Introduction

What’s inside

Dear Educator, As you make plans for your students to attend an upcoming presentation of the Arts for Youth program at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center, we invite you to prepare your students by using this guide to assure that from beginning to end; the experience is both memorable and educationally enriching. The material in this guide is for you the teacher, and will assist you in preparing your students before the day of the event, and extending the educational value to beyond the walls of the theatre. We provide activity and/or discussion ideas, and other resources that will help to prepare your students to better understand and enjoy what they are about to see, and to help them connect what they see on stage to their studies. We also encourage you to discuss important aspects of the artistic experience, including audience etiquette. We hope that your students find their imagination comes alive as lights shine, curtains open, and applause rings through Lancaster Performing Arts Center. As importantly, we hope that this Curriculum Guide helps you to bring the arts alive in your classroom! Thank you for helping us to make a difference in the lives of our Antelope Valley youth. Arts for Youth Program Lancaster Performing Arts Center, City of Lancaster

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 2 Overview of the California Content Standards for Public Schools .................................................................... 3 Theatre Etiquette .............................................................................................................................................. 4 About the Show……………………........................................................................................................................... 5 What’s Important to Know?............................................................................................................................... 6 Performance: Costumes .................................................................................................................................... 8 History of the Harlem Gospel Choir and Dr. King……………………........................................................................ 10 Post-Performance: Suggestions for Discussion................................................................................................. 12

Resources .......................................................................................................................................................... 13

PRE-PERFORMANCE

Overview of the California Content Standards for Public Schools

Curriculum Connections: Visual and Performing Arts: Music, History, Music History, Creativity, Math, Cultural

Studies, Diversity.

Applicable California Content Standards Samples

Our Arts for Youth program addresses and supports the content standards for the California Visual and

Performing Arts (and more) for K-12 education.

Visual and Performing Arts, Music:

Grade K-12

3.0 Understanding the historical contributions and cultural dimensions of music.

3.1 Role of Music, Identify the sources of musical genres of the United States, trace the evolution of those

genres, and cite well-known musicians associated with them.

Grade 8

4.3 Explain how and why people use and respond to specific music from different musical cultures found in

the United States.

Grade 6-12

4.0 Students critically assess and derive meaning from works of music and the performance of musicians in a

cultural context according to the elements of music, aesthetic qualities, and human responses.

LESSON PLAN IDEA: Students research and report on traditions and/or cultures in

America, including a focus on music.

Visual and Performing Arts: Theatre

Grade 1

4.2 Identify and discuss emotional reactions to a theatrical experience.

Physical Education:

Grade 4

4.16 Explain the value of increased flexibility when participating in physical activity.

Content standards adopted by the California State Board of Education. For more information, visit:

http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/

http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/

Theatre Etiquette

• Arrive on time

• Plan for possible delays in travel and parking. Please arrive a minimum of 30 minutes prior to show

time.

• Students: Leave recording devices of any kind at home or in your backpack at school

• Video or audio recording and photography, including camera phones, are often prohibited by law and

may disrupt the performance. They are not permitted and are considered very rude to the others

around you.

• Teachers: Turn off or silence all personal electronics

• Beeps, clicks, tones and buzzes and light pollution emanated by personal electronics such as watches,

pagers, Bluetooth devices, cell phones, etc. interrupt the performance and spoil the theatre

experience.

• Observe the instructions of ushers

The ushers are present to offer assistance, ensure rules are observed and provide guidance in the case

of an emergency evacuation. Please show them consideration. You will be asked to exit to the right of

the theatre at the end of the performance.

• Be respectful

While entering and exiting the theatre: Put your hands in your pockets or behind your back. Talk very

quietly. Once seated: Do not talk. Keep your feet on the ground. Put your hands in your lap or fold

your arms.

• Abstain from eating or drinking inside the theatre

Crackling wrappers and containers and food messes in the auditorium are unwelcome. Food, candy,

gum and drinks should never be brought inside the theatre.

