Volume 1, Special Edition
Daisyjames
Celebrates Duke Ellington School of the Arts’
Building the 21st century writer
DaisyJames lifestyle magazine produced by Literary Media & Communications at Duke Ellington School of the Arts Welcome This year marks the 40th anniversary celebration of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and the inaugural Season of Performances that continues with our co-founder Mike Malone’s rendition of the Langston Hughes gospel play “Black Nativity.” Our theme this year is “40 Years of Being the Difference! Grasp that for just a moment. 40 Years of Being the Difference. Embodied in this institution is so great a spirit of commitment, responsibility, empowerment, excellence, and dignity, that whosoever is connected to Ellington – students, staff, parents, and the larger community – their lives are transformed in a unique and extraordinary way. Ellingtonites become almost obsessed with determined passion that they should not only “make” a difference in the world around them, but that they should “be” that difference! And what a difference the Duke Ellington School of the Arts has been! Arising from its humble and still ever present mission of “providing an artistic education for those students who otherwise would not have had such,” the Duke Ellington School of the Arts continues to be the difference in all that it does. Sure, that reality is manifest in our 98% graduation rate, or the nearly 6 million dollars in annual scholarships achieved by our graduates, but the difference doesn’t stop there! Ellington was: -Awarded by US News and World Report in 2013 as one of the Best High Schools in America -Selected by the White House again in 2013 for its visual arts students to design artwork for the Presidential Holiday Tour Guide Book given to every visitor during the holiday season -Designated with the top tier “Reward” status as determined by its 2013 academic proficiency reports that make it one of the top four DC public high schools -Recently granted highest accreditation status through 2020 by the Middle states Association of Colleges and Schools for its exemplary arts and academic program. With all this success, many schools would be satisfied and would simply rest on their laurels. Yet, we are determined to exceed our achievements of today. We plan to take Duke Ellington to even more incredible heights the next 40 years! Don’t let this be your only experience at Duke Ellington. We invite you to enjoy many of the broad variety of performances and exhibits offered this Season. Yes, one person’s support does make that much of a difference, and we thank you for yours. We thank you for all the love you have shown us over the years. And in return, in the words of the great Duke Ellington himself, “We love you madly!”
Sincerely, Rory Pullens Head of School/CEO Duke Ellington School of the Arts
Daisy James, Volume 1, Special Edition DAISY JAMES is a independent publication of LMC, LITERARY MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS @ DUKE ELLINGTON SCHOOL OF THE ARTS, 3500 R STREET NW WASHINGTON, D.C. 20007 DEPARTMENT CHAIR MARK WILLIAMS EDITOR: BARRETT SMITH CONTACT: DAISYJAMESMAG@GMAIL.COM CONTRIBUTORS: ZAKKIYYA ALI, ASIA ALSTON, NIA BOULWARE, CELIA CALDWELL, ZYNYL CASTOR, DILEINY CRUZ, GRACE CUSHNER, NICK DALY, QUADAJA HERRIOTT, SARAH HIRSCH, HOUSTON GODFREY, BONNIE GREEN, DWARD MALONEY, TRESEAT LAWRENCE, KHAT PATRONG, CELIA REILLY, NANCY SCOFIELD, MONA SHARAF, BARRETT SMITH, MARK WILLIAMS, MALIA WILLIAMS-HAYNES. INSTRUCTOR/MANAGING EDITOR: SHARI WRIGHT COPY EDITOR: CERSTIN JOHNSON LAYOUT & DESIGN: BARRETT SMITH COVER DESIGN: ZOË GATTI PHOTOGRAPHERS & ARTISTS: ELLIE COHEN, ZOË GATTI, QUADAJA HERRIOTT, BRIAN NIELSON, BARRETT SMITH THANKS TO: Cerstin Johnson, Jami Ramberan, Kelli Anderson, Koye Oyedeji, Montre Missouri, Rory Pullens, Tia Powell Harris, Grace Hong, Brittany Fenison, Sefanit Tekle, Angela Jones, Tracie Jenkins, Kathy Smith, Ken Johnson, Dawn Naser, Treanna Alexander Ronald Newman, Vichelle Jones, Rod Little, Barb Power, Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Bill Harris, Davey Yarborough, Lewellyn Berry, Charles Augins, Marta Reid-Stewart, Brian Nielsen, Mike Easton, Cheryl Wiggins, Mimi Mazarei, Randie Reilly, Diana Rojas, LMC Parent Group, Dominque, Fola, Maryam, Bonnie, and in memory of Mr. Mike Malone
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4 Founder’s Piece: Peggy Cooper Cafritz tells of her journey to 40 years 5 The Answer: Cerstin Johnson’s creative analysis of 1974, DESA’s year of establishment 6 A Stage Everywhere. Nia Boulware gets to know what was once deemed the “PR for Workshops for Careers in the Arts”
9 The Fight To Be. Shari’ Wright imparts the unconquered will of the institution that is Duke Ellington School of the Arts in prose
10 Then & Now: Khat Patrong looks at the changes in the school & one constant, returning alumni as instructors 12 Departments: LMC students review the contributions of the school’s eight art departments
19 Soundbites w/Bill Harris: Barrett Smith sits down with one of Ellington’s first teachers and art chairs 22 Will Work for Art? Celia Reilly discusses her understanding of budget cuts and arts programs 24 Allowing Art to Be: Who defines what art should do but the artists themselves? Barrett Smith looks at the evolution of art’s purpose 26 Are You Prepared? In an op-ed, Tréseat Lawrence questions how inclusive the culture at Ellington is 27 Where Else? Theatre student, Sarah Hirsch takes on an op-ed about the turning of tables on minority issues in Ellington
28 Love From The PAst: Zynyl Castor embodies the spirit of 40 years of alumni and writes their letter to the place they will always call home
29 40 Alumni Still in the Arts: Names and careers of Ellington family that have continued a pursuit in the arts
