Atelier

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Rooted in Professor of Creative Writing Patricia Smith's monumental book of poetry, Blood Dazzler, four award-winning artists will lead students in a collaborative creative process for building performance through poetry, dance, music, and visual art. Blood Dazzler centered on Hurricane Katrina, a deadly category 5 storm. Twenty years later, students will research the storm and its ongoing aftermath, including watching documentaries, conducting interviews, attending events, reading, and writing.

Taught by Bridget Kearney (Lake Street Dive) and Bartees Strange with class visits from guest singer/songwriters and music critics, this course is an introduction to the art of writing words for music, an art at the core of our literary tradition from the Beowulf poet through Lord Byron and Bessie Smith to Bob Dylan and the Notorious B.I.G.. Composers, writers and performers will have the opportunity to work in small songwriting teams to respond to such emotionally charged themes as Gratitude, Loss, Protest, Desire, Joyousness, Remorse, and Defiance.

Led by Choreographer Kyle Marshall and Creative Director Edo Tastic, of dance company Kyle Marshall Choreography. This course will embrace an interdisciplinary approach to art making. Through movement, poetry and visual art, students will explore their individual and collective experiences of people living in the United States of America. Students will build their own choreographic structures, poetic works, and visual stories informed by American historical documents, iconic speeches and expansive poetry. The course will culminate in a final public multidisciplinary presentation with dance and speaking. All experience levels are welcome.