Jun 28
Well, the show’s about to start! The dress reheasal was inspiring, really. To see the way these kids have bonded and created something so beautiful – transcending theater, really – is very moving.
If you aren’t here in the theater now, watch it live at www.kidzconnect.org/shows.
We’re adding a Q&A “talk back” for after the show, allowing audience members to ask questions and try out Second Life by exploring with an avatar. If you watch the live online broadcast or come to the live show in the Patel Conservatory’s TECO Theater at the TBPAC, you’ll get to meet all the creators of the show, including director, choreographers, musicians and performers. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 if you procrastinate until tomorrow. Or, you can watch online for free at www.kidzconnect.org/shows.
I’ll be sad to see this all end. It’s been a blast getting to watch this whole amazing process develop into an actual show, involving technology and traditional theater. Until next year when hopefully, we’ll meet again. And in Second Life, we can meet anywhere, anytime!
“Better than expected.” While some of us did have some great expectations, the overall consensus expressed by students and even the creators of Kidz Connect, is that reality has surpassed even our highest expectations. “They get the vision; they’re making it their own,” says creator Josephine Dorado, adding that it’s exciting to see the project manifested and to see how engaged the students have become.
15-year-old Ivaniel had thought the workshop might be boring and he has been more than pleasantly surprised. Turns out he’s having a great time and the workshop has been anything but boring. Eight hours a day for two weeks these students been working, creating avatars and building spaces in Teen Second Life, learning songs and dance moves, getting to know each other here and video streaming and bonding with teens in Europe.
Vanessa had previously researched Teen Second Life and says she knew a bit what to expect. “It’s been fun learning what things are like over there because it’s different than here,” Vanessa says. Meghan, 13, plans to keep her avatar and stay in touch with her new friends in Holland.
Like them, the Dutch teens go to school and like to hang out with their friends, Vanessa observes. Director Lisa Powers has noticed that the teens are focusing on similarities, ties that bind them, so to speak. Then, they notice the differences, which have mostly been about styles of living, such as transportation. The Floridian youth are primarily driven from place to place, while the Dutch ride more bicycles and walk, Lisa says.
This whole cultural exchanges helps to prepare them to live together, to live in a world where we have many differences, but where fundamentally, we’re all alike. The way it’s going, these students have a real shot at making the “real” world better for us all.
“We can change the world, today, if we mean just what we say…
If we want to come together, the solution depends on whether…
We are real, let’s be real; there’s a bond that can be sealed-
Let’s be real, it is time for the world…to be real!”
–from the song, “What is Real?” written for Kidz Connect by James Crumbly
I have another confession: I never really “got” hip hop before Kidz Connect. Rap music has never been my favorite. But listening to the kids rapping to ranney’s song yesterday has given me a new respect and enjoyment of this art form.
The students were given the lyrics and the rhythm and got to work. And let me just say, it is work. They had fun, twisting their tongues around lyrics like “correlation or causation – situation or equation; validation or negation – stimulation of each nation” – but it wasn’t easy. Ranney (itsranney.com) suggested they study their breathing and consider melody. “Great hip hop artists have a melody in their voices,” he explained. He encouraged them to use their “voices and attitudes” to stay on rhythm.
About the lyrics, I kept wondering how on earth he was able to come up with these words – words with rhythm, but with meaning so deep they kept true to our workshop theme of “What Is Real?” Words the kids can relate to, words that provoke thought and meaningful discussion.
“We are given this world as a problem to be solved
From sunrise to sunset – or is it that we revolve?
Truth is what you make it, so you better find your peace
How does one make their truth better in the Middle East?” ranney wrote and the kids chant.
From politics to fashion to sports to musical tastes, these teens have been learning about each other and life across the world. Similarities and differences in our “real” world and in our “virtual” world. As ranney wrote:
“Schools out, schools in – both are in class
They bike it home; we pump the gas
Everyone gets home; it’s much respect
All go online where we connect
No fuss, just us, virtual bliss
The world we know does not exist
It’s different world; yet it’s all the same
It’s a second life – we can rearrange
The laws, the rules – they all are ours
And we co-exist with our avatars”
“How will we do this and dance at the same time?” one student asked. Someone else suggested half the group dance and half the group sing. That’s real collaboration. They were still discussing it when it was time to break for lunch.
While I write this, I’m watching our Kidz Connect teens learn dance moves from The Lion King’s dance captain, Jason Lewis, which is a great example of how all-encompassing this workshop is, and what an amazing experience. Some of our kids don’t consider themselves “dancers” necessarily, but they are learning to dance. Some of our kids don’t really consider themselves “singers” or “actors,” but they are learning it and most importantly, stretching their boundaries and proving to themselves that they can do this.
And while they’re experiencing all this, it’s clear to see they’re gaining confidence and making friends, possibly lifelong friendships. Two of the boys, who before last week had never met, are now writing
music together outside of class. This is creativity in action.