30 The Last Here As the building prepares for renovation, first year Nick Daly takes a literal landscape of 3500 R St.
33 Be The Difference As the theme of the current season at the school, Edward Maloney talks to eight students about how they’re the difference
36 DESA’s Timeline
Of Rage and Reason As quite a young child I was filled with rage, wondering why I had to grow up in a place where I could hardly go anywhere. At its segregated worst in the 1950’s and 60’s, Mobile, Alabama, the place of my birth and youthful years, cradled a Catholic Church in which the Cathedral and white parishes relegated African-Americans (Negroes at the time) to the last pews. We were allowed to receive communion only after the whites had completed receiving this supposed most blessed sacrament. Even though I was only a child, this enraged me. The nice Lebanese man who owned the local bookstore, would let us visit at night because segregation kept us from buying books during normal hours. Even though he would order special books for my father, introduced me and my siblings to the worlds of wonder a good book offers, and sometimes even gave us bubble gum, I couldn’t ignore the inherent injustice of being forced to shop in the dark of night, just because of the color of my skin. This, too, enraged me. Even discounting the number of times I was called nigger by some white child, the stories I could tell about race and rage abound. In grade school I started noticing that the poor kids could go to even fewer places than I could. This was my first lesson in class discrimination. Black kids who had even fifty cents more than the poorer kids didn’t want to have anything to do with them. And they were never invited to birthday parties. Except for my dad I never saw other adults talking to the poorer parents at school or even in church.This enraged me. I was always losing my temper at home. My parents wondered why. I was so young, I couldn’t articulate my feelings but eventually with concerted thought and effort, I learned how my anger could be conquered. I realized that it took reason to outwit rage, and, furthermore, that it took strategy to execute reason. Decades later I still become enraged. Every Trayvon Martin story enrages me. I have new rage when in the suburbs of Detroit an eighteen-year-old African-American girl is shot in the face on the porch of a white man from whom she only wanted help. I become newly enraged when our business community can’t produce enough summer jobs for our high school students. I become newly enraged when I see a Black adult treating a poor child dismissively or when I see a white adult retreat in unjustified fear or react with excessive aggression when they come in contact with a poor African-American man. My rage now recognizes that class issues exist in tandem with racial issues. Class is innate. It doesn’t come from money and it doesn’t necessarily come from formal education. It comes from character. Mike Malone and I conceived of Ellington as a school where, based on shaped and refined inborn talent, the least among us could become the greatest among us, a place where no one would find reason to make anyone else feel unequal, a place where students could turn their adolescent rage, from whatever source, into a rational course of achievement, a place where the playing field stoked competition based on the most beautiful brush stroke, the highest note, the jazziest concerto, the deepest emotion, the finest balloon, the most exquisite short story or the most superb stage set. We dreamed of an Ellington with students from all over the city, from every religion and race and background, in a school where the rich would learn compassion from the money-challenged and they in turn would gain the ability to aspire from the economically endowed. We wanted a school that didn’t care what its students knew when they came or where they came from, but a school that cares deeply about what its students know when they graduate and where they are going when they leave. It’s not where you come from but where you are going that’s important. It’s not what you knew but what you know. We saw a school that would produce students who could defeat rage by the use of reason and who could translate that reason into strategies to execute each of their ideas. Artists, we thought, needn’t ever be at the merciless knee of racism or classism because artists can be given the tools to make their own careers. Mike and I believed that every Ellington faculty member must teach each student who comes through our doors, our culture, the sum total of who we are, our shared history and the Ellington CREED that comes therefrom. Commitment, responsibility excellence, empathy and Peggy Cooper Cafritz was dignity must mark every Ellington graduate. This dream will only remain quoted in 1968, at the age of possible, as long as every Ellington faculty and staff member works under the cloak of the Ellington Creed. Under this cloak reason will 21, saying that she would defeat rage, and rage will become action—excellent action.
Fact
start an arts school by the age of thirty; Ellington was established in 1974.
With forty years of sincere joy,
Peggy Cooper Cafritz
The Answer: A Tribute to Peggy and Mike
Cerstin Johnson explores the birth of Ellington and the original vision of the school. In 1974, the United States was a country distracted. The Watergate scandal rocked the oval office. The oil crisis and the final chapters of the war in Vietnam strained international affairs, and in communities across the nation, the aftermath of the Civil Rights movement still engendered moments of racial violence and political unease. You name the pot, and American hands were stirring it. While fathers marched off to war, presidents lied on tape, and countries closed their doors to one another over money, a group of Black artists emerged begging a much simpler question—an essential one, if you will: What is Black identity? How do we name it? How do we describe it? To whom do we belong? For what cause and in what war do we fight? Exactly how American are we, if our racial category requires a hyphen? These questions birthed the Black Arts Movement of the 60s and 70s, however, what made this a phenomenal moment in history was its ultimate rejection of the question mark as an option. For thinkers like Nikki Giovanni, Amiri Baraka, Larry Neal, and countless others, the study of Black history and Black culture became the definitive answer: Black simply is. They argued that the problem with a national identity, was it’s lack of color, that it would always ultimately resist the nuances of culture and complex racial histories. In short, if Black people wanted a seat at the table, they had to get down on their hands and knees and build it. The same was true for Black art. If Black artists wanted to be seen, heard, and cultivated, an institution had to be built. In 1974, in the District of Columbia, Mike Malone and Peggy Cooper Cafritz had just that institution in mind. They saw the opportunity to share the fact of Black creativity and Black history with generations of youth who might not otherwise get the opportunity. I was one of those youth, and I’ve always imagined that one day Mike and Peggy sat down, and asked themselves: “Hey, how do we get these kids to show the world what they're made of?” I imagine that once that question floated above their heads, the answer came to them as clear as a vision from on high. Let the children dance. Let the children sing. Let the children draw. Let the children write. Let the children stand before crowds of hundreds or even thousands, and show the world precisely what it fails to comprehend. Let the children tell a story—their story. What Cafritz and Malone saw in their vision for Ellington was the usefulness of such an act. To simply stop waiting for the world to give Black youth their identity, and to, instead, encourage those kids to create an identity of their own. To fashion one out of their dreams, and their longings, and their history. Give a child enough room to breathe and they’ll do just that. Survive. But Mike and Peggy were no longer interested in simple survival; they were interested in tools, and craft, and giving kids the opportunity to stretch their limbs and breathe so deep they felt it in their bones. They were interested in the survival of Black identity. They were interested in the survival of Black art. To celebrate 40 years of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts is to celebrate much more than 40 years of being the difference. It celebrates 40 years of being the answer. 40 years of giving kids the chance to take a close look at what sits in the palm of their hand, and figure out what to do with it. How do they make it move? How do they make it sing? I know what’s in my hand. And when I sit down late at night, my pen dances on and on, spinning tales of my dreams.
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A Stage Everywhere
Ellington’s Origins in Street Theatre
Words: Nia Boulware Nia Boulware
Fact In the 90s, Pizza Hut set up a booth every day at lunch. Students would buy pizza and rarely ever got the school lunch. She's living. Breathing. Taking in the smell of baby wipes and asphalt. The ray of sun reflects on her braces, showing her smile. A crowd is beginning to form but her nerves aren't getting the best of her. She looks to her left and syncs in a twirl with her best friend, followed by a few dips and jazz hands. Her shirt is two sizes too small, yet her sweatpants are large enough for two of her to move around in. They all sing the last key in unison, but she separates enough to delve into swarming thoughts of tomorrow, when they can do it all over again. Street Theatre saved her life.
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Before Duke Ellington was an art school, before a it was a blossoming from Workshops for Careers in the Arts, its performances once lived as Street Theatre. The concept is in the name, a group of kids singing, dancing and acting outside as crowds formed. Tracie Jenkins, artist and teacher in the Theatre Department, remembers vividly performing with her friends and Mike Malone on scorching summer days. "As a young person I would always imagine myself in this world..." Jenkins says, "I didn't know what was in my hand, at the time." Â Today, the speech "What's in your hand?" by Adam Clayton Powell Jr., serves as a metaphor of finding your gift and exploring it. "What's in your hand?" is also Duke Ellington School of the Arts' newest Street Theatre Performance, allowing the legacy to continue. So for that girl who finds refuge between notes and sings hymns in the park, she can and will keep singing.
The Fight to Be Shari Wright You could never destroy a feeling. A rhythm from our strokes against canvas to bites in backbends and words tearing through this promise to forever be...We will never leave and you can never get rid of us. And even if we decided that the tight streets of NW were no longer capable of wrapping around, holding and housing the vibrancy we breathe...we wouldn't go quietly. The attempted erasure would mimic 40,000 rushing waves, so loud, so encompassing, you'd forget what it was to recognize your own whisper. We whisper now. The truth need not take on an enormous mood for show. We carry authenticity and necessity, more than enough to put power in the ultimate hushed tone. We whisper. And we create in our corner, smiling at the galas, prancing poems along national stages. We whisper and watch as the constant push is towards an exit from a party that we made. Our moments give you reason to escape into beauty and yet you'd rather us omitted. But far beyond what your budgeted whispers may tell, we were never merely the entertainers for the night. Never just your engagement over cocktails. We are what you cry for when the silence hurts too much. We're what grandmothers feared would take you away from her praying grasp into a world where the innocent need for expression was too often confused with lust. We are made up of the imagination that you can't seem to make pay. Perseverance isn't our legacy. That denotes we had a time where we didn't move through every wall of authority as easily as our favorite theatre curtains. To say we persevered is to insinuate you may have once shown us defeat, and we ignored it like heavy subway air. No. That never was. You never were. We have taken decades to prosperity, never ceasing, unable to ever point out anything less than triumph. We didn't and we don't need to persevere, when we've never stopped. Â You can't stop a feeling. You couldn't begin to hinder great. We are a reputation of possibilities. Â 40 years of art.
