Friendship

This week our theme has been Friendship. When asked what friendship is the children responded that it was a celebration, sharing, playing, love, and being kind to each other. On Friday at 2 PM we will be having a Friendship parade to celebrate!

Guest Artists

This has been a rich and lively week. The children have immersed themselves in the world of jazz. They are humming a tisket-a-tasket, talking about Charlie Parker and the Cotton Club, and "skatting" like pros. They are true improvisors. We had some wonderful guests come in to share their music with us. Pyeng Threadgill is a professional jazz artist and voice teacher. She was instrumental in bringing this week to life. She shared her passion and understanding of jazz with all of us. Carolynn Murphy also joined us this week. Carolynn is multi-faceted. She is an environmental educator and a jazz artist. She brings all of her talents to share with YPT this summer. Celia Caro is the visual teaching artist who has worked with the children this week. Chances are you have heard about Celia. The children adore her. She brings our performance work to another level by giving the children interesting materials to create art with that deepen their exploration of the theme. All of us work collaboratively and discuss the needs of the individual children and the ensemble as a whole. Our mission is the same. We want to provide the children the tools to explore, connect, discover, express, and create.

Summer Arts Program Week 3: JAZZ AND POETRY

Teaching Artist Pyeng Threadgill conducts the A-train. Children put on their fancy threads and pack a picnic lunch and head down south to Mississippi and Louisiana to listen and feel the jazz of the early 20th century. Then they make their way back to Harlem, New York City and sizzle to Charlie "Bird" Parker on his sax.





Celia, our visual artist came in and talked to us about Kandinsky and how listening to Jazz inspired him to paint. He was an improvisor. The children created art in Kandinsky's style and listened to Jazz an made art. They used crayons, creamy crayons, water to create a wash with the creamy crayons, and finally water color. It was magnificent watching them work together and create discover new way to use the materials. They listed to Thelonious Monk, Tito Puente, Herbie Hancock, and Duke Ellington. Some expressed how their moods, feelings, and rhythms changed with the different music and how this affected how they drew or painted.

Summer Arts Program

Our summer program is comprised of eleven week-long programs that allow the children to immerse themselves in a theme and explore it through theater, music, movement and dance, and visual art. You can sign up your child for as many weeks as you like. Each week is unique and will not repeat itself so your child can come for the entire summer and remain engaged!

The space is located just a block from inspiring Prospect Park. We will spend lots of time exploring, playing, and creating outdoors. The Park will always be a part in our day and children will picnic, have free play, take nature walks, and even make art outdoors each day as long as the weather permits.

We are a small, family-run program whose . staff is made up of professional teaching artists and educators. Our top priorities are to ensure the safety and well-being of each child and to make sure everyone is engaged, connected, and having fun! We want them to have a memorable summer experience.Since the group size is small, our warm and nurturing staff has the time to get to know the children and their individual needs. We like to hear what you have to share about your child and we observe and listen

to the children. We create an environment where each child feels safe and supported. We allow them the space and time to explore, connect, and make new discoveries. We understand that summer is a time to slow down from school-year routines and we consciously honor that by allowing time and space to play and smell the roses!

Over the course of the week children will create an ensemble with their peers and will collaboratively develop a short piece that is shared on Fridays at 2 PM. Parents and friends are invited to come to share and celebrate at that time!

 

Join Us for World Theater Day

Celebrate theater every day, but especially on March 27th, World Theater Day. This year YPT held the festivities at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture. Jon Samson of CoCreative Music led a sing-along with songs from his newly released CD. Jeri of CoCreative Faces painted lots of beautiful faces and transformed children into lions, butterflies, and superheroes (just to name a few). Scott Davis and Stephanie Wells, YPT teaching artists led family sing-alongs that got the entire crowd singing and dancing. Children and grown-ups played theater games and acted out their favorite stories. The day came to a festive close with Simba telling an African folk tale and dancing with live drumming.