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Teacher Resource Guide in the an Interview with Spotlight Director/Choreographer Jennifer Weber

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Teacher Resource Guide in the an Interview with Spotlight Director/Choreographer Jennifer Weber teacher resource guide in the an interview with spotlight director/choreographer Jennifer Weber What was your inspiration for creating a hip-hop You have created many diverse productions in your about the version of The Nutcracker? field. How do those previous experiences play into As an artist I am always interested in the collision of your vision for the Hip Hop Nutcracker? performance two worlds that seem extremely different on the surface. I think the more shows you create, the more you learn. Mixing hip hop dance with classical music is something In addition to The Nutcracker, I have choreographed I have been exploring for a long time. I was once asked Stravinsky’s Firebird and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. I’m always The Hip Hop Nutcracker is a modern holiday mash-up “how do you make hip hop vulnerable?” After various looking for ways to be more articulate as a storyteller. for the entire family. Writer Mike Fitelson, choreographer investigations, I came up with the idea to take away the Jennifer Weber, and hip-hop legend Kurtis Blow have 4/4 hip hop beat in order to reveal a wider range of Tell us about your creative background. twisted the original ballet and mixed up Tchaikovsky’s emotional possibilities within the language. How and when did you get started? timeless music to give a contemporary head-spin on the I grew up dancing as a kid and then quit in high school. popular ballet. The idea to create The Hip Hop Nutcracker was actually brought to me by my collaborator, Mike Fitelson. He wanted I went to the University of Pennsylvania and studied This evening-length production is performed by a to create a new twist on a holiday classic that reflects Communications, but while I was there, I missed dancing supercharged cast of a dozen all-star dancers. DJ Boo the diversity of the world today. I love creating narrative so much that I started a student-run dance company remixes along with an electric violinist as they create dance theatre so this was a perfect opportunity for called “Strictly Funk.” I just sort of appointed myself hip-hop interludes throughout the show. Innovative digital me to explore hip hop as storytelling and director and got people to start working graffiti and visuals transform the German landscape what happens when music from the 1800s with me. Over of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s beloved 19th-century fairytale full meets movement from today. “ [The Hip Hop the years I was at Penn, the company of sugarplums to the vibrant, diverse sights and sounds really took off. After I graduated, I came of colorful 1980s Brooklyn. What message, or reaction, do you to NYC and pretty much did the same Nutcracker thing. It was a lot harder to do in NYC, but “We’ve got some of the best dancers in the world performing hope young audiences will come away with from this celebration? is] a new I got my first real choreography job from in a show that is being reimagined in a truly spectacular someone who saw me freestyling at a way,” says Blow. “The creative team has turned this old I hope audiences understand the power of hip-hop as a language for storytelling. nightclub. I never looked back… classic into a new classic, and audiences love this new twist on a Somewhere between the classical score adaptation everywhere we go.” and the contemporary movement there is a holiday classic Who are your influences? For example, The Hip Hop Nutcracker celebrates love, community and celebration of the timelessness of holiday which educators had the biggest the magic of New Year’s Eve. Through the spells cast by magic. I hope audiences will leave the theatre that reflects impact on you and your career? the mysterious Drosselmeyer, young Maria-Clara and her feeling inspired. I think the cast is extremely My main inspirations are Steven Hoggett Nutcracker prince travel back in time to the moment when inspiring in what they can physically do with diversity of the and Scott Graham of the British physical her parents first meet – in a nightclub. Their journey is a their bodies and how they can use movement world today...” theatre company “Frantic Assembly.” I dreamy adventure as they battle with a gang of mice, to so clearly tell a story. I also hope they are was introduced to them while studying visit the Land of Sweets and learn the lessons of the especially inspired by how strong the female abroad in London. Their ability to use holiday season. members of our cast are. In hip-hop, it is all too often that movement to tell stories is so raw and electrifying. I did a the boys do all the power moves, but in our show, the girls few workshops with them over the years and everything I Through the expression of hip-hop culture, the dynamic take on the floor just as often as the guys! know about choreography comes from those workshops. performers of The Hip Hop Nutcracker celebrate the Other than that, I am completely self-taught. I am also magic of the entire holiday season. It is a time for new Are there any similarities from the standard Nutcracker inspired by anyone who doesn’t follow the rules and beginnings on the most inclusive holiday of them production that remain in the hip-hop version? makes their own path to the career of their dreams. all—New Year’s Eve! We use the classical Tchaikovsky score and we tell an updated translation of the famous holiday story. You What important thematic connections do you hope will see the mice and soldiers battle, toys that come young audiences will make? to life, a tree that grows, dancing snowflakes—all the I hope young audiences will see that at its root, elements are present, just with a hip-hop twist. The Hip Hop Nutcracker is about using dance to bring a community together. I think the idea of using art to What can audiences expect to see from the dancers create change is extremely important. during this show? Lots of energy, style, unique movement and magic. Our Tell us about your upcoming performances. dancers are experts in a wide range of classic hip hop What should young audiences key in on? styles including breaking, popping, locking, and waving. The energy of the audience is always so powerful. They are also amazing freestyles and within the show we I hope people can take that energy with them to fuel mix choreography and freestyle to be true to hip hop culture. their holiday season! 2 The Hip Hop Nutcracker hiphopnutcracker.com 3 inspired ideas in the classroom Teacher Focus Student Activity Curriculum Understanding the Origins English Language Arts Show students paintings, photography, images, and graffiti that depict what life was like in the Bronx in the 1970s. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.1 The Message CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.3 Play “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five while students study the images. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7 Explain that Hip Hop is an example of an artistic genre that emerged from a situation of poverty and oppression, Study the images that reflect life in Russia in the Bronx during the 1970s. What do you observe? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.9 Prepare for the CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.4 thereby using art to turn a “negative into a positive”. Listen to “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five while reflecting on what you see. performance Social Studies P Ask students to turn their own negative situations into positive ones by writing affirmations. Listen to the definition and examples of an “affirmation” to inspire positive messaging. NCSS.I.c Affirmation: A statement, declaration or assertion that is encouraging and emotionally supportive Become the messenger by writing and sharing your own affirmative statement. NCSS.II.c like a positive message. Affirmations are written in the present tense as a desired outcome or intended result. National Arts Standards Anchor # 11 Examples of Affirmations: I am “Notorious.” I am brilliant & so are my ideas. I am dynamic & lit. Yes, Yes, Y’all! Engage Your Senses Active Audience Members Listen to the music! What’s the tone? How does it make you feel? Experience the At the performance, encourage students to pay close attention to the movement, lighting, costumes, and music. Ask them National Arts Standards Watch the lighting changes! What does it say about the mood? How does that add to your experience? performance what are they hoping to see? Ask them to think about the following as they watch the performance: How does the lighting Anchor #7 and music make you feel? What emotions do you feel as you wait for the curtain to rise and the lights to dim? What’s the Notice how the music and lights play a role in telling the story. EE vibe in the theater throughout the performance? How do the two art forms (ballet and hip hop) work together in the performance? Chain Reaction Ask students to recall what stood out to them from the performance. Where did the scenes take place? English Language Arts Form a circle (or cypher) and call out a character, setting, or conflict from the show. Students start a chain reaction by Who were some of the characters they remember? What was that character’s role in the story? CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7 Reflect, making a gesture or a movement with their body based off of this word or phrase.
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