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Then
now
&
A teacher’s perspective
Words: Khat Patrong Duke Ellington School of the Arts has created a name for
example of this trend. Though now a longtime member of
itself since 1974, at first in the Washington, DC area and
Ellington’s dance department faculty, she still speaks
then all over the nation. Ellington is a name that means
fondly of what originally brought her to Ellington. “I
something. Yet beyond its reputation, the Ellington
didn’t know what to expect. I only remember reading
community is unlike any other, so much so that its alumni
newspapers, listening to radio and the buzz around the
can’t stay away. As a student, I encounter plenty of
city, of an audition happening for this new concept of a
teachers who walked through the halls of Duke as a
school,” said Alexander, a member of Ellington’s first
student once upon a
graduating class for the dance department. In her time,
time. What was so
teenagers from all over the city came to audition for an
welcoming about this
experience that would change the next four years of their
artist community that
lives. This trend is still alive and well today, with some
made Duke Ellington
exchange students coming from distant corners of the
students come back
world. This tradition is what ultimately pulled Alexander
and teach? Treanna
back into the Ellington fold.
Fact There are currently 20 alumni of Duke Ellington working at the school.
Alexander is a prime
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Though she was formally invited to back to join the dance staff, Alexander says she relished the
chance to “develop, encourage and empower” students into becoming successful artists of the twenty first century. Alexander agrees that Ellington has changed since she first auditioned for ‘Arts at Western’ (Ellington’s first incarnation), but it was through work with mentors artists like current dance department chair Charles Augins, Ellington co-founder Mike Malone, Michelle Murray, Sandra Fortune Green, James Thurston, Melvin Deal, and many others that she found the kind of dance educator she hoped to be. “They’re a part of my toolbox, and my treasure chest so I’m able to pull out these tools and precious gems for a particular student’s needs,” Alexander said. As a current senior at Ellington, however, I often wonder how returning artists adapt their methods for the
Top: TNT Poppers, an early Ellington dance team.
next generation of students. Alexander argues that in education, teaching methods must constantly evolve with changing times, just like the school has. Developments like
Left: Derek Horton, now a teacher in the visual arts department, voted ‘Most Likely to Be Mistaken as a Momument’ when he attended Ellington.
the creation of the Ellington Fund, new school partnerships, more collaboration amongst departments, and new visiting artists, continually inspire her. Despite their love for where Ellington is now, the biggest pull for most alumni educators to return seems to be more than how the school changes. They stick around for what Ellington means to them. "There is no place on Earth like this building" said Ms. Johnson, an alum and faculty member in the Literary Media and Communication department. Ronald Lee Newman, an alum and faculty
parents, including mine, who fought to keep the school
member in the Technical Design and Production
open, the platinum reputation of our students, donors,
department still remembers “when [he] came to audition
alumni, families and the community who always wanted
the line wrapped around the building.” These strong
Ellington to exist and thrive!”
emotional connections make them want to stick around.
Duke Ellington School of the Arts is going through a
Halfway through my senior year, I am eager to get
much needed renovation that will change its present and
away and expand my career as a writer. It is undecided if
future. One thing that will stay the same, however, is the
I'd choose to come back and share what I learned, but my
alumni who have dedicated their lives to expanding the
mentors have definitely left a mark on who I will become.
world of art. When I consider what the next 40 years will
I think that behind Alexander’s, Newman’s, and Johnson’s
look like, I wonder if I’m a part of that narrative. Or some
choice to return to Ellington lies one truth: the people who
of my classmates? Whatever the case may be, right now
live and work in this building do so with pride and vision.
Ellington is celebrating forty years of expanding and
Alexander says the same of her experience: “What has
broadening art for adolescents. Forty years of being the
brought us to this celebration of 40 years of existence is the
difference. Forty years of "loving you madly."
purpose and genuine mission our co-founders believed, their unwavering determination, our first generation of
Ellington, you are loved.
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Words: Zakkiyya Ali
Vocal Music The vocal department at Duke Ellington is a serious place. It is led by Dr. Mary Jane Ayers and taught by superstar instructors. Many great and talented icons have walked the halls of the department -- Patti LaBelle, Mario, and most recently soul singer Ledisi. Not only do notable vocalists of our time come and visit The Vocal Music Department, many came through the department’s program, from Johnny Gill (member of R&B boy band New Edition) to Tony Terry (R&B singer) and Denyce Graves (Opera singer). The Vocal department is where students who want to be the next Stevie Wonder or Chaka Khan come to learn the basics. In order for them to actually reach that standard, they first have to go through many difficult courses. After 40 years, there haven’t been many changes to how the vocal students are taught: the department still has the same structure and goals for each student. The overall goal is to become a well prepared vocalist. All students are enrolled in prep classes - Vocal Technique, Choir, Sight Singing, and Piano Theory - in order to fulfill the overall goals. Students in the Vocal Technique IV course instructed by Mrs. Sylvia Twine start with a little vocal warm up (assisted by piano) each day. As they sing, Mrs. Twine tells them what they’re doing wrong, she looks to see if their pitch is off or if they’re breathing from their chest instead of the
"I have an undying belief that the universe takes care of people who do what they love and love what they do." - Kenneth Kellogg, class of 1997 diaphragm. After the students are warmed up, the class goes to work on a German piece given to them for the upcoming juries (during which each student will have to perform in front of the department faculty and sing three different pieces). “Remember to breathe,” Mrs. Twine says, directing a male student. The student nods and begins but still forgets to breathe. “It’s okay,” as Mrs. Twine picked up on the mistake. “Just remember the straw and try again.” This time the song flows better than before. “The vocal department has taught me a lot over the years. I love teaching here, in the place where I learned everything,” said Mrs. Twine, an alumna of the school. These are the types of things that the vocal department has been accomplishing for the past 40 years, for the students to break out of their shells, internalize the lessons and appreciate what they learn at Duke. The expectation is that this will continue for many more years to come.
Fact In 2009, the school participated in the White House Day as part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Project.
Words: Dileiny Cruz
students and the
Technical Design Production
school. Motives
&
and the missions would change in accordance with the different department chairs who took over. The
Fact For the 20th anniversary of the school, Gap sponsored an ad featuring Duke students and donated to the school.
design aspect of TDP was developed by Ronald Lee Newman. His idea
All of the departments in the school have some
was to create something different for the department,
kind of shine; some more literal than others. Technical,
while still incorporating a curriculum for the students that
Design & Production (TDP) however, is the only
"matched up with what the rest of the world was doing."
department that is expected to shine through invisibility.