• Avoid talking, waving and shouting during the performance

Laughing and applauding are encouraged at appropriate times. Shouting to actors/friends is

disrespectful to others. Save personal conversation for after the show. If you must talk, please whisper

very quietly.

• Do not exit the auditorium during the performance except in the case of emergency

If you must leave, please wait for an appropriate break in the performance. Teachers, please arrive

early enough to escort students to the restroom prior to the start of the show.

Do not get onto the stage or place items on the edge of the stage

To ensure the safety and security of performers and audiences, this behavior is strictly prohibited unless

expressly permitted by a performer or staff member.

• Dispose of garbage in proper receptacles

Help preserve a pleasant environment by depositing all debris in appropriate receptacles.

Extend common courtesy and respect to your fellow audience members

Civility creates a comfortable and welcoming theatre experience for all.

• Bring very small children only to age-appropriate performances

Small children easily become restless at programs intended for older children, and may cause distractions.

About the Show

The world famous Harlem Gospel Choir is the most famous gospel choir in America today. It travels the

globe, sharing its joy of faith through its music, & raising funds for children's charities.

The Harlem Gospel Choir has over 60 members. Since they are based out of New York, when they tour, they travel with a compact format of 9 singers (3 sopranos; 3 tenors; 3 altos) and 2 musicians (keys and drums). This format allows them to travel around the world and to adapt each performance to suit the size of the performance hall or church. Each singer and musician is a talented and professional gospel singer or musician, representative of the finest singers & musicians from the black churches of Harlem. The performance by the Harlem Gospel Choir at Lancaster Performing Arts Center will include songs of inspiration and hope such as: Lord You Are Good, I Am A Friend of God, Looking For You, O Happy Day, Celebration, We Are the World, Amazing Grace, Hosanna, Holy Holy Holy, We Lift Our Hands in the Sanctuary, and Total Praise.

What’s important to know

Biography:

The Harlem Gospel Choir was founded in 1986 by Allen Bailey, who got the idea for the Choir while attending

a celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Cotton Club in Harlem.

Through its dynamic performances the Choir strives to create a better understanding of the African American

culture and the inspirational music called Gospel as it relates to the Black Church. The theme of every

performance is "bringing people & nations together & giving something back."

In this new era of hope and change the Choir's voices reflect the renaissance of Harlem's culture. The Harlem

Gospel Choir's rich harmonies and dynamic sound are always "UNFETTERED, JOYOUS & INSPIRATIONAL."

Their harmonious songs of hope & inspiration will touch the depths of your soul, lift your spirit to angelic

heights, and every performance will take your breath away! The Harlem Gospel Choir is the original "real

deal" straight from New York, and their music embodies the true spirit of American Gospel. Every concert is

infectiously enthusiastic; a roller coaster ride of singing & dancing; a gospel celebration!

The Harlem Gospel Choir has shared its message of love & inspiration with hundreds of thousands of people

around the world. The Choir has performed for Royalty, President Obama, Nelson Mandela, Elton John, two

Popes & at the memorial for the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. They have performed alongside superstars

including Diana Ross, Bono, The Chieftains, Lyle Lovett, Josh Groban, Lisa Marie Presley, and the Gorillaz.

Angels in Harlem

Angels in Harlem Gospel Choir is the older touring arm of the Harlem Gospel Choir. It was dubbed Angels in

Harlem by many famous artists such as U2 & by the late Pope John Paul II who blessed them in a 2003 private

audience at the Vatican.

