Kidz Connect

(Scroll down for German version)

The Macondo Dance Connect project was a mixed reality performance project created in collaboration with Cabula 6, ZoomLab/Kidz Connect and the dance organization Tanzquartier Wien and involved bringing kids together from the Macondo refugee community using dance, mapping, storytelling and the virtual world Second Life.

The objective of the Macondo Dance Connect project was to re-connect youth from the refugee community to their native cultures by allowing them to creatively explore their own history and current living circumstances, while allowing them to discover the nature of cultural identity through creative collaboration and performance in virtual space.

We facilitated a process in which we asked the students to take pictures in their neighborhood, make dance phrases, and write about their family’s journey to the Macondo, thereby providing an outlet for expression and sharing between cultures.

We hoped to provide a cultural exchange through shared creativity that would enable the youth to gain a sense of empowerment as they explored their identities through mapping, storytelling and dance, inspired by their native cultures as well as their newly acquired cultures.

There was a workshop component inside the virtual world Teen Second Life which provided the students with the ability to explore identity through the use of avatars and roleplaying. The workshop enabled them to expand their notions of evolving identity, making it dynamic and creative precisely at a moment in their lives when their multiple identities are both in flux and in danger.

Cabula6 had been working within the Macondo community, creating some interesting installations – one of which involved mapping. Their Living Maps exhibition entailed “individual maps, fantasies and visions of Macondo drawn by different people who have lived in the neighborhood anywhere from fifty years to 1 month…fused into a single massive map and displayed on the billboard wall of the Zinnergasse-Kaserne bus stop.”

This is a shot of a graphic on the Zinnergasse-Kaserne bus stop that was part of Cabula6’s Living Maps installation. The bus stop, which is the only bus stop into and out of the Macondo, became inspiration for digital storytelling; we made virtual replicas of the bus stop in Second Life and students applied their images and stories to them (see below):

Below is a shot of one of the virtual bus stops in Teen Second Life. Each student had their own virtual bus stop and mapped their story and images onto them. When you click on the virtual bus stop, it displays the story of each student’s journey to the Macondo, i.e., “My name is Suzan and I am from Syria. On my journey to Macondo I have been to so many places: Syria, Turkey 2 days, Bulgaria 2 days, in Germany half a day, in Austria and here I am now.” By encouraging students to map aspects of their neighborhood and history onto objects in the Teen Second Life environment, a virtual extension of their experiences became part of the online performance.

Below is a shot from the performance in which you can see the students dancing as avatars in Teen Second Life as well as in real life on the video screens above the stage:

In a series of progressive sessions within a workshop from 8-16 May 2009, the students explored cultural identity through avatar roleplaying and learned performance skills involving dance, while also learning technical skills such as digital storytelling in Teen Second Life, in order to create a mixed reality performance that occurred both live and online simultaneously. The performance was on saturday, 16 May, live and online at 12:00pm GMT+1. Viewers were able to view it on a regular web page as well as within Teen Second Life.

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(in deutsch)

Das Macondo Dance Connect-Projekt ist ein mixed reality performance-Projekt, was etwa soviel wie „vermischte Realitäten-Darbietung“ bedeutet, und wurde durch die Kooperation von Cabula 6, ZoomLab/Kidz Connect und der Tanzorganisation Tanzquartier Wien geschaffen. Es beinhaltet das Zusammenbringen von Kindern aus der gesamten Macondo-Flüchtlingscommunity durch ihre jeweiligen Tänze, Erzählungen und Fotos ihrer Umgebung und die Einbindung der virtuellen Welt von Second Life.

Das Ziel des Macondo Dance Connect-Projekts ist das Wiederverbinden der jungen Flüchtlinge mit ihren ursprünglichen Kulturen durch die Möglichkeit innerhalb eines kreativen Prozesse ihre eigene Geschichte und ihre aktuellen Lebensumstände und Umgebung zu erforschen. Dabei sollen sie die Natur der kulturellen Identität durch kreatives Zusammenarbeiten im virtuellen Raum entdecken.

Wir werden den Prozess erleichtern, indem wir die Schüler bitten, ihre Umgebung zu fotografieren, kleine Tanzeinheiten zu gestalten, und Geschichten über ihre Reise nach Macondo zu schreiben.

Wir wollen einen kulturellen Austausch durch gemeinsame Kreativität ermöglichen, der die Jugendlichen befähigt, ein Gefühl für ihre eigenen Stärken zu bekommen, während sie ihre Identitäten durch Mapping, Storytelling und Tanz erforschen.

Eine Workshopkomponente findet innerhalb der virtuellen Welt von Teen Second Life statt, welche den Schülern erlaubt, ihre Persönlichkeiten durch das Benutzen von Avataren und Rollenspielen zu erleben. Der Workshop soll ihre Auffassung von Persönlichkeitsentwicklung dynamisch und kreativ erweitern und das an einem Punkt ihres Lebens, an dem ihre verschiedenen Persönlichkeiten sowohl in Fluss als auch in Gefahr sind.

