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Interludes

Interludes provide Academy participants with the opportunity to receive cross-disciplinary training. Every afternoon from Monday to Thursday, a variety of workshops are offered in each TAA content discipline. Participants may attend any workshop in any area to learn more about a familiar topic or to explore something new.

General Interest Interludes
Please check back regularly for updates and information about the 2023 Tennessee Arts Academy.
Arts Leadership and Administration Interludes
Please check back regularly for updates and information about the 2023 Tennessee Arts Academy.
Music Related Interludes
Shalom Chaveirim: Discovering the Beauty of Jewish Music, Dance, and Folk Tales
Presenter: 
Rob Amchin
 
 
, and 
Wednesday
 and 
 and 
 and 
Explore the richness of Jewish and Yiddish traditions through songs and dances integrated into a traditional story from Central Europe. The interlude offers models, materials, and extensions for everyone.
Curriculum and Pedagogy: It’s Not WHAT We Teach but HOW We Teach and WHO
Presenter: 
Lorelei Batisla-ong
 
 
, and 
Wednesday
 and 
 and 
 and 
We do not teach music; we teach humans. Oftentimes we find our lesson plans focused on what activities and songs we teach in order to reach curricular goals and benchmarks placed on students from outside forces. In this session, join other educators in a dialogue to reset and refocus teaching and to learn how to center who we teach and how to go about teaching. Using eye tracking and gaze behavior research, participants will examine fundamental elements of pedagogy, such as goals, assessment, and feedback, in order to create a reflective mindset for teaching development.
Better Than Before: Questions and Ideas for Successful and Sustainable Teaching after the Pandemic
Presenter: 
Travis Cross
 
 
, and 
Monday
 and 
 and 
 and 
The coronavirus pandemic has caused significant disruption to school music programs and has challenged both students and teachers in many ways. As the world (hopefully) emerges into a new normal, there arises an opportunity to reflect on what was done before, what is happening now, and how things might look going forward. This session seeks to provide ideas but mostly aspires to elicit thinking and conversation about connecting musical and educational values with what, how, and who is being taught in our music programs.
Academy Chorale
Presenter: 
Derrick Fox
 
 
, and 
Tuesday
 and 
 and 
Thursday
 and 
Please come and join other participants as the Academy Chorale prepares a program of music to be performed at the Academy luncheon on Friday. The Academy Chorale performs under the direction of Derrick Fox, the Academy’s secondary choral instructor.
What Everybody Needs to Know about Live Performance Sound Systems: Mics and Mixing Boards
Presenter: 
Barbara Freedman
 
 
, and 
Monday
 and 
 and 
Wednesday
 and 
Take the mystery out of sound systems and understand how they work. The session will overview the different types of microphones, including dynamic, condenser, and ribbon, with specific examples and models of each. Basic understanding of a mixing board and its use will be covered. Suggestions for specific equipment for different budgets will also be shared.
Let’s Dance!
Presenter: 
Sandy Knudson
 
 
, and 
Wednesday
 and 
 and 
 and 
Come experience several different kinds of traditional dance and learn how to connect with a local dance community. This is an active play session for adults! No experience is necessary, just a willingness to jump in. Learn about the Country Dance and Song Society, a national organization that supports participatory song and dance. The clinician will share resources for music educators who are interested in learning more about teaching dance in their community.
Theatre And Dance Related Interludes
From Image to Theatre
Presenter: 
Presenters: 
Sindy Castro
   
 and 
 and 
Sindy Castro will model how images can be used as part of the theatre devising process. How can photographs enhance the exploration of a theme or character in world-building for a play? Participants will engage in a mini theatre-creation process from spark to performance.
Starting from Scratch: Building a Drama Program at Your School
Presenter: 
Presenters: 
Penelope Caywood
   
Monday
 and 
Wednesday
 and 
There are many reasons to sponsor or cosponsor a club for drama and the arts at an elementary school. Although every drama program is unique, some common themes and elements are common to all. Caywood will share her recipe for setting up classes, designing programs, marketing the classes, and more. Come learn about the process of starting from scratch.
Taking Chances: Using Chance-Based Procedures in Performing Arts
Presenter: 
Presenters: 
Kristin Hunt
   
 and 
 and 
In this interactive and on-your-feet workshop, we will explore ways to use gamification and related chance-based procedures within performing arts classrooms. These techniques will add enjoyable and new collaborative and creative possibilities to lessons and rehearsals.
Move. Ignite. Groove.
Presenter: 
Presenters: 
Renee Redding Jones
   
 and 
 and 
Unlock the potential of the magical moving body. This is an anatomically, image-guided improv jam. The class is designed to open access to human movement potential, perhaps going beyond the physical. This class is approximately forty minutes of continuous movement that can be accomplished while standing or sitting in a chair.
Chili’s Baby Back Ribs: Building Theatrical Singing Voices through Pop Culture Affectations
Presenter: 
Presenters: 
Tyson Kaup
   
 and 
 and 
When traditional technique fails to inspire growth in young voices, colloquial references can bypass limiting vocal habits and jump-start strength building. Participants will explore vocal reference tools that will sneak students into unfamiliar ranges and registers they instinctively understand from pop culture.
Move Toward Your Destiny
Presenter: 
Presenters: 
Missy Lilje
   
Monday
 and 
Wednesday
 and 
How can a person describe how they’ve been, how they are, and how they will be? Missy Lilje will invite participants to consider this and to create a simple verbal and movement narrative describing their life experience. When people learn to describe these ideas with words and add movement, they can access their most authentic self. From this place of authenticity, they can inspire with truth and empathy.
Visual Art Related Interludes
Blind Contour Musical Chairs
Presenter: 
Presenters: 
Donna Woodley
 
 
, and 
 and 
 and 
This forty-five-minute class will be a combination of musical chairs and making blind contour portraits. The drawings are timed, and the objective is the exploration of line. This exercise can serve as an icebreaker in classrooms as well as a great drawing exercise for students of all ages.
Please check back regularly for updates and information about the 2023 Tennessee Arts Academy.
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