In June 2006, The TASIS School in Dorado, Puerto Rico, invited Amanta Scott to conduct a two-and-a-half week Syncretic Art Workshop for two groups of forty students age seven to ten and eleven to fourteen years. The theme of the workshop was the dance of the elements: water, earth, wind, fire and spirit.
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Each group of students worked with Amanta for approximately two hours per day. The workshop culminated in a public performance and exhibition of masks and paintings for family, friends and staff.
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Syncretic Art is an avant-garde contemporary art form integrating visual art, music, dance, theatre and humanities. It is a process-oriented art form in which participants discover and create their own responses and approaches to expressing themselves through the fusion of artistic disciplines.
See what the kids did and said about the workshop:
visit comments for pictures & excerpts from students' journals.
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Aims of the workshop:
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- to introduce students to fundamentals of Syncretic Art
- to introduce students to graphic scoring as a means to communicate artistic intent in many disciplines
- to introduce students to mask making & costume design
- to foster creative expression any medium: art – drawing, painting, sculpture, mask; sound, music, movement and performance.
- to foster a positive learning environment
- to expand the artistic vocabulary
- to encourage the development of new skills
- to foster leadership skills and cultivate the ability to work individually and collaborate in groups
- to foster a personal identification with and respect for the environment and the world around us
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What the students learned:
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- how a composer, artist and/or choreographer creates a work
- how graphic scoring can be used to indicate mood and dynamics in music and performance
- how graphic scoring can be used to communicate choreographic and dramatic ideas
- how to integrate sound, movement and visual art
- how a conductor/director, composer or choreographer interprets a score and teaches it to performers
- how to perform a piece of art, music, dance or theatre
- how, as a performer, to differentiate between the feeling of being truly “in the part” versus pretending or “going through the motions.”
- cognitive links between environmental issues and creating work for art, music, dance or theatre
- how a performer or artist utilizes props or found objects
- how to work with other performers
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What the students did:
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- they created their own sounds (discovering instruments)
- they invented notation for sounds using abstract marks (creating a language - graphic scores)
- they drew the notation in a satisfying design (composing)
- they led groups in vocalizing the sounds (conducting)
- they presented the sound score in several ways (performing)
- they created movement in response to sounds
(discovering movement)
- they created sounds in response to movement
(discovering instruments and exploring creative impulses)
- they invented notation for movement using abstract marks (creating a language - graphic scores)
- they drew movement notation in a satisfying design (choreographing)
- they led groups in singing & performing the sounds (conducting/directing, integrating voice & dance)
- they presented the sound and movement scores in several ways (performing)
- they created & painted masks (costume design)
- they created & decorated costumes (production)
- they collected found objects (discovering art materials)
- they integrated found objects into graphic scores/art panels, masks & costumes (manipulation of art materials)
- they created & designed artworks: panels, graphic scores, masks, costumes (creation & design)
- they collaborated & participated in the choreographic process using a graphic score (application of learned skills)
- they collaborated in a theatrical group performance integrating sound and movement (application of learned skills)
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