Cabula6 arbeiten innerhalb der Macondocommunity und hat dabei einige interessante Installationen geschaffen – eine davon beinhaltet Mapping. Ihre Living Maps-Ausstellung („Lebende Karten“) führte zu „individuellen Maps (Karten), Fantasien und Visionen von Macondo gezeichnet von verschiedenen Menschen, die zwischen bereits 50 Jahren oder erst einem Monat in der Nachbarschaft leben. Alles zusammengeführt in einer großen Karte und gezeigt auf der großen Plakatwand der Bushaltestelle Zinnergasse-Kaserne.“

Das Macondo Dance Connect-Programm baut auf diesem Erfolg auf und ermutig die Schüler Aspekte ihrer Nachbarschaft auf Objekten in Teen Second Life abzubilden, sodass die virtuelle Erweiterung ihrer Erfahrungen ein Teil des Onlineauftritts wird.

In einer aufbauenden Serie von Sitzungen während des Workshops vom 8. bis 16 Mai werden die Schüler Fähigkeiten für den Auftritt lernen, wie etwa Tanzen, aber auch technische Fähigkeiten wie digitales Geschichtenerzählen und Kreieren in der virtuellen Welt von Teen Second Life, wodurch ein Auftritt mit gemischten Realitäten entsteht, der sowohl live als auch online gleichzeitig stattfindet. Dieser Auftritt wird am Samstag, 16.Mai, 12:00 GMT+1, vor Ort und online zu sehen sein. Du kann kannst es dir über eine normale Webpage ansehen, genauso wie auch in Teen Second Life.

Tags: avatars, dance, identity, Macondo, mapping, performance, program, Second Life

The Macondo Dance Connect project has been green-lit! It is a mixed reality performance project created in collaboration with Cabula 6 and the dance organization Tanzquartier Wien and will involve bringing kids together from the Macondo refugee community using folk dance, mapping and Second Life.

The objective of the Macondo Dance Connect project is to re-connect youth from the refugee community to their native cultures by allowing them to explore and identify with folk dance from their native countries, while allowing them to discover the nature of cultural identity through creative collaboration in virtual space.

[Image from Cabula6 in the Macondo]

We will facilitate a process in which we ask the students to make dance phrases based on the kind of movement and folk dances they may have learned in their native countries, thereby allowing them to reconnect with their native cultures through dance and providing an outlet for expression and sharing between cultures.

We hope to provide a cultural exchange through shared creativity that will enable the youth to gain a sense of empowerment as they explore their identities through dance, inspired by their native cultures as well as their newly acquired cultures.

There will be a workshop component inside the virtual world Teen Second Life which will provide the students with the ability to explore identity through the use of avatars and roleplaying. The workshop will enable them to expand their notions of evolving identity, making it dynamic and creative precisely at a moment in their lives when their multiple identities are both in flux and in danger.

Cabula6 has been working within the Macondo community, creating some interesting installations – one of which involves mapping. Their Living Maps exhibition entails “individual maps, fantasies and visions of Macondo drawn by different people who have lived in the neighborhood anywhere from fifty years to 1 month…fused into a single massive map and displayed on the billboard wall of the Zinnergasse-Kaserne bus stop.” The Macondo Dance Connect program will build upon this effort, encouraging the students to map aspects of their neighborhood onto objects in the Teen Second Life environment, so that a virtual extension of their experiences becomes part of the online performance.

In a series of progressive sessions within a workshop from 8-16 May, the students will learn performance skills involving dance, while also learning technical skills such as digital storytelling and creating in the online virtual world Teen Second Life, in order to create a mixed reality performance that will occur both live and online simultaneously. The performance will be on saturday, 16 May, live and online. You’ll be able to view it on a regular web page as well as within Teen Second Life. Stay tuned for more details…

Tags: dance, Macondo, mapping, Second Life

A Kidz Connect project connecting youth refugee communities in Vienna and Berlin is in the works. The program, initiated by Cabula 6 and the dance organization Tanzquartier Wien, will involve bringing kids together from Berlin and the Macondo community on the outskirts of Vienna.

The teens will meet via videoconferencing to create a dance theater performance together online. We will facilitate a process in which we ask the kids to make dance phrases based on the kind of movement and folk dances they may have learned in their native countries, thereby allowing them to reconnect with their native cultures through dance and providing an outlet for expression and sharing between cultures.

[Images from Cabula6 in the Macondo]

What they all have in common is that they have fled their native countries due to violence and hardship. As refugees, acclimating to a new culture can be a jarring experience. We hope to provide a virtual cultural exchange through shared creativity that will enable the youth to gain a sense of empowerment as they explore their identities through dance, inspired by their native cultures as well as their newly acquired cultures.

There will also be a workshop element inside the virtual world Second Life which will provide the students with the ability to explore identity through the use of avatars and roleplaying. The workshop will enable them to expand their notions of evolving identity, making it dynamic and creative precisely at a moment in their lives when their multiple identities are both in flux and in danger.

Kidz Connect Vienna<>Berlin will focus on questions about the complexity of contemporary identity while acclimating to a new place, meeting new people, and adjusting to culture shock, and will offer the space for alternate, expansive identity through shared creation in a virtual world, independent of their bodies and histories and hinged, rather, on the scope of their fantasies and dreams. They will be able to locate their past identity through personal memories and “traditional” dance and storytelling, while exploring ideas of current identity and cultural confluence by sharing these stories and dances in a virtual space which encourages collaboration and transcends cultural boundaries, thus offering the basis for creative interaction within their various “real life” worlds.

Tags: Berlin, Cabula6, dance, identity, Macondo, performance, Second Life, Vienna

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.

Tags: dance, hip hop, lyrics, rap

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.

Tags: creativity, dance, friendship