Gratitude

This post is from Open Dream Ensemble General Manager and Artistic Producer, Rebecca Nussbaum.

Open Dream Ensemble is now in its ninth season! When I reflect back on the years of productions, performances, residencies, and web series, I am filled with gratitude. I am thankful to the cast members, the creative teams, the writers and the directors. I am thankful to the Kenan Institute for the Arts for its ongoing help and to UNCSA for the talent it develops. I am thankful to the arts organizations that book Open Dream and the schools that host us.

 By the numbers alone, Open Dream has now completed its 36th school residency (with over 2500 individual classes instructed), and has performed 450 times for approximately 180,000 youth in 40 North Carolina Counties. The talents and dedication from the 46 cast members over these years has been inspiring and has brought joy, wonder, and original musical theater across North Carolina.

With three weeks remaining in this season, the Open Dream cast is currently performing in Virginia.  This cast of eight has committed to the work of Open Dream with open heart and minds. They have stretched themselves to perform at their best on stage and in the classroom. And to them, I am thankful.

Working

This post is from Chesley Polk pictured here on the left as the Cobbler in Open Dream's production of Big Shoes. 

Having done a few residencies now, you hear all kinds of things from the kids. You hear about their favorite colors, you hear about what their mom does for work, you hear about who was mean at recess, but you also get to hear how you are making a difference.  That's the amazing part and after our last residency at First Ward Creative Arts Academy in Charlotte, NC my teaching partner, Julianne, and I have a chance to carry it with us.  Our class has written us letters describing our week together and sharing their favorite parts.  We see they clearly remember the show and the points that are made in the script.  They discuss our vocabulary words in detail and pull from our artistic lessons in a way that make it clear to me that what we are doing is working.  These letters are also a testament to the teachers at First Ward and most teachers I have come across on our tour and residencies.  These teachers have a tough job; not only teaching a hefty curriculum, but dealing with these children from varying backgrounds and levels of learning.  When we come into the classroom we can only hope for the kind of teachers that we found at First Ward.  In addition to seeing what these kids have learned with us, we get to see them use their imaginations.  Proven in several letters, we see children be inspired to allow themselves to have a dream and hopefully inspired to chase it.

"Dear Ms. Julianne and Mr. Chesley,
I had the best time with you! I thank you for teaching us about landforms and bodies of water. Also some music.  Here are some words we learned about:  volcano, mountain, valley, presto, andante, largo, piano, forte, island, canyon, and cave. Also when we played the games magic sword and when we learned eachothers names. Thank you."

All I can say is thank you!

Vastness of Potential

This post is from Cameron MacManus pictured here playing the trombone at an Open Dream Ensemble school performance. 

Reflecting on our four days at First Ward Elementary in Charlotte, I am struck by two things: the nature of causality in the classroom and the wonderful intuitive creativity of children. 

I’ve heard that good leaders make followers believe that the leader’s objective is actually their own, and that’s certainly true in the classroom.  It has been eye-opening to see just how different the same lesson plan can play out with just a few different choices along the way.  Getting a group of students to be enthusiastic participants is usually pretty easy, but providing them with the structure and guidance to get the most learning out of the experience and work together is an art that I am just beginning to wrap my head around.  The introduction of one errant impulse and the focused energy of the classroom gets splintered in a thousand directions.  When you’ve given them all the right tools, you can feel the momentum of learning pick up and we all seem to fly through the material as a team.  The more I work with students in the classroom, the better I’m able to guide them in ways that allow excitement to be structured and productive.  I felt very fortunate to be learning and growing in this craft every day at First Ward Elementary.

The really cool thing about the students at First Ward is that very few seemed afraid to fail.  They were ready to jump in 100% and the results were often fantastic.  I’m noticing that students at a schools that emphasize the arts like First Ward have much more confidence than those at non arts-centered schools.   By allowing themselves to take chances, follow their intuition, and be creative, they are becoming aware of the vastness of their own potential.  Pretty amazing stuff!

