In this workshop, Louis Mofsie, the director of The Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, will engage participants in learning and discussions of different Native American stories, songs and dances. The Iroquois Robin Dance will be presented with a song to accompany the dance. The dance is done each March to celebrate the coming of the spring season, the robin being one of the first birds you see after the long cold winter. The Iroquois legend of the cornhusk doll and why the dolls have no face, will be shared. Also, Hopi Kachina dolls will be discussed, their function and why they are made. 

From the Great Plains people, the participants will learn a Grass Dance.  The dance grew out of the necessity to clear a space for the Teepee villages to be erected as the people moved from campsite to campsite following the buffalo herds.  We will also learn a round dance from the Great Plains.  A simple circle dance which has a simple rhythm and movement. Additional stories and songs will be shared throughout the workshop. Questions and discussion will be welcome.

Dr. Nichelle Rivers will work with participants on developing strategies on how to teach culturally relevant historical symbols of hate that continue to impact classrooms across our country through an arts based lens utilizing the art making process of painting and collage. Participants will be challenged to dissect symbols of hate, discuss their perception of these symbols and learn specific strategies to successfully present the sometimes subtle menacing nature of hate symbols that most of our students have no knowledge of, nor do they realize the dangerous power these symbols represent in the persuasion of the fragile minds of middle and high school students.  Lastly, through poetry, the presenter will challenge participants to replace the reactive intake of hateful imagery with a critical analysis of why we perceive things the way we do.

Teaching artist Miguel Cossio, born in Mexico and based in New York, is an avid traveler  and lore researcher. He will lead teachers in the ritualistic art forms of masks making and puppet making for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), just in time for Halloween and All Saints Day. Miguel is also a writer/director of performance pieces and brings his in-school workshops throughout NYC, Westchester and Long Island. All teachers from K-12 will enjoy this hands on workshop as well as art teachers, dual language and foreign language classroom teachers.

At the heart of Jazz are two essential elements: improvisation and spontaneity. This is a performance based course open to all instruments and voices. Taught by Stony Brook University Artist in Residence Dr. Thomas Manuel this course will explore sources and techniques of musical improvisation: practice and skills, playfulness, emotion, courage, will, concentration, risk, the power of limits, patience, trust and dedication. It is a course based in learning by doing and students will improvise from moment one learning the importance of improvisation in Jazz as well as in life.

A strong emphasis of this course will be hearing off site performances both at the Jazz Loft and other venues. This is a two part workshop exploring the art of spontaneous, improvisatory, jazz improvisation and musicians (and non-musicians) of all levels of ability are invited to attend. A variety of exercises and techniques will be explored with the goal of expanding each musician’s pallet of individual creative expression. Bring your instrument or your voice. You have to dig to dig. Ya dig!?

BOLD facilitators of Urban Bush Women, will present this workshop. Through trust building exercise, you learn to surrender and stay true to what is happening in the moment. We use play, movement exercises, and theatre games to exercise active listening, collaboration, and self-reflection. This workshop encourages a values based approach to online communication. Participants are called to bring their thoughts and creativity into action. It is useful in community building and employing art making as a means to tackle challenging conversation.