Getting to know each other through writing and music at P186 X

Art Beyond Sight had its first meeting with children from three class at P186 X on Tuesday November 20th, 2012. After Marie Clapot briefly introduced the ABS curriculum, the classes started with a musical introduction lead my Music Therapist Aaron Shragge in which the children said their names in time with a collective rhythm created by hand clapping. In two of the three classes this lead to a rhythmic jam between Aaron's Shakuhachi (Japanese) and several of the students beat-boxing. Marie Clapot then introduced a writing exercise based on the following poem "Where I'm From" by Georges Ella Lyon.

Students were then asked to answer a series of questions that reflect the structure of the poem. The next step was to cross out the questions and write in "I am from" before each of their answers. The resulting poems were humorous and poignant:

I am from my mom's perfume

i am from a school

i am from university

i ma from rap

i am from chicken patties

i am from braids

i am from baggy pants

i am from dirty

i ma from barnamas hospital.

Those children who shared their poems were able to be empowered in expressing their origins and identity in front of the class being supported by Aaron Shragge's Shakuhachi or Flugel Horn.