One might ask what made him want to
How humble do you have to be, to not be discouraged
become chair of a more physical practice being a
with your talents not being openly displayed, and in the
graduate of the vocal department. Newman says that he
case of a TDP student how can skill turn into talent?
majored in both vocal and stage management. He and
Vichelle Jones, alum and teacher in TDP, says
another staff member, Curtis V. Hodge co-chaired TDP for
she looks for "hard-working, dedicated students, who
about two years. Currently, Hodge remains the chair and
have a no-excuse-attitude and are willing to work for
Newman is operations manager.
long hours without complaining." Jones also mentioned
With the help of leaders and chairs such as
the fact that being part of the department also means
Newman, Hodge, Prince Nora, Robin Harris, Howard
there is no recognition. People don't usually understand
James, and others, TDP has gained an accomplished
the significance of enhancing a body of work. They don't
reputation and appreciation for helping the school
seem to focus on the idea that lights and sound and
enhance their performances, assemblies and more. They
organization can completely change the opinions of an
work closely with other departments making sure they
audience.
have the necessary equipment to produce the best Most people don't know that TDP is divided
productions. TDP is a successful team that takes their
into three specific categories: lights, sound, and stage
skills of technical devices, staging and creating and
management. People usually assume that TDP checks
makes a talent of issuing the best sets for others to share
microphones and carries things around for other people,
their talents.
but, there’s a great deal to understand in exactly what it is that they do. Essentially, without lights and a stage, there is no show. That is exactly what makes TDP so important. They have an extraordinary practice filled with a dedicated team, who are well aware of their responsibilities to assist others. This dedication can be seen through works inside and outside of school. TDP was once just Technical Theatre, it materialized from an idea to change the curriculum to become more beneficial and useful to the
Words: Grace Cushner
Museum Studies
A t a n a r t s ch o o l , a s i n m u s e u m s , presentation reigns. Every piece of artwork should be shown and depicted properly because without suitable display, the viewer wouldn’t be able to enjoy it. In Museum Studies, the original pieces of art of Duke Ellington get presented in ways that play to the strength of the piece as well as the history it may have come from. “[Our] department expresses others’ art work. We manage what artwork and pieces come in, and how it should be displayed. We also do research on art to get a better understanding of how it should be taken care of and how art became what it is today,” said Mariah Stewart, a current student in MS.
First impressions are everything. Presentation is everything. Today, for someone to really see something you need to get their attention and keep it. If nothing stood out the world would be bland. You don’t always see what it took to make it look the way it does or who worked on the presentation. You normally don’t think about the work someone put into the stage that the actor is standing on either. You just see the actor. Without the right presentation you wouldn’t be able to see artwork at its full potential. At a school known for music and dancing, Museum Studies (MS) became a whole new artform. The Museum Studies department is different from what the school has ever really seen before: it was behind the scenes and behind the final product. It was all about production. It started with Marta Reid Stewart, the chair of the Museum Studies department in 1991. The department gives a hands-on experience to those who want to learn how to and about the constructing of exhibits and interpretations of all kinds of art. Before they graduate from the school, Museum Studies students must take two years of photography, two years of art and a r t h i s t o r y, t h r e e y e a r s o f m u s e u m communications, two years of digital media as core arts curriculum.
t Fac seum Studiesst program u fir The M ent is the untry. m t o r c a e p de d in th n i k s t of i
Words: Zakkiyya Ali
Theatre “Do you want the spotlight on you?” asked teacher Denise Diggs. “Of course,” said a student. “Then get used to the stares, ” she said. This was a snippet of conversation between Speech teacher, Ms. Diggs, and a first year student in the theatre department who, dressed in the first year theatre uniform of a red shirt and black pants, was asked to repeat what she had just said in front of the whole class. With every single person staring right at her, she tried to repeat herself until the feeling of everyone’s eyes got overwhelming. “If you can get deep in your breath, then you can get deep into your emotions,” Diggs said to the class, noting that remembering lines or becoming one with the character are not the only things to focus on, speech is another very important factor. “Hearing what you are saying is important. The whole sentence is important. Not just the very end,” commented Diggs. As one of the first departments to be founded when the school opened in 1974, today it is chaired by Ken Johnson, and assisted by a great cast of instructors, including Duke alumna, Tracie Jenkins. Here is where the next Meryl Streep and Denzel Washington are groomed. It’s where students learn to hone the same skills as some of the school’s own, like Dave Chappelle and Lamman Rucker. Oscar Wilde regarded theatre as “the greatest of all art forms” for the way “a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.”
Fact Debbie Allen, a director and actress on Fame, was one of the first dance teachers at Ellington.
Words: Dileiny Cruz
Instrumental Music From time to time you can hear the sound of the drum, and the occasional flutes that are both played in sync. Sometimes it's a soft crescendo, a mixture of jazz and classical training; it becomes part of the casual sounds that are Duke Ellington. The different techniques of teachers with specific crafts in music create a particular home for the students in the Instrumental Music Department. One of the first departments to be included as part of the arts curriculum once the institution was changed from Western High School to the School of the Arts, the instrumental department is known for constantly expanding to include many different types of music since its beginning. With musical expansion also came the realization that not all music forms were being introduced to the students. The school didn't focus on jazz studies, instead it focused more on the classical aspect of creating music. This lack of musical exploration is what landed Mr. Davey Yarborough the job as Jazz Director. In 1977, as an intern, Davey Yarborough got a chance to work with Mickey Bass, who taught students jazz studies after school because it was not a part of the curriculum. Yarborough was concentrating in jazz studies, and when he graduated from grad school, he was given the position of band director. He says that, throughout his musical career, he has had many mentors, one of them being Wallace Clark who was the Orchestra and Wind Ensemble director at the school. After adding jazz studies to the curriculum, Yarborough was hired to be the Jazz Studies director. Upon becoming Jazz Director, he said he got to "see the full spectrum of the instrumental department." He had become a part of the mission: to teach students classical training in applied music and music theory. The department has taught a realm of instruments from electric guitars to percussion, violin, trumpet, piano, wind instruments and the bass; their instruction goes through theory and technique and is paired with poise and presentation all to mold the astounding players of Ellington.
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Words: Grace Cushner
Literary Media & Communications
Without language, we as people wouldn’t be able to truly express who we are. Language is more than just words spoken and letters on paper. Words have meaning and convey thoughts, triumphs, sorrows, memories. They dictate life. If I was not in the Literary Media and Communications (LMC) department I would not have the same relationship with writing and language. I did not think that there were so many different types and styles of writing. I did not know how the language changed along with what tone I wrote in. It has made me realize what I could do with words and how I could express myself through that. LMC started simply as Literary Arts, it didn’t have all the elements that it does now with film, playwriting, and new media, however it always sought to have its students grow into thinkers, surveyors, pushing forth truth with the written word. "It was believed that there were many students in DCPS who wanted to write, who wanted to create art. They had journals in which they expressed ideas and feelings that could not be said out loud. Writing as a mode of expression was the focal point of the program,” offered Llewellyn Berry, one of the founders of the department. “We train the writers, playwrights, journalists, and filmmakers,” said the current LMC chair, Mark Williams. “The Duke Ellington School of the Arts was premised on giving access to the arts to students who may not have had the opportunity/access and within that access lay the groundwork towards careers in the arts.” The department has stayed faithful to this mission. From the start, LMC has taught its students to speak their minds, live constantly in “the question,” consistently dissect their worlds. "They were supersaturated with an overwhelming desire to express themselves at every turn and in every way," described Berry of his former students. When Williams came to the department in 2000, the impulse for expression was overrunning. “Mike Malone came up to me and asked, ‘What do you call that?’ I told him, ‘Multi-media Performance Art.’ He looked at me and said, ‘I’ve never seen anything like that before,” said Williams.
