Paige in Full: A B-Girls Visual Mixtape OnStage Resource Guide 2018 19 overture.org /onstage Overture Center for the Arts fills a city block in downtown Madison with ABOUT world-class venues for the performing and visual arts. Made possible by an OVERTURE CENTER extraordinary gift from Madison businessman W. Jerome Frautschi, the center presents the highest-quality arts and entertainment programming in FOR THE ARTS a wide variety of disciplines for diverse audiences. Offerings include performances by acclaimed classical, jazz, pop, and folk performers; touring Broadway musicals; quality children’s entertainment; and world-class ballet, modern and jazz dance. Overture Center’s extensive outreach and educational programs serve thousands of Madison-area residents annually, including youth, older adults, people with limited financial resources and people with disabilities. The center is also home to ten independent resident organizations. Internationally renowned architect Cesar Pelli designed the center to RESIDENT provide the best possible environment for artists and audiences, as well as ORGANIZATIONS to complement Madison’s urban environment. Performance spaces range Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society from the spectacular 2,250-seat Overture Hall to the casual and intimate Children's Theater of Madison Rotunda Stage. The renovated Capitol Theater seats approximately 1,110, Forward Theater Company and The Playhouse seats 350. In addition, three multi-purpose spaces Kanopy Dance Company provide flexible performance, meeting and rehearsal facilities. Overture Li Chiao-Ping Dance Company Center also features several art exhibit spaces. Overture Galleries I, II and Madison Ballet III display works by Dane County artists. The Playhouse Gallery features Madison Opera regional artists with an emphasis on collaborations with local organizations. Madison Symphony Orchestra The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters’ Watrous Gallery Wisconsin Academy’s James Watrous Gallery displays works by Wisconsin artists, and the Madison Museum of Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra Contemporary Art offers works by national and international artists. RESOURCE GUIDE CREDITS Executive Editor Meri Rose Ekberg Writer/Designer Danielle Dresden Paige in Full Overture Centerfor the Arts – OnStage 1 Dear Teachers, In this resource guide you will find valuable information to help you apply academic goals to your students’ performance experience. We have included suggestions for activities which can help you prepare students to see this performance, ideas for follow-up activities, and additional resources you can access on the web. Along with these activities and resources, we’ve also included the applicable Wisconsin Academic Standards in order to help you align the experience with your curriculum requirements. This Educator’s Resource Guide is designed to: • Extend the scholastic impact of the performance by providing discussion ideas, activities and reading to promote learning across the curriculum; • Promote arts literacy by expanding students’ knowledge of music, science, storytelling and theatre; • Illustrate that the arts are a legacy reflecting the values, customs, beliefs, expressions and reflections of a culture; • Use the arts to teach about the cultures of other people and to celebrate students’ own heritage through self-reflection; Table of Contents • Maximize students’ enjoyment and appreciation of the About Paige in Full .................................2 performance. About Hip Hop & the Creative Team .........3 We hope the performance and this resource guide will provide you and your students with opportunities to integrate art learning in Elements of Hip Hop & Vocabulary ............4 your curricula, expanding it in new and enriching ways. Bullying & More Vocabulary ......................5 Enjoy the Show! Haiku & Discussion Questions ...................6 Resources ...............................................7 Curriculum Categories Learning Activity ..................................8-9 Language Arts Social Emotional Social Studies Academic Standards .............................. 