GRANT RECIPIENTS:

Diane E. Brownholtz, Arts & Philosophy, Wolfson Campus
dbrownho@mdc.edu
Peter London, NWSA Dance Division, Wolfson Campus
plondon@mdc.edu

The Martha Graham Educational Residency took place March 31st through April 5th, 2003. The project was created to share the visionary brilliance and artistry of the famous dancer/teacher/choreographer, Martha Graham. One of the educational goals of the project which was to share Graham’s historical modern dance techniques to students, was accomplished during the seven, ninety minute dance technique classes of the week which included two technique classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and one technique class on Wednesday morning preceding the opening Gala Performance that evening. A Master Dance Class was held on Saturday, April 5th wherein dance students and teachers from throughout the Dade County community participated. A lecture demonstration, open to the public, was held in the Wolfson Campus Auditorium on Friday, April 4th that involved selected dance students from New World School of the Arts in conjunction with the Graham Company members performing and discussing Martha Graham’s contributions to the arts. Guests in the audience included the Miami Herald’s dance critic, Jordan Levin. The lecture/discussion/demonstration was led by Christine Dakin, the current co- artistic-director of the Martha Graham Dance Company. Ms. Dakin was interviewed by Jordan Levin and because of the successful interview, Ms. Levin presented a fabulous “front-page” photo and follow-up story of the Martha Graham Company and the residency of the company in the Friday, April 4th weekend section of the Miami Herald. In addition, Ms. Levin later wrote a critique of the Company’s Gala performance Wednesday night in Miami. The photo, the article and the critique brought significant public attention to the Martha Graham Educational Residency.
There were three public performances at New World School of the Arts: one Gala performance on Wednesday evening followed by a reception for the artists, and two additional performances on Friday, April 4th and Saturday April 5th which were open to the public. The Friday and Saturday performances had “standing room only” and unfortunately, many disappointed people were unable to attend. Seating capacity for the space is two hundred - thirty people (230) and there were many more people standing inside and outside of the theater. A television was set up in the lobby so those unable to get a seat in the theater could watch the performance from outside the theater. Four of Martha Graham’s very famous, historical works were performed. The original set designs and costumes for the dances were brought from New York City and used in the Miami performances. The performance of these historical dances fulfilled the project’s educational goal of integrating the visual arts with the performing arts.
The educational residency included technique classes taught by the company members with extensive interactive “question and answer” sessions with students after each class. Feedback forms from each participant were received after the technique classes. A total of 143 feedback forms were collected from the participants. There were six questions on the form resulting in a possible 858 responses and of those only 9 “disagree” responses. The remaining 849 responses were either “strongly agree” or “agree” to questions about the residency (please refer to the form for specifics). The disagree responses were to questions number three and four: “As a result of this experience, my knowledge about modern dance, and particularly Martha Graham has been broadened and,” Having participated in this event, I have more knowledge about the relationship between dance, drama, music and the visual arts.” Overwhelmingly, the students responded very positively to the experiences they had during the week’s residency. On the disagree responses, the students further explained why they circled disagree. Fifty students from Humanities classes, visual arts classes, and theater classes wrote papers about the lecture-demonstration and the performances. In addition, the entire week’s events were videotaped for archival purposes and for future dance, art and humanities classes to share in the Martha Graham Educational Residency that took place at New World School of the Arts and Miami Dade Community College March 31st-April 5th, 2003. A significant outcome of this project is a liaison between the Martha Graham Dance Company, New World School of the Arts, Miami Dade Community College and the City of Miami. The vision is Miami as the ‘second home” of the New York based, Martha Graham Company. The implications of this possibility are overwhelming for the education of the dance/arts community in Dade county and the state of Florida.

The project results include: photos, feedback forms, four videos, students’ papers, newspaper articles and a professional review of the Martha Graham Company that appeared in the Miami Herald. The feedback forms and students’ papers will be forwarded to the Learning Innovations Team. Three sets of videos were made: one set for Dean Daniel Lewis, Peter London and Diane Brownholtz. These videos can be borrowed for instructional purposes for classes at New World School of the Arts and Miami Dade Community College technique classes, repertory classes, theater classes, visual arts classes and Humanities classes. A five minute video was made that presents an overview of the entire week’s residency and this video will be used for future dance residency projects to assist others in planning educational residencies. In the five minute video, Andrew Tanis a New World dancer, reflects on the impact of the residency as having “changed our lives in this past week”. On the feedback forms students commented about the residency as being “a magnificent opportunity”, reflected by the “positive energy of the teachers” and ”working with amazing professional artists.” and “connecting our technique to the professional world.” The feedback from the participants was consistently and overwhelmingly positive. Two Dade county public school dance teachers , (South Miami Middle and South Miami High School) as well as other public schools teachers have taken back to their students what they learned during the Graham residency. The goals and the success of the project permeated the arts community in Dade county.

top>>