said that a poem “Etheridge Knight That’s til it’s performed. isn’t published un rtment. bring to the depa what I wanted to blish pu have a way to For the children to ver ne fer a performance their work, and of ms. The ,” detailed Willia seen at Ellington nda,’ it s called, ‘Propaga show of interest wa rtment show that the depa was the first major . And all poetry readings had other than sm begun, ng of Literary had with it the revampi ding of LMC. as well as the bran eate new artists LMC wants to cr rds on more than just wo whose voices are odern m e can fare in th paper, artists that f o the w curriculum world; the ne social ing the use of department includ oup of media and a gr networks, new s of us e th e su bt le tie in str uc to rs w ho es of into the perspectiv language to delve they’re y’re not teachers, everyday life. “The realize u ect with you. Yo mentors. They conn to share en they’re willing they’re human wh d Khat you,” commente their craft with trong ve LMC. I belie Pa Patrong, a senior in out ab made much more is correct, LMC is e are because of what w growth and insight we are taught. taught and by whom
Dance and Visual ! ! Arts Words: Celia Caldwell
Deep in the basement of Duke Ellington School of The Arts, two bold departments are just waiting for their histories to be told. There is the dance department, a place where artists work until their feet are sore and emotion is told only with their bodies. And just down the hall from them is where high schoolers use their acrylic colors, brushes, clay and sketch pads to tell their stories in the Visual Arts Department. Both departments were disciplines in the school from its establishment, however, they are not the same as they were forty years ago. History lives between the mirrored walls of the Dance Department, and the changes of the times sit in the crevices of the reflective surfaces. “The Dance Department used to include tap, ballet, modern and character dance, but because of DCPS rules of having academic classes as well, we had to drop tap and character,” said Charles Augins, Dance Department chair. Augins is one of the remaining art instructors with the longest tenure at Ellington. He also has an esteemed standing as a teacher who accepts nothing short of perfection from his pupils. He demands that his students explore varied styles of dance in order to become well rounded and prepared for future endeavors.
Things have also changed in forty years for the Visual Arts (VA) Department pending the influx of the technological era. Technology has affected the Department both positively and negatively. For example, VA didn’t always incorporate graphic design into their curriculum. “Technology has its advantages and is an excellent tool but sometimes it becomes distracting for young artists. We didn’t used to have those kinds of distractions,” said Mike Easton, chair of the Visual Arts Department and a Duke Ellington alumnus. VA takes its students into art from historical points of view to cultural analysis, from Sculpture to Printmaking and Two-Dimensional Concepts. Easton sees his students leaving VA as art scholars, ones who have been exposed to many facets of the artform and have utilized the knowledge as a way to build their own personal brands. Both Dance and VA have overcome many challenges and still stayed true to the mission of the school. In two years, when the building renovations are complete and the school has moved into the new space, the students and faculty will begin novel stories to add to the original Ellington history. While the departments in the basement will find themselves on different ground, they will surely continue the spirit of teaching great artistry. “The old Ellington will always be a part of the new Ellington,” said Easton.
Soundbites
Bill Harris on
40
years
Bill Harris has been teaching art for 42 years, 36 of which belonged to Ellington. He has worked with Ellington since its inception as the Workshops for Careers in the Arts and has watched as it slowly morphed from a sprinkling of focused Black artists to a DCPS school, filled beyond its capacity with a diverse student body.
Early Ellington Years
Words: Barrett Smith
on The
1
“We locked the studio doors so they wouldn’t run us out.” Harris used to stay at Ellington until the early hours of morning, working alongside his students and coworkers in the studio. This time, he believes, was
2
won’t get paid, but the students who did take them, he says were
“Every time I turned around they were taking my students and making them perform.”
paid in an experience and education that is, in the long run, more
Even during the
valuable to their artistic careers. Students need to see their
Workshops, many of our same annoyances
teachers working. He tells the story of a college friend who
were shared among the Ellington populace.
worked for Bobkins signs and was frequently left in the office
As they began to develop the idea of the
alone overnight, “he had to learn ways to get the work done by
school, students were being
much more valuable to the students than their instruction. It is the power of learning by doing, by seeing. He emphasizes the importance of internships, which students often dismiss if they
himself and so he learned.” He learned by doing, and thus he became a master printmaker.
3
“I was amazed, when I saw them kids acting, dancing, singing, I was amazed. And I’ve always been amazed at the talent.”
on
pulled out of classes to perform and fundraise, their teachers were irritated and stressed but had only to remind themselves that these brief interruptions were what allowed the other hours of class and work at Ellington to continue and expand.
Methodology 4
“The way I taught and I would teach today, when you come through
20
that door, when you come through my door, you’re here for a purpose, and I’m gonna make sure you get your passion together, or at least
know that there is no nonsense in this classroom so we can get to what we got to do. Because I have to develop a passion in you. I have to develop a method by which you can work. I have to develop all sorts of things in you but you’ve got to show me that you want this.”
5
“I’m not a sculptor but I know what they do.” Harris taught classes at Ellington that he had no interest or expertise in, filling in to comply with changes around him in curricula and in other teachers. “It keeps
6
lot, it keeps you on your toes.” Harris and his
Stanley Squirewell, Michael Easton, Rodney Little
department did whatever needed to be done to
“That was at a time when we had a sprinkling of brilliant
continue to share their art with and work alongside
students, we always had and still have had that. Those are
young people, and in order to fully benefit them by
the students who impact other students, so I developed my
providing a well-rounded arts education, even if they
classes along the lines of having assistants in my class. After
didn’t have a sculptor on their team. Harris says he
I was a first year teacher, I learned who my stars were and
made friends with the custodians. He had to, because
the stars were going to teach the other stars. Because you
he taught most of his sculpture classes with plaster,
can’t make it as long as I did teaching all the time, you need
which required so much water. He would ask the
some assistance and that’s what I think good teachers do.
custodians to wash out a trashcan before every class
But they also have to recognize that students are still
and afterwards it had to be thrown out because of the
growing up and they have to develop them.”
you sharp, you read a lot, you think a lot, you learn a
plaster.
on Art
& Artistry “I call myself an artist, a craftsman, and a teacher.”
8
“Passion, discipline, talent. In that order.” Harris says he’s learned something from every artist who has come before him, but that sculptor Ed Love was his first real inspiration.
Harris was an undergraduate at Howard University
Harris began crafting for money. He was living in a small
when they met. Bill had talent, but he was blasé
apartment with his dog, both of them eating cabbage every night
about it until Love told him talent was not enough.
for dinner. He would sell his work outside of Howard University
“He said talent will get you through the door,
Cramton Auditorium. At first, people looked at
discipline gets you through that door clean, and
him like his work, and he, were trash. But once
passion drives you through the door,” says Harris. Ed
they got used to his presence, he says, they really
Love was the person that continuously convinced
looked at it and accused him of importing it. He
Harris to always keep trying, that he could be what
laughs, “Why would I import something I can do
he wanted if you keep going at it. “Passion,
myself?” but that, he says, is representative of
discipline, talent. In that order. That’s what I would
being a professional artist.
say to you. I had it backwards when I started.”
7
21
Work
write Will playsing Dance
For Paint $$
Celia Reilly realizes the importance of art in the education of young people.