In 2004 Angels in Harlem performed with Bono & U2 at Rockefeller Center, New York City, to raise funds for

World of Hope Fund - a charity dedicated to helping victims of aids in Africa. At this concert, Bono gave

Angels in Harlem special recognition for its support of children's charities. In 2005 Angels in Harlem toured

Louisiana & Mississippi to minister to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Angels in Harlem performed in Europe (2006, 2007 & 2011) & Japan (2007) with Andre Rieu & Johann Strauss

Orchestra, presenting concerts featuring a collaboration of classical & gospel. In 2008 the Angels toured with

Night of the Proms and Il Novecento Orchestra, performing with Simple Minds, Live, Sinead O'Connor, Robin

Gibb & Kim Wilde. They also became the first gospel choir to ever travel to Lebanon; this trip was a

demonstration of Martin Luther King's goal of bringing nations & people together.

What’s important to know

The Founder

Allen Bailey has worked in the entertainment industry for over 40 years. He was promotional director &

advance man for major recording artists & film stars, including Lionel Richie & the Commodores, Prince,

Michael Jackson, Mr. T, & Isaac Hayes. Don King appointed Allen entertainment coordinator for Rumble in the

Jungle, the heavy-weight title fight between Mohammed Ali & George Foreman in Zaire.

Allen has extensive experience in combining talent management, theatrical production & fund raising. He

assisted the east coast production of We are the World in 1985, & worked in a similar capacity for USA for

Africa in 1986. Allen has been actively engaged in fundraising efforts for the Leukemia Society, the Cancer

Foundation, & the United Negro College Fund. He was chairman for the Martin Luther King Holiday Campaign

& it was through this work that the Harlem Gospel Choir was born.

Always active in the Harlem Community, Allen co-coordinated Harlem's entertainment for the Nelson

Mandela celebration at Yankee Stadium, & co-directed the Harlem Jazz Festival, the largest jazz festival in the

world. Allen tours full-time with the Harlem Gospel Choir as the Choir's front-man & MC.

The Ministry of the Harlem Gospel Choir

On July 4, 2009, the Choir opened its spiritual retreat for children. This retreat in Poconos, PA provides a place for children from Harlem to spend a fun filled day in a peaceful, natural environment. The Choir also adopted the charity "Doctors Without Borders", selling multi-colored silicone wristbands, for which they have raised over $60,000.00.

The choir has performed at many charity functions, including: ABC TV's 2008 Coat Drive (the choir helped to collect over 50,000 coats for the homeless); The Food Bank of New Jersey; Voices of September 11; The Tabernacle on Martha's Vineyard (the proceeds of these concerts benefited The Tabernacle); families of Ft. Bragg soldiers fighting in Iraq & Afghanistan; the NAACP; and in 1999, 2006, and again in 2008, the Choir performed for terminally-ill children at Paul Newman's Hole in The Wall Gang Camp in Connecticut.

PERFORMANCE

Costumes

The Harlem Gospel Choir’s costumes are reminiscent of African textiles.

The earliest surviving sub-Saharan African textiles are cloth fragments and parchment fragments that date to

the ninth century BC from sites at Igbo Ukwu of the Igbo people of Nigeria. Some twelfth century cloth

fragments date from the Tellem caves in Mali. Surviving thirteenth century samples originate from Benin City

in Nigeria.

African textiles are a part of African cultural heritage that came to America along with the slave trade. As

many slaves were skilled in the weaving, this skill was used as another form of income for the slave owner.

In most of Africa the weavers were men while the women spun the thread. The weavers in many of the

countries were part of a caste-like group and sometimes slaves to noble families. In Yoruba compounds were

used where master weavers would teach all the boys weaving and all the girls would learn to spin and dye the

yarn.

A variety of a kanga and kitenge, both widely worn in East Africa:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitengehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Africa

Costumes, continued

Some examples of African textiles are:

Aso oke fabric - woven by Yoruba people Adire- tie-dye produced by Yoruba people Kente cloth - woven by Ashanti and Ewe people Barkcloth - produced by the Buganda tribe Mudcloth- produced by the Bambara tribe Kitenge - produced in Kenya and other regions of East Africa

Cultural Significance

Weaving has many spiritual and mythical meaning behind it. One, is that from the Dogons who believe that

each stage of spinning and weaving thread is a symbolic analogy to human reproduction and resurrection.

