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TEACHING ARTIST
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i have taught:- young people (ages 5-12) at an afterschool program called Spotlight Kids in Tribeca for the past 3 years.
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and older people (college-aged) in a few spats as a leave replacement at Neighborhood Playhouse
my experience is mainly with young people.
At Spotlight, I have music directed 6 or 7 shows, created an original jukebox pop adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and I’ve created a curriculum to teach kids ages 8-12 improv and sketch comedy over the course of a school year. These days I mainly teach the older students (7-12 y.o.)
My approach to music for children of that age is centered around character. I find that it is easier to navigate around self-doubt and self-consciousness by keying into what a student finds enjoyable about a character, and encouraging them to make larger choices from that place of fun.
I have taught students Shakespeare (mostly 10-12 y.o.) and have been pleasantly surprised how easy it is for them to follow the language. Granted I’ve heavily edited it and broken it into small parts, but kids, I’ve found, like the opportunity to jump into giant emotions. When I frame Shakespeare’s heightened language as that permission, it cuts through any difficulty they have with the language.
I am looking for more opportunities to teach,
and I am especially looking to teach songwriting to individuals or small groups. If you are an actor or comedian who would like to learn musical theatre songwriting, do not hesitate to reach out.