I spent the first three days of my sophomore
I believe art is a part of education. I think it
year at a “real” high school. I transferred from my arts
teaches patience and focus. It’s not the same as algebra,
school into a normal public school and it was then I
but it is equally useful. Art expands the mind. It forces us
realized my old school was more than the average. I
to think outside our boxes. We could learn more about
spent three days having facts shoved into my head, being
the world around us by painting it instead of studying it.
shoved around in the halls, and getting yelled at by
I can never understand how anyone would think that’s
faculty because my sports bra was showing through my
not vital. We live in a world with different cultures and
shirt. I began to understand why my friends always
ideas; textbooks can never teach us enough about each
complained about going to school. I had never felt so
other. Art connects us. I spend way more time discussing
out of place. I admit the school I was at, Eleanor
music than I do discussing the discovery of North
Roosevelt, had fantastic academics and sports (Duke
America.
doesn’t have sports at all), but the year before I went to
Giving students one or two arts classes isn’t
Roosevelt, they cut all the creative writing programs. All
enough. I know so many kids who struggle in their
of them. Maybe with the money they saved the football
academic classes, but can take a person’s breath away
team got new uniforms, or the science department got
with their dancing. Art gives the kids that aren’t
more frozen frogs but now tens of hundreds of kids had
academically inclined something to excel in. Too many
no creative outlet. If they didn’t take part in a special
people are walking around thinking they’re not good at
program outside of school their writing and writing skills
anything, thinking they’re not smart, and all they’ve had
weren’t fostered.
a chance to take is an ‘Intro Into Art and Design’ class.
Unless you’re going to a school specifically
We could have the next Picasso walking the halls of a
dedicated to the arts, like Duke, academics will always
public school and not know because that student hasn’t
come first. There isn’t a standardized test for singing. The
been given the chance to thrive.
history department will always come before choir or
So the answer here is simple. The education
band. Anything related to the arts is “extra.” Students
system doesn’t see art as educational; they don’t see the
aren’t required to take art classes. Schools aren’t required
val u e i n i t. Ou r wo rl d r e vo l ve s a r o u n d m o n e y,
to focus on them.
and making money. Generally it’s harder to make money being an artist, as opposed to a doctor or a lawyer. So schools aim to produce the doctors and lawyers. Colleges don’t give scholarships to students who painted a pretty picture (unless the student is going to college for art specifically) they give it to the kid with the higher SAT score. We, as a whole, tend to look for talent we can measure with numbers. At Duke we get graded in our arts classes, but it’s usually for the amount of effort you put into your work. We can measure academics and that makes people comfortable. Art is scary. It is big and vast, with little way to measure it and no way to contain it. And that, I believe, is a big reason why art programs are cut first at schools; it’s too difficult to measure. It can’t be kept in a specific place. School is about order and specificity. So if it’s art vs sports, there’s no competition. Duke, and other schools like it, are essential; where art isn’t just a program, but the stimulation of the institution. Each student has the opportunity to find ourselves, and boost our GPA’s with our arts classes. So kids better at art than world history have a chance to have good grades too. I believe there needs to be more schools like this, for the many kids at schools like Roosevelt, who can go their whole lives thinking there’s nothing more important than academics or sports. Life is more than that. If schools would just pay more attention to what students need they’d see that kids need art. Without creative outlets kids feel trapped. How can they express themselves? The lack of art programs in school has led to the majority of teenagers being lost in their own feelings. I think if schools would fund more arts programs they would see a drastic change, for the better, in the attitude and personalities of their students.
Allowing Art to Be... Barrett Smith questions the relative inertia of the current generation and the ever-changing meaning of art. When Duke Ellington first opened alongside Western High School, art students and faculty had to fight for their rights to the space and facilities. In 1976, two years after the school was established, the co-founder and arts director, Mike Malone was suspended by the superintendent for refusing to remove a student’s nude sculptures from the lobby of the school. The arts school community mobilized their protest. Students, parents, and teachers signed a petition and even boycotted, not just to support Malone, but also to demand autonomy; 24 faculty members threatened to resign. Finally, it was agreed that what was to become the Duke Ellington School of Arts should not be considered a traditional high school. This incident is only an example of the continuing tensions that exist between the school system and Ellington over policy, budget, and administration...the range is
24 expansive.
Duke Ellington School of the Arts was born from fight.
Fact The faculty of Western were the first ones to want to change the name to Duke Ellington School of the Arts instead of the Performing Arts.
The artists of a young Ellington were fighters,
protests in some areas, while others just changed their
they had to be, they were the embers left over from a
profile pictures to black squares. What did that do for
rebellious spark lit in the 60s, burning in a society and
Trayvon? It just proved we, as a generation, are lazy.”
school system that had calmed down and become
Whether it be laziness, complacency, or
much more conservative. Principal Rory Pullens recalls
misdirected approach, many students show that the
many protests in the early years of the school,
attitude regarding protest has changed, even of those
“Students,” he says, “would march downtown over ‘we
who believe in its power. Most question its
need more paint brushes’ or ‘we need this and that’”
effectiveness.
but now, he observes that students have become much more complacent. Many departments still don’t have
“I don’t recall any protests that actually changed anything but I still think it could,” Arsani says.
the resources or funding they need but that doesn’t
“The act of protesting doesn’t actually do
incite protest, because to the understanding of most,
anything” Hirsch claims, “but it starts the conversation
that’s just the way it is.
and the conversation builds and then eventually
Many students disagree with Principal
something might change.”
Pullens’ claim, and believe that we are in fact the next
Julia Tyson, a Senior Violinist, is adamant that
generation of artists and activists, ready to change the
“you just get in trouble, it doesn’t actually change
world. Kimia Arsani of the Instrumental department,
anything.”
says she frequently witnesses her peers protesting, both
However, Pullens claims the protests that
within the school and in the larger world. “If they don’t
characterized Ellington students in its early years were
care they just don’t do anything, but if they’re really
very effective. “It’s not offensive,” he says about being
passionate about an issue, they’ll go after it and find a
challenged, in fact when describing his reaction to the
way to change it.” Harrison Brown, also believes in our
few petitions he’s seen in recent years, he practically
power, “emerging social issues like gay marriage and
jumped out of his chair, with a hoarse shout of “Yes!
ending marijuana prohibition are gaining support
Get upset about something!”
because of our generation.” Literary, Media and Communications (LMC) student Victoria Gaetan thinks people want to make things better but rely on movements started by the older generations. “That leaves us following, not
“I don’t think artists can really say ‘that’s the way it is’” Pullens argues sadly, “we’re the ones who change the world.” “Nothing [urges] a bigger change the way art does” says Gaetan.
starting something that could be greater,” says Gaetan.
But like our definition of protest, the next
Some agree that Generation Y does not show the
generation of artists are allowed to define what they
devotion of previous generations, but seem not to think
do. Almost everyone I spoke to agreed that art inherits
it is a matter of complacency.
more than the need for change. Art can be any
Sarah Hirsch, a Theatre student, believes our generation is protest-happy, that “[they are] in love
message, or even the lack of message.
25
with the idea of protesting, but they don’t know how to
“Art is a way of expression and connection”
do it, so it doesn’t end up making the impact they think
Arsani says after a moment of thought, “It can express
it will.” LMC Senior Khat Patrong agrees; she recalls
any emotion or opinion and it can connect people
the outrage at the Trayvon Martin case, “there were
together no matter what their story.”