To help them see a professional show up close, and to watch Jason in action, the workshop participants are being treated by TBPAC to see “The Lion King.” Jason plays a hyena, and it will be interesting to hear the students’ reactions after they see the show.
Technology is truly a wonderful thing! You might wonder how much “cultural exchange” can really take place Watching the students in Amsterdam on the computer screen interact with our students in Tampa and “meeting” virtually
Just as moving has been watching our Tampa teens – several of which were inexperienced in and not too confident about dancing and singing – learn dance moves and songs by our awesome choreographers and composers, created just for this program.
What an incredible opportunity for these kids. Makes me wish I were a teenager – well, almost.
Wow – Opening day for Kidz Connect was yesterday, and sappy as I am, I was so moved that I literally had to fight back tears. Watching the kids enter the room, wait in awkward silence for something to happen, nervously introduce themselves and talk about what they knew – or wished to know – about the workshop was so moving somehow. Behind the scenes, we’ve been working on the project for months. And finally, here are the teens! As our very charismatic and amiable director Lisa Powers told them, “You are the missing piece…. This is your creation.”
And it was so obvious to see how fantastic, and not to exaggerate, but how life-changing this workshop can be for these young people! By the end of the first hour, you could already see budding friendships beginning to emerge. By the end of the day, the awkwardness was gone, the teens were happy and feeling comfortable with each other.
Even though we don’t connect with our Amsterdam counterparts until today, the cultural exchange has begun! We have participating students of several different nationalities and races and every person in the room attends a different school.
In my experience, Tampa can be a city where you have to work to befriend folks who are different from yourself. We have diversity but not always a lot of intermingling and at least in my neighborhood, there isn’t even much diversity, so it’s thrilling to see everyone coming together.
People always talk about “tolerance,” but I think the word should be “appreciation.” Our differences set our nation apart and make our country, and our community, amazing. Kidz Connect is already serving as a way to teach about that appreciation. Not to harp on the diversity topic, but the main point of the workshop – even though it involves singing, dancing, computers and drama – is about cultural exchange. And when the students went around the room to say what they already knew about the project, most mentioned getting to know people in Amsterdam. When asked what they already knew about Amsterdam, only one girl raised her hand to offer that she’d heard about riots there and that marijuana is legal. So we have a long way to go on our journey. We are just embarking and as Lisa told the students, “We’ll see what we’re going to do!”
I have to admit that I’m new to social media. Six months ago, I’d never heard of Second Life, let alone Teen Second Life (TSL). I had no Facebook or MySpace account, would have thought “Twitter” was a type of bird and had never written a blog entry.
So it’s with much delight that I find myself now involved in the fascinating Kidz Connect project, about to embark on a three-week educational frenzy, with an avatar of my own and more accounts and pages than I can reasonably keep track of. Some of the students that the teachers and I will work with will probably already have their own avatars in TSL and be experienced in online communications than I am. I look forward to learning from them. Other teens, we’ll have the joy of introducing to the amazing virtual world of TSL and watching them blossom along with the creation of their avatars.
Personally, I’m most excited about watching the students learn about their counterparts. Since I’m geographically located in Tampa, I’ll see the Floridian teens discover life, culture and youth in Holland and am sure to learn right along with them. Although I did get to travel to Amsterdam, it was before our students were even born! It will also be interesting to see the students here explain about themselves, their community and their country to those abroad.
We have one week to go before classes start and everyone involved with the project is busy finalizing and perfecting lessons plans. But the truth is, I think we all know that planning will only go so far and we’re setting off on an adventure with a group of young people we’ve never met – some of whom we never will meet in person – who will influence us as much as we’ll influence them.
May 27
The Kidz Connect teachers are coming up with intriguing ways for the Tampa and Amsterdam teens to intermingle. They’ll be asking and answering questions like, in your community,
*how do people greet each other?
*how do people get from place to place?
*what do you eat/what is your favorite meal?
*what do you wear to school?
*what does your neighborhood look like?
*what does your neighborhood sound like?
Students will answer these questions in writing and also via videography, photography, creating in Teen Second Life, and will incorporate into theater, music and movement. Teens will have time at the end of class to write in their journals about their thoughts and experiences in this cultural exchange.
Teen summer employment is the lowest it’s been in 60 years. Many jobs that used to be there for teens simply don’t exist anymore. Participating in Kidz Connect could be a great way for teens to spend some time in June and gain valuable experience in developing in virtual worlds. An interesting article in the Wall Street Journal recently discussed this problem of fewer teen jobs and talked about some teenagers who are earning real money by working in virtual worlds. Read it here: http://tinyurl.com/4wdtdd
It’s so unusual to find a place or program in Tampa that allows our teens to get to know other teenagers from another country, especially in such a creative environment as the Kidz Connect workshop will be. Bonding with students from Holland should definitely be a memorable and eye-opening experience!
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