With this, they believe that the processes of spinning and weaving could only be done in daylight hours. To

work at night would be to weave silence and darkness into the cloth. The color of the cloth can also have

some spiritual meaning. In one tribe a white cloth used by healing women is thought to be linked to water

spirits. Although there are many meanings to the designs on the cloth very few are directly represented on

the cloth itself.

Textiles were also used as a form of identity with each tribe having their own unique patterns which also

made it easy to spot outsiders. Many different types of patterns were formed in places that specialized in

weaving. Kings would request several types of cloth to show their prestige and importance. Kings would even

compare themselves by how many robes they had and what they were made out of.

Weaving and the textiles were and still are very important to the African culture. The textiles included both

men and women and the cloth they made was unique to their tribe through the patterns and spiritual

meanings behind them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aso_Oke_fabrichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adire_(textile_art)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoruba_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kente_clothhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ashantihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewe_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkclothhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugandahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudclothhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambara_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitengehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenyahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Africa

History of the Harlem Gospel Choir and Dr. King

The Choir was founded in 1986 by Allen Bailey, who got the idea for the Choir while attending a celebration in

honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Cotton Club in Harlem. The Choir’s motto is “bringing people and

nations together, and giving something back”. Very much like Dr. King. Let’s talk about Dr. King!

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist, and

prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the

advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following

the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. King has become a national icon in the history of modern American

liberalism.

The early life of Martin Luther King, Jr. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received his B. A. degree from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. He was awarded his B.D. from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class. He completed his graduate residency in 1953 at Boston University, and received his doctorate degree in 1955. In Boston, he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.

A Baptist minister, King became a strong civil rights activist for members of his race early in his career. King was a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott (the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States ). The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, and he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.

In 1957, King helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), serving as its first president.

The organization was formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. He

took ideals from Christianity for this organization and its operational techniques from Gandhi. King's efforts

led to the 1963 peaceful March on Washington, of 250,000 people, where King delivered his "I Have a Dream"

speech. There, he expanded American values to include the vision of a color blind society, and established his

reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.

In the 11-year period between 1957- 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over 2,500 times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action. Meanwhile, he wrote five books and numerous articles. In these years, he also led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, catching the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a “coalition of conscience”, and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he drove registration of Negroes as voters; he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine; and became the symbolic leader of American blacks, and also a world figure.

History of the Harlem Gospel Choir and Dr. King, continued

In 1964 at the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., became the youngest man to have received the Nobel

Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and

other nonviolent means. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize

money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement. By the time of his death in 1968, he had

refocused his efforts on ending poverty and stopping the Vietnam War.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the

Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986.

POST-PERFORMANCE

Suggestions for Discussion

Temple University psychologist Frank Farley has been studying heroes and heroism for many years.

He stated that former civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is often at the top of America’s

list when we think of heroism.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King was a public figure who gave his life for a noble cause, out on the world’s stage, inspiring

millions. He was a sophisticated, highly educated orator and leader with high ‘public intelligence.’

He was driven by a single unswerving vision—making civil rights a reality. However and wherever

he could help that to happen, he did. It was a complex strategy in a complex society driven by a

simple idea.

1. What was Martin Luther King’s main focus and goal? What did he fight for? 2. Did he fight with violence, or by other means? 3. How does he compare against others we identify as heroes? 4. What kind of hero is he? 5. What do you think is the definition of a hero? 6. Who are some heroes in our American and world history, and among those still with us?

http://templecuttingedge.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/dr-martin-luther-king-jr.jpg

Study guide created by: Lancaster Performing Arts Center Staff

Other Resources:

http://harlemgospelchoir.com

ww.wikipedia.com

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr

http://templecuttingedge.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/the-heroism-of-martin-luther-king-jr/