Essay:
Are you ! ! prepared? Tréseat Lawrence sympathizes with white students at Ellington and questions whether the curriculum prepares students for the outside world. Art is where race, gender, and sexuality could not matter less. Art takes all three of these things and keeps them uncensored. They can neither be right nor wrong. At Ellington we are placed in a community where all are loved. We are taught that we should respect others’ ideologies and beliefs. When we sit in the theatre we all have one thing in common, we are all artists. No matter what our discipline at Ellington, we each immerse ourselves in it. It can be argued that this aspect differentiates us from all of our other DC public school counterparts. Even though we are taught that things previously listed don't affect our art or our habits, is there ever a time when they do? While Ellington is made up of a diverse environment, some may say that there is a lack of diversity in the arts curriculum. Mostly everything we learn about here at Ellington-authors, prominent figures, plays are AfricanAmerican or are by African-Americans, but that isn't at all bad. However, is it wrong to feel a guilty conscience towards our white peers? I sit in playwriting class and we read from playwrights who tell of the struggle of the black man. I watch my white classmates critique a work they know nothing about. In our assemblies and our productions we discover that the recurring theme is always derived from African American art. It is obvious that some kids don't feel included. It is ironic that in lesson, F ct w e fi g h t f o r “ t h e brother” and yet, I’m The first group of arts finding myself fighting staff at Ellington were for the m a j o r i t y. I all a part of the Black only
a
Arts Movement in DC.
view it as being a concerned artist who wants to experience more than just her own race. A weird thought comes to my mind when I think of what our school is: I wonder if white parents send their children here hoping that they would catch the rhythm and culture these little black boys and black girls serve. Being culturally diverse is what's important for our generation, for we live in a world that is constantly being mixed together. If we open the school to a new demographic, we should make them feel welcomed. My Department Chair, Mark Williams, made a valid counter, “If this were any other school you wouldn't question why you were being taught so much European literature.” While Mr. Williams' statement is true, the world being majority white is a reality. Is it ok to question whether Ellington has set us up for the world outside of this beautiful institution? Are we ready for the art that is other than our own? Are we prepared to bring our For Colored Girls to the world that is Shakespeare? Some hands for yes and some hands for no. I would have my hand up for no. And this isn't the fault of Ellington. We as students have to reassess ourselves and discover new ways we can better the diversity at Ellington. There is no more time to look over this topic as something small, because after four years here it becomes big. Yes, it is sad that something like race could come between art and day to day life. It is in the middle of both. As artists and as people, our diversity is determined by how well we conform to our realities. We as artists only have Ellington for high school. After those years we are released into an artistic world that is no longer majority black. Can you honestly say that you are prepared?
26
Essay:
Where Else? Sarah Hirsch reflects on the unique education she’s received at Ellington. There is a very real possibility that I will graduate this year without performing in a main stage production at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. I’m a theatre major. This reality bothered me for a while. Despite this frustration, I never thought the school should be producing different shows, ones that I could participate in as a white student. Where else would this situation even be of concern? Especially in Georgetown? More importantly, where else would high school students perform shows like Black Nativity, For Colored Girls, and Dreamgirls? As a white student, a minority at Ellington, I don’t want the school to change because I recognize and value the education I have and continue to receive. It is a kind of education that I would not have received had I stayed in Montgomery County, I believe the purpose of education should be to develop critical thinking and develop our communities, but the education I would have received would have been one that only preserved an existing community and sanctioned the existing power structure. There, I would have been enveloped in the safety of my dominance. And within that safety, one never needs to question that dominance because it becomes a fact, rather than a structure put in place that can be altered or challenged. No one in Montgomery County questions why students study mainly dead white men. No one questions why Literature curricula teach only white-American and white-English writers. Why African American Literature is a separate class. Typically under the umbrella term of “Diverse Traditions.” As if African Americans are not part of American culture. So if everywhere else isn’t subject to question, why should
Ellington be? Why would Ellington not do Black Nativity? For Colored Girls? Dreamgirls? What other school would do these shows? How else would young people learn of the plays and the work if that is not what is being promoted in the majority of the country? Work that, in spite of this, is just as much a valid part of our identity, commenting on truths that are integral in the reality of our country. To change a dominant culture, that promotes inequality, a revolution is needed. Ellington acts as a revolution when it starts the conversation about race. One of my favorite authors, Chimamanda Adiche, left Nigeria to come to America for college. During her book signing at the Politics and Prose bookstore on Connecticut Ave., she notes that, despite being citizens of a country that created the notion of race, Americans never seem to talk about it. Ellington acts as a revolution when it leads the conversation about race between the older and younger generations. Dawn Naser, a theatre department teacher going on her eighth year, explains that this spirit is what drew her to the school when she moved to DC. She first encountered the students of Ellington while assistant directing a show. With a smile, she remembered the “commitment and passion” the young people had for “work that mattered.” Having worked at another arts school in Pittsburgh, Ms. Naser was pleasantly surprised to work with material that wasn’t chosen because of how many tickets it would sell. Instead, she asserted that the shows chosen at Ellington were pieces that “really say something” revolving around “ideas that people care about.” She believes Ellington theatre is inclusive, “I don’t know why Tennesse Williams is for everybody,” she says, “but August Wilson is for one group of people.” She continues to say that, regardless of the race of the playwright, “the stories are universal.” So while the color of my skin keeps me at times from performing, nothing is stopping me from participating. Maybe I’ll graduate without performing in a main stage production at Ellington. But I have gained something much more valuable than another thing to put on my resume. The opportunity to participate in a revolution.
But now I fear that everything I have here will be lost. These wal ls feel like home every time I visit. I point and say things like, "Oh! That's my loc ker!" or "I hated this class." All my memories are flo ating around in the four corners of this building, mingled with 40 years of others. Tear this place down and there will be nothing to come home to anymore. It would feel alien. Still, I am all for change. We nee d to show people that we are a sch ool that upholds high standards. We see to it that we meet them as well. Eve n though it will feel like we are losing a big par t of Ellington, its spirit will alw ays live, no matter the building. Farewell, my good friend.
Remember the time when I almost gave up? All of it, the tension, the workload, the pressure and the enormity of it all came crashing down on me and I couldn't take it. Then I saw the portrait of Ell ington himself. It was not perfec t. His lower face was drooping as if gravity got the best of him, his lips were too big , as if they were stung by bees, his eyebrows were furrowed together in concentration , concentration on something altogether nonexisten t. It wasn't perfect. Life wasn't per fect. Why did I expect it to be? Once again you sav ed me from the deep pit of depres sion I was about to fall in to. Thank you.
Hello again my old friend. I’ve mis sed you. For four years you have sheltered me and kept me under your artistic wing. For four years I have dealt with heartbreak and pain and joy and happiness. I miss that. I miss the times where I would cry because I had so much work to do. I miss the surprises, the excitemen t that comes along with it, good or bad. I miss the music in the staircases, the sweet melody of a violin still rings in my ears to this day. I miss the harmony of voi ces that would spontaneously burst into song out of nowhere, my face always disappr oving and annoyed. I miss the judging stares people gave me when I walked dow n the hallway, it made me feel powerful, unique, ble ssed. I miss everything. Everythin g about you. Who knew?
