ASSEMBLY DATE:___________________________________

ASSEMBLY TIME:___________________________________

FOR STUDENTS IN:_________________________________

Introduction

Quynn is an award winning tap dancer, choreographer, and author known for her innovative fusion of tap dance with rhythms from around the globe. Using tap dance to inspire audiences of all ages, Quynn’s assembly, “Where’s Your Rhythm?” takes you on a tap dance journey with the audience clapping a new beat. This assembly gets audiences grooving through their soles.

Performance Description

The “Where’s Your Rhythm” assembly is an interactive and rhythmic performance that shares Quynn Johnson’s unique personal journey of perseverance and determination to overcome challenges through tap dance. With tap, this assembly combines elements of music and storytelling to inspire and impact students. Students will explore making rhythmic patterns with their hands, learning basic tap steps, and improvising their own movement.

Quynn Johnson:“Where’s Your Rhythm?”

Contact Young Audiences for more information on this and other programs • 410-837-7577 • www.yamd.org Young Audiences/Arts for Learning 2600 N Howard Street, Suite 1300 Baltimore, MD 21218

*Please pass along the attached teacher program guide to all participating classrooms

Setup Requirements •Electrical Outlet for Speakers •MP3 hookup/Auxiliary cable •Wooden surface OR space for portable dance platform

Artist arrival time

30 minutes prior to performance

Suggested Introductions

Professional tap dancer, Quynn Johnson, began studying tap dance at the age of 5 in Flint, Michigan. As a tap dancer, Quynn has performed and taught tap at international music and dance festivals. She enjoys creating music with her feet and teaching kids how to create tap combinations. “Tap dance is my way to express myself through movement,” says Quynn. Today’s performance shares Quynn’s fun journey through tap dance and how she overcame personal tragedy using this art form.

Inclement Weather

DON’T WORRY! Artists will follow school closings and delays and will work with you to reschedule the performance if necessary.

Young Audiences Contact Number: 410-837-7577

Call 410-837-7577 and follow the prompts to be connected with a staff member on call for After Hours or Emergency.

Contact Young Audiences for more information on this and other programs • 410-837-7577 • www.yamd.org Young Audiences/Arts for Learning 2600 N Howard Street, Suite 1300 Baltimore, MD 21218

Teacher Program Guide

Inside this guide:

• Artist Bio

• Standards

• Vocabulary

• List of Additional Resources

• Pre-Performance Activities

• Additional Questions

• Post-Performance Activities

• Tap Dance Worksheets

Quynn Johnson:“Where’s Your Rhythm?”

Artists Bio: Quynn Johnson is a multi-award winning performing artist, choreographer, and author. She is an original member of the Flintstone Hoofers Club and studied tap at Savion Glovers Hooferz School of Tap. As the 2014 Individual Artist Awardee for Dance Choreography, Quynn has performed tap dance on national and international stages including: The Kennedy Center; Tap festivals in NYC, Detroit, and St. Louis; the Danse Encore Festival in Quebec, Canada; and the International Festival de Cajon in Lima, Peru. The Washington Post has quoted Quynn as having “a deliciously buoyant movement quality and a natural organic rhythm.” Quynn is the co-director of SOLE Defined (a percussive dance company), and author of the children’s book, Lucky’s Tap Dancing Feet. Her choreography has garnered her the #1 Choreographer Award for youth 12 and under by the state of Maryland in 2006.

Standards: Maryland Fine Arts State Curriculum: Dance, Grade 3 Standard 2.0 Historical, Cultural, and Social Context: Students will demonstrate an understanding of dance as an essential aspect of history and human experience.

Indicator 2. Relate dance to history, society, and personal experience Objective b. View dance, create patterns, and describe how each relates to a personal experience.

Contact Young Audiences for more information on this and other programs • 410-837-7577 • www.yamd.org Young Audiences/Arts for Learning 2600 N Howard Street, Suite 1300 Baltimore, MD 21218

Teacher Program Guide

Quynn Johnson:“Where’s Your Rhythm?”

Vocabulary:

Tap - Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely performed in musical theater. Rhythm tap focuses on musicality, and practitioners consider themselves to be a part of the Jazz tradition. The sound is made by shoes that have a metal "tap" on the heel and toe.

