Anna Maria Mendieta & Del Cielo Ensemble November 13, 2019 10-11am, All Grades This study guide will give you background information, discussion questions, and activity ideas to do with your class before and after the performance at the PAEC. The Elements of Flamenco: Cante: singing Toque: guitar playing Baile: dance Jaleo: vocalizations and chorus clapping Palmas: handclapping Pitos: finger snapping “We love what we do and want to share our creativity with the community to inspire imagination!” – Anna Maria Mendieta Performance Information: The music of Spain has enveloped the world with its passionate expressive music and dance for centuries. Anna Maria Mendieta & Del Cielo Ensemble connects the old with the new, tradition with innovation, the auditory with the visual, and the serious with the playful! Artists tell about their instruments, their history, and particular sound effects for the students to listen to and watch for throughout the program. With colorful & tasteful costumes, flamenco and tango dance numbers are dynamically presented and cultural traditions cleverly explained. Flamenco “palmas” (clapping) techniques and rhythms are taught with fun interaction and participation from the students. Students learn musical terms while learning about the importance of music in our lives and the rich Latinx culture in our own United States. Flamenco is a dance and music tradition from Spain. There are many different styles of flamenco dance, but they generally all include strong emotions, expressive arm movements, and rhythmic feet stamping. Tango originated along the Argentina/Uruguay border in the 1880s, created by mixing dance styles from South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe. In Del Cielo’s performance look and listen for the music of a harp, violin, cello or bass, and percussion. Look and Listen for: How the performers work together. Different kinds of instruments. When the music is soft or loud, fast or slow, calm or exciting, happy or sad, etc. What images come to mind and what emotions you feel when you watch and listen. Have you heard any of the music before? Movement patterns and use of the body. How the performers express themselves. Which song and dance you like the best. Discussion Questions (before and after the performance): Who has gone to a live show before? What was it like? How is it different from going to a movie? Does anyone play an instrument? How do you feel when you play it? What does it take to be good at playing it? What does it take to play with others? Does anyone take dance lessons? What kind? How do you feel when you dance? What does it take to be good at dance? What does it take to dance with others? Has anyone ever seen flamenco or tango dance before? What do you know about their music and style? What do you wonder about them? Is music important in your life? Why? How can music affect how you feel? What different moods can music have? How does the music create a feeling? Why is sequence important for dance? What would happen if they performed their movements out of sequence? Flamenco brings the culture of Spain to the world and tango brings the culture of Argentina. What parts of your culture would you like to share with the world? What did your students see, hear, and feel? Discuss the music, the skills, the expression, the costumes, how and what meanings were conveyed, and what connections to other arts, stories, or their own lives the students can make. Discuss what your students looked for during the show. What did the performance communicate? What different kinds of instruments did Del Cielo play? How do they work together? Which do you wish you could play? How did the performance use music? How did the dancers move with the music? What moods did the music express? What did you notice about how the dancers moved? How did they convey emotions? How did they work together? How did costumes contribute to the performance? What did they convey? How did they move with the dancers? What different kinds of songs did they play? What did you feel or imagine during the different songs? How did the performers create different moods in the songs? After the performance, what new ideas or understanding do you have? What can you make connections to? What was interesting and what was challenging? What did you used to think and what do you think now? What would you like to tell the PAEC about your experience at the show? (We'd love to hear from you!) Activity Ideas (before and after the performance): Play flamenco or tango music and have students create music response journals. Prompt suggestions: (1) write a song title (2) sketch instruments heard (3) list adjectives to describe sounds or emotions conveyed (4) Write a story that suits the music (5) describe or draw visual images stimulated by the music. Preview videos of Del Cielo with your students at www.tangodelcielo.com. Note aspects to look for in the upcoming show and record questions. After the performance see what questions they can answer or investigate. Play a piece of Del Cielo’s music. Have students listen quietly, then chart or have students list ten words or phrases about any aspect of what they hear. Listen again and try to add 10 more items to your list. Play flamenco and tango music and have students improvise movement to match what they hear. Encourage movements to be high or low, smooth or sharp, traveling or stationary, large or small, etc. Watch a video of a flamenco performance. What do you notice? Describe the movements. Create a list of descriptive words with the class and have them write poems or short pieces about the dance. Watch videos of flamenco and tango performances to compare and contrast them. How do they use the elements of dance: body, action, space, time, and energy? Examine images and videos of flamenco and tango dancers and draw the lines of their shapes and movements. Have students try to make the shapes and movements with their bodies. Clapping is an important part of flamenco. Practice different kinds of patterns through clapping. Make shakers with your students and use them to accompany flamenco or tango music. Have students research the history of flamenco and tango and the various cultures they represent. What social and cultural factors contributed to their development? Investigate what it takes to be a professional dancer or musician. Play the music of Del Cielo to use as a writing, art-creating, or dancing prompt. What mood, meaning, or expression are the students trying to convey? Students can represent music with math and math with music because both subjects use number concepts, sequence, groupings, and patterns. Have students create a rhythmic phrase and play it on their bodies or an instrument to feel and hear the pattern. Have students create song lyrics for flamenco music based on curricular content. After the Del Cielo performance, identify the movements and expression observed as well as the instruments used. Have students draw and write about their experience. Also, have students describe how their ideas and feelings changed throughout the performance. Have students write reviews of the performance. Have them include what they liked, what they did not like, what parts they remember the best, and what they think of the performers. Examine the use of color and energy in flamenco. How can students express that through visual arts? The dancers must stay in rhythm and flow from one move to the next. Explore poetry with rhythm and flow. Have your students write their own to reflect their experience of Tango Del Cielo. Invent a headline for an article about Del Cielo that tells why it’s interesting or important. Recommended Reading: ¡Olé Flamenco! by George Ancona Lola's Fandango by Anna Witte Ten Go Tango by Arthur Dorros Under the Mambo Moon by Julia Durango Thea Stilton and the Spanish Dance Mission by Thea Stilton World of Music: Latin America and the Caribbean by Andrew Solway Cultural Traditions in Argentina by Adrianna Morganelli Songs You May Hear: Aligned Standards: “La Cumparsita” by Gerardo Music/Dance Anchor Standard Responding 7: Perceive and Matos Rodríguez analyze artistic work. 8: Interpret intent and meaning in artistic “Introducción al Ángel” by work. 9: Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work. Astor Piazzolla Music/Dance Anchor Standard Connecting 10: Synthesize and “Danza Español” by Manuel relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art. 11: De Falla Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and “Mahnã de Carnaval” by Luiz historical context to deepen understanding. Bonfá Social Studies EALR 3: Geography Component 3.1: Understands “Asturias” by Isaac Albeniz the physical characteristics, cultural characteristics, and “Granada” by Augustine Lara location of places, regions, and spatial patterns on the Earth’s “Spain” by Chic Corea surface. “Libertango” by Astor Piazzolla These materials are solely for educators' non-commercial use. Remember: Watching a live show isn't like : nce e going to a movie because the Da pac of h s performers can hear you! Please nts ug me hro y. Ele s t erg don't distract them, but do laugh e ve en Th mo ith cer w when something is funny, cry an ime A d d t when something is sad, cheer an when something is awesome, and clap at the end. Show the performers you appreciate their hard work and help everyone have a good time! Please see www.fwpaec.org for our field trip guide and more resources!.