10 About Live Performance .........................11 We want your feedback! OnStage performances can be evaluated online! Evaluations are vital to the funding of this program. Your feedback educates us about the ways the program is utilized and we often implement your suggestions. Survey: https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/4318898/OnStage-Post-Show-Survey Paige in Full Overture Centerfor the Arts – OnStage 2 About Paige in Full Paige Hernandez Paige in Full: a B-girl’s Visual Mixtape is a hip-hop About the Creative Team coming-of-age story, told through theater, dance, poetry, the visual arts and music. It deals with questions of love, Paige Hernandez (writer/performer/choreographer) – A identity, popular culture, and trying to fit in as a person of multi-cultural and multi-talented artist, Paige went to mixed race background. high school at the Baltimore School for the Arts and received a BA in theater and broadcast journalism from To tell the story of her life, Paige Hernandez collaborated the University of Maryland, College Park. An actor with her brother, Nick tha 1 da, a musician. She says his and choreographer throughout the Washington DC beats “inspired 20+ characters, 18 poems, 7 live music area, her one-woman shows, Havana Hop and Paige (DJ) sets and 8 dance routines.” in Full, have been seen around the country. She mixes entertainment and education just as effectively as she The one hour show includes multimedia projections, mixes artistic disciplines. To date, she has reached approx. graffiti-inspired sets, and a call and response set. 10,000 students, from Pre-K through college, in over 100 This is how the author describes the production, “I residencies, workshops and performances. wanted a story that would help to reclaim the positive Nick tha 1 da (live beats/sound design) – Along with energy that hip hop was once known to create. I wanted being Hernandez’ brother, Nick tha 1 da is an award- a story that was all at once international, and ‘around winning musician. His samples and drums form the the way.’ Lastly, I wanted a story for little girls of color. I soundtracks for several independent films and he has want them to know that no matter where they fall in the produced for other hip hop artists, such as Wes Fulton, rainbow, their voice is interesting, unique and needs to be Asheru, and Raheem DeVaughn. heard.” Paige in Full Overture Centerfor the Arts – OnStage 3 About Hip Hop & the Creative Team Hip hop was born in the schoolyards, parks, and subways of New York City, specifically the Bronx and Harlem. It is street culture created in a world of high unemployment, violence, repression, and unstoppable creativity. Even though it is now used to sell everything from sneakers to phone plans, hip hop began as an independent, non- commercial cultural movement, all about making things your own and taking control of the means of artistic production. The title of the play, Paige in Full, is a reference to “Paid in Full,” a hip hop tune recorded by Eric B. and Rakim in 1987. The album of the same title is considered a hip hop classic and was ranked as #227 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s top 500 greatest albums of all time. Clive Campbell, better known as DJ Kool Herc and one of the originators of hip hop, kicked off what would grow into a cultural phenomenon when he noticed that dancers went crazy for the percussion-only breaks in popular songs, because it gave them a chance to show off their dance moves. DJ Kool Herc then figured out how to use two turntables to cut back and forth between the same song to extend the breaks, added MCs, Masters of Ceremony or rappers, and a movement was born. Other innovators would follow, like Joseph Saddler, or Grandmaster Flash, who improved cuing, added DJ Kool Herc choreographed moves, a drum machine, and scratching with an elbow. More About the Creative Team Danielle Drakes (director/producer) – A graduate of Goucher College with an MFA from The Catholic University of America. Drakes has performed with Ford’s Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, and many other theaters. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. Tewodross Melchishua (video/projections) – The creative director for Visual Jazz Media Group, and an Associate Professor in visual communication at Bowie State University, Melchishua. He has a BA in Art/Photographic Media from Morgan State University, and an MFA in Imaging & Digital Arts from UMBC. He has produced work in video/ film, animation, traditional and digital art; music videos and video installation. Paige in Full Overture Centerfor the Arts – OnStage 4 Hip Hop Elements & Vocabulary Hip Hop Montage The Five Elements of Selected Show Vocabulary Hip Hop • B-Girl – A B-Girl is a female breakdancer, or As hip hop grew and expanded it became more than a fun new general fan of hip hop culture. music and dance style seen at parties. The following are the • Fly girl – Now a general term for an attractive, 5 key elements of hip hop, as described by hip hop pioneer, proud young woman, the “Fly Girls” were DJAfrika Bambaataa, of the hip hop collective, Zulu Nation: the high-energy female dance troupe • DJing – Manipulating recordings and other sound sources featured on In Living Color, a sketch comedy to make music, emphasizing the beat. television show highlighting African-American performers. J Lo was a member of the troupe, • MCing, or Rapping