Shuffle - A forward brush followed by a back brush to the front, side or back.

Stomp - A striking of the floor with the entire flat of the foot.

Ball change - A changing of the weight on the balls of the feet from one foot to the other; executed forward, to the side, or in place.

Heel toe - A movement in which the back edge of the heel strikes the floor, fwd of the supporting foot, transferring the weight fwd to the heel. Force the ball of the foot down to the floor.

Beat - Steady repeated sounds.

Tempo - The speed at which music is played.

Improvisation - Something that is improvised, especially a piece of music, drama, etc., created without preparation.

Choreography - The sequence of steps and movements in dance, in a ballet or other staged dance.

Teacher Program Guide

Contact Young Audiences for more information on this and other programs • 410-837-7577 • www.yamd.org Young Audiences/Arts for Learning 2600 N Howard Street, Suite 1300 Baltimore, MD 21218

Quynn Johnson:“Where’s Your Rhythm?”

List of additional resources

Books:

Lucky’s Tap Dancing Feet, by Quynn Johnson

Tap Dancing America: A Cultural History, by Constance Valis Hill

Brotherhood in Rhythm, by Constance Valis Hill

The Souls of your Feet, by Acia Gray

Links:

Quynn’s In-school arts in education video: This clip shows Quynn’s work in schools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i1nEIPVUhY

The Acrobatic Tap Duo- The Nicholas Brothers. This is a clip of their performance with the famous stair routine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8yGGtVKrD8

Quynn’s tap dance performance reel. This clip shows a brief glimpse of Quynn’s national and international performances. https://vimeo.com/54211692

SOLE Defined percussive dance company, fusing Tap and Hip Hop together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viWtDSUqmXY

Teacher Program Guide

Contact Young Audiences for more information on this and other programs • 410-837-7577 • www.yamd.org Young Audiences/Arts for Learning 2600 N Howard Street, Suite 1300 Baltimore, MD 21218

Quynn Johnson:“Where’s Your Rhythm?”

Pre-Performance Activities: Please have students view the this video link and complete the chart below. This link includes a video clip of Tap Dancer Legends: The Nicholas Brothers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8yGGtVKrD8

Teacher Program Guide

Contact Young Audiences for more information on this and other programs • 410-837-7577 • www.yamd.org Young Audiences/Arts for Learning 2600 N Howard Street, Suite 1300 Baltimore, MD 21218

Quynn Johnson:“Where’s Your Rhythm?”

I See

Just describe it!

I Think What does it make you

think about?

I Wonder What questions do you

have now?

Additional Questions Before the Assembly:

1. Given what you have learned so far, what are you looking forward to seeing or learning about in today’s assembly?

2. What questions do you hope will be answered? Record these additional questions in the Wonders column and revisit them after the assembly.

Post-Performance Activities 1. See attached worksheet. 2. Have the students view the links below and complete

the Venn diagram. This link includes a video of Master Tap Dancer Jason Samuels Smith. What would you ask the tap dancers if they were in the class today?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NdaJvhfiV4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeDNy6Ff7VE

3. List all tap dance basics and principles you saw Quynn Johnson using as she performed. 4. Design your personalized tap shoe. 5. Revisit the Wonders column and have students answer the questions that they can. 6. List three things you learned about tap that you could teach someone at home tonight. 7. Answer the three questions below.

1. Where was tap created? 2. Define tap dance. 3. What is your favorite tap step?

Teacher Program Guide

Contact Young Audiences for more information on this and other programs • 410-837-7577 • www.yamd.org Young Audiences/Arts for Learning 2600 N Howard Street, Suite 1300 Baltimore, MD 21218

Quynn Johnson:“Where’s Your Rhythm?”

Teacher Program Guide

Contact Young Audiences for more information on this and other programs • 410-837-7577 • www.yamd.org Young Audiences/Arts for Learning 2600 N Howard Street, Suite 1300 Baltimore, MD 21218

Quynn Johnson:“Where’s Your Rhythm?”

What’s similar What’s different

Tap steps

Venn Diagram