Dear Ellington,
M
Founder/Artistic Director Kim  Bears-Bailey,  Grammy nominated Assistant  Artistic  of The Greg Watkins Director(Philadanco) Recording Artist Yazarah, Private Music Studio
Ma Vocalist Os Katherine Smith, i car m Feli x Osuchukwu, Vi s ual Arti s t I o nte H Si ng un a rna aw Dancer/Choreographer e Y r o tion kin / u Re c G s s al , o rdi ramm s e f, Da ng A y No Sylver Logan Sharpe, nce Ihsan Bilal, r min rt is a te d t Singer/Perfo rming Artist Vocalist Johnetta Boone, , Sumayya Ali, Wallace Ro Vichelle Jo olloway ney, Sandy H apher Costume Designer nes, D r g art Broadway Artist  A c Choreo tr e (Tyler Perry’s “For Jazz Musician s s, Stage an y Manager a ess) B and A Porgy e, (Ragtim Colored Girls�) n ctor Michaela E dm Angela D ond avis, Author an s, d Journa , es nyce Grav De l i s t ight, Essayist r ational Opera Vocalist Norma Porter, rn te In W i r d a Terita Redd, Sh Black Da list an a n nce r u o J Broadway Artist Magazine founder (Hair Spray/Leap of Faith) Cornelius Jone Rosalyn Coleman, s, Actress (Its kind of Broadway Artist (The Lion Richard Freeman, a funny story) King/Thou Shall Not) Dancer (Dallas Black Dance)
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Antonio Woods, Edit Assistant for BET Networks
Words: Nick Daly
The Laste r e H It's the way you look at the building after you've attended for a little bit. Duke Ellington is soon to be renovated, and I, a freshman, am one of the last people to actually feel the air of things as is, one of the last people to attend Duke at the current building. It is monumental, from the chipped paint on the once-white walls to the kindness that you immediately feel as you walk in. From the outside, with its offw h i t e c o l u m n s , p a t c hy greenish grass, and the unforgettable green chair, it's a simple high school. It's when you walk in, when you feel the calming air that hits yo u . Th e R S t r e e t entrance, where students are required to enter, a few bikes chained to the rusting black fence. It's the door with the scratched wheelchair accessible sign, where we enter. You open the thick door into a wave of color on the walls, a blue carpet on the floor, always dirty, always askew, taking on the walk of over 500 artists every year. At lunch, I usually roam around, finding a new work of art, a new jumble of musical notes and vocal pitches, and a different group of friends and people. The flashing colors, grappling your gaze, the voices of the students and staff echoing through the hallways, bouncing off the quite large lockers, and these lockers are large. I can fit in these blue metal monsters, probably two of me at a time, all of my homework, parts of my ambition, and even some of my emotions.
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ooden Past the four w h. nt ri by la r ai like a mid bles one side, the ta iling, hovering ce on e e th ag st on a d ng an pi The pi for me hes and pianos b of relaxation, e cafeteria, couc hu th a is n, s or tio ea do cr le doub more fe, our hub of d midday. Four the other. The ca an on r am ba y rl od ea fo e e and th ement in th e left sound and mov ith a siren. To th ith w w d g re in st ge ig ur tr B s t. it' at leas exit, saying of the here the writers past them lies an w d se an ba s, e or m do ho le s doub munication' e heat ry Media & Com here you feel th ra w , te ut Li , ro 18 sp t m ec oo oj lies R the R s for a new pr nd the back of ther and the idea ou ge ar to ng e vi m ur co C ol scho aspiration. s are warming up with , between locker d ay in llw m ha ’s A ne V yo e er th of ev partment. In lors of e Visual Arts de students, the co th of is e es is nc om tra pr En e Street y face, ures left by th ings and sculpt g thrown into m aw in dr be s ks ou or er w m e nu the e corridor. Th gton. ys hanging in th da d ba places inside Ellin d e an th to good ue tr n ee in-betw rprising and all soothing and su
On the first floor in the gray carpeted lobby where the gallery sits a grand piano too many fingers have touched searching for the magic between one half step and a D sharp. The piano is positioned in front of the legendary theatre with its red cushioned rows and its perfectly lit stage that we all imagine to have been built by years of tear-filled monologues behind eight wooden doors. The two circular stairways on both sides of the theatre entrance aren’t for students to use, but every student here has dreamed to dare walk up, and not be too late for class. Go up one more level beyond the sanctified steps, to the second floor, the academic class dominated floor. Even the bland classrooms, in which the teachers have placed posters and banners to light their rooms up along with their bright voices - hold permanent reservation in my heart. The stairs also lead right above the main lobby, to the overlook. Here is quite a number of the school’s artistic works, some of my personal favorites. A darkened green background behind a girl holding a mask of beauty and a sculpture created out of metal, standing taller than myself, which is normal as I'm not very tall. One more level, to the third floor, where the Instrumental Music and Vocal Music reign. I barely step foot on this floor, not that I don't want to be on this floor, I just never really know where I should stand when I'm here. There’s statues of music artists that stand with their famous quotes, the lights seem brighter, the hall is narrowed by the instrument cases scattered along the walls, melodies and harmonies slipping through small crevices of each door, a complete surrounding of sound. I normally just stand in awe.
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Again, I'm new to the school but it’s as though this was always my right place. No discomfort from the floor to the ceiling, not one disgusted stare. Only eight weeks in, and I lovingly count every minute inside these walls that won’t last. They give me a sense of comfort. Here, you can only be you, and Duke's building and grounds express that. The atmosphere of the school, hits you right in the face. Sinking you into the artistic pit.
Farewell to the building (for now!) “I'll miss Ellington, Ellington introduced me to myself in more ways than one.” Tréseat Lawrence
VA HALLWAY
“I remember watching all the graduates walk across the stage and I just pictured myself being up there. I feel like crossing that stage makes us part of that legacy.” -Brianna McAdoo
What It Means to
Bethe Difference Edward Maloney explores what the fortieth year theme, ‘being the difference’ means to students in different departments
At Duke Ellington School of the Arts, there is a theme that holds paramount among the students and faculty, commonly repeated by Dean of Students Father Payne and Principal Rory Pullens, along with other administrators: Duke Ellington School of the Arts: Forty Years of Being the Difference. It is part tribute to co-founders Peggy Cooper Cafritz and the late Mike Malone, and part celebration of Duke Ellington’s continued influence and impact in the arts across the nation, and around the world. In the past months, this idea has held presence in our studies. Even as a first year student at this school, I can see the significance of this event. However, in the excitement of the preparations for the countless productions, I feel the whole idea of the year is being shown in an abstract form. It is evident that this anniversary is a big deal. In October, the Kennedy Center hosted a tribute concert, featuring big names in art such as eight-time Grammy Award nominee R&B singer Ledisi, along with Ellington alumni and current students. But with all of this celebrating and commemorating, I was curious how I and others could be the difference. I always hear about how people are being a variety of differences, in the smallest and largest of ways, yet there are few of these examples highlighted where art is utilized to be the difference. Perplexed by this asymmetry, I decided to ask eight students, each from a different department and grade, exactly how they feel they’ve been a difference in their time at Duke Ellington. I found that everyone at Ellington has a purpose, a deeper intent in their art. They not only want to express themselves, but to invoke an emotion, a reaction, to alter one’s way of thinking, and disregard every precedent set before them. Duke Ellington students don’t break the rules. They completely shatter them.
“In terms of theatre, they give us a lot of psychological insight, so I use that in helping other people by giving them advice and helping them understand why people do what they do, or why certain events happen. I try to help them reassess their own perspectives.” Thomas Booker, Theatre, Junior
Fact Instead of the bell that sounds now to indicate the change of a period, ‘Take the A Train’ used to be played over the intercom. Songs were played during the lunch bell.
“Every piece that I’ve done, I’ve had some sort of message or idea in it, something that provokes a new sort of perspective, or dares to challenge society’s notions.” Terrale Green, Visual Arts, Senior
“When the first-year dancers come in, I tend to take them in as my own, as if they were my younger siblings, and encourage them to push themselves and be more confident when they dance.” Bevara Anderson, Dance, Senior
“As far