Fearless Firebirds

This blog post is from Julianne Harper picture here as the pink Triplet Ish, Sheepish, in the center.

Wowee! Just finished up another residency at First Ward Elementary in Charlotte, NC.  What a blast and what an incredible school! Each school we travel to is totally different, and you really don't know what to expect. From the first day we were welcomed with open arms and could really feel how important the arts are to this school.  The classrooms were filled with enthusiastic and creative minds, open to anything we threw at them.  Mr. Chesley and I were able to to have a room full of actors, dancers, and musicians at any given time. And of course we weren't just singing and dancing about just anything; we created songs with movement about aquatic ecosystems, made sound wave soul train lines, and composed an orchestral movement representing the flow of a stream into a river into the ocean...all in a day's work! And absolutely without a doubt, none of that would have been possible without the amazing teachers at First Ward. Every teacher we worked with fully supported our non-traditional way of teaching, and joined our lessons side by side with the kids. It makes such a difference when the teachers participate with the children. They adore their teachers and when Ms. Lewis is dancing down the soul train sound wave line, the kids don't hesitate to follow. It's hard to believe that we only have one more residency to teach this season, and the First Ward Firebirds are going to be a tough act to follow!

SO fun!

This post is from Haydee Thompson!      

We had a really great show this morning!  We are in Charlotte and just finished our first day of a four week residency at First Ward Elementary.  I LOVE this school!

You can tell by the bulletin boards and the art work on the walls that this school uses the arts fully to teach a standard curriculum. I appreciate the enthusiasm of the students and the teachers to our infiltration into the classroom, I sense they are open and excited to have us. 

We always start the week off with a performance in the mornings of our first day, and this morning's performance was tremendous, mostly due to the visceral reactions of our audience.  As a troupe it is a treat to hear our audience (the kids) react with laughs, gasps, applause, and in some cases shout outs!  So funny, SO fun!  Schools are chaotic but I really believe that when everyone comes together to watch a live performance we are all engaging in an expanded moment of mutual experience.  ODE is the talk of the campus as a shared and enriching happening!  What a treat to be a part of!

This post is from Wiley Basho Gorn, pictured here as Gordy in Open Dream Ensemble's Big Shoes.

I'm finding a nice flow in the system of the tour. The routines of set up and strike are much smoother and in a way, meditative. I like the repeated tasks that engage the body and mind. It sets me in a good place to begin the show. Building the word of the play from the ground up. I've been really enjoying the 10 minutes before the show begins. I lie on my back, close my eyes, and listen to the sounds of the room. It's a moment to breathe and find physical relaxation. This is definitely the most physically engaging role I've ever played so it's important to have a moment of calm before the storm. Next week we are back in the classroom and I'm looking forward to teaching my first third grade class! Over and out, Wiley P.S. While in Cherokee, Alexander and Gordy went on an adventure to climb a mountain together. Included are photos of their success!

Big Days for Big Shoes

This post is from Cameron MacManus. He is pictured here being hoisted up by the other Open Dreamers in the role of Alexander.

This week we are starting to take Big Shoes on the road. There is something really cool about meeting in the UNCSA parking lot before dawn. The air has this certain energy and a feeling of anticipation at the approach of first light. Still, the cast predictably looks a bit groggy. Everyone sips on a morning coffee or breakfast smoothie and compares notes on sleep quantity and quality. Then, right at the appointed time, we all pile into the van and head out on a new adventure. Some of the passengers stake out a space to sink down into for a few moments of repose. The van rolls into a school or theater parking lot and we all work to unload the gear, arrange our props, and then get our voices and limbs in working order. When showtime arrives we are ‘on it’ - ready to spring into action to deliver a performance that will stick with our young audiences forever. Today we were in Hickory, and then it's on to Mocksville and Cherokee. I have such wonderful memories of exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway and swimming in a frigid creek with last year's cast, and I hope we will have the opportunity for a hike with the entire cast during the mountain portion of our touring schedule this year. Time to catch some ZZZs. There is a big day ahead!