BRIAN GILLIE

Brian Gillie, past YAC Artist of the Year and CCT Master Teaching Artist, is a rare artist who does it all: singer, dancer, pianist, educator and historian. His interactive performances and workshop showcase the histories, stylings and novelty of America’s social dances and popular songs from 1776 to today. View Brian Gillie on YouTube.

Song, Dance and the Possibilities (Grade K-6)

Try Brian’s anyone can write a song and anyone can invent a dance experience! Learn the predictable ingredients of song and dance and then dare to break the rules to create the extraordinary. Sing a ragtime classic in doo-wop style, add rap rhythms to a jazz tune and create a hip-hop Charleston. Length: 60 minutes

Song, Dance and the Possibilities – the Holiday Version (Grades K – 6, families)

Flying reindeer? Dancing snowmen? Students invent outrageous new versions of some old, holiday song favorites and then create a hip, holiday dance to a funky seasonal tune; all this while exploring language, poetry, music and pop culture. Ho Ho Ho! Length: 60 minutes

Dance in America (Grade K-6)

Seen your students dance lately? History, humor and period music accompany dances from Charleston to Cha Cha, Ragtime to Rumba, and Lindy Hop to Hip Hop. Students participate throughout the presentation of over 35 dances. Length: 60 minutes plus workshop.

Salute to Song in America (Grades K-8)

An amazing multimedia mix of live and prerecorded music, biographies and history capture the essence of songs, singers and composers from patriots, Civil War, ragtime, Broadway, swing, rock and everything in-between. Length: 60 minutes

Early Rock & Roll (Grade 3-12)

History, humor, costumes, props, original sound bites, standup piano playing, radio commercials and impersonations serve to reveal rock’s evolution from blues to doo-wop, Motown to Beatles and more. Sh-BOOM! Length: 60 minutes

Rhythm and Music (Family and Community Program)

Brian’s original songs and dances require audience participation to help complete cool lyrics and funky moves. Creative, uplifting fun! Length: 60 minutes

NEW!! Raps, Rhythms and Moves of the Hip Hop Culture Workshop or Residency (Grades 3 & up)

Hollywood and 5th Avenue continue to use the elements of hip hop to reach the next generation of children; why not educators? Hip hop is the perfect catalyst for exploring elements of poetry, rhythms and dance in the language of contemporary youth. Language-based experiences alone put many students at a disadvantage, but hip hop arts use sights, sounds and movement to accommodate multiple ways of understanding.

Hip Hop arts provide important vehicles for learning about metaphors, rhymes, meter, movement capabilities, self-awareness, social consciousness and collaboration. First, students learn facets of poetry and style, discuss the poems of Langston Hughes and the lyrics of Public Enemy in preparation for creating poems based on topical concerns. Next, students learn and create hip hop rhythm patterns that will accompany their new poems to create full-fledged raps. Finally, students master basic pops, locks and robotic dance moves enabling them to take their raps and rhythms to a whole new level of performance.

Through these expressive arts, students awaken to joys of their own hidden talents and experience the therapeutic effects of an enhanced emotional vocabulary. When most media sources do not address their concerns, hip hop is reputable counsel for youths coping in today’s environment. Lively! Interactive!! Thought-provoking!!!

Dance Workshops and Residencies Include:

Swing Dance

Ballroom and Rock Dances of the last 75 years, Folk Dances 1700- 1900

Never Too Small to Dance and Boogie

FEES:

Single Performance: $550

Back to Back Performances: $775

Evening Family Performance $670

CCT FUNDING AVAILABLE

Curriculum Links:

Social Studies, Music, Dance, Physical Education, Language Arts
PWART

Study Guides:

Study Guide 1 – Song and Dance

Study Guide 2 – Raps Rhythms and Moves

Study Guide 3 – Social Dance

Study Guide – Hip Hop

WEBSITE: www.BrianGillie.com