s Main Street Salvation Army and a Boys & Girls Club during the 2009-2010 school year.

By teaching dance as a form of fitness as well as a form of creative expression, the residency’s primary goal is to give participants enjoyable, rewarding ways to keep moving. Each session will begin with a teaching artist’s performance on the dance style involved (styles covered include Ballroom, Modern, Jazz, Salsa, and Hip-Hop). After each lesson, a journaling activity will encourage reflection on what students have learned, and ways they can incorporate dance, a healthy diet and physical activity into their daily lives.

Keep it Moving! hopes to share our teaching artists’ experience and passion for dance with children who may not otherwise have the opportunity to kick up their heels… and in so doing, learn that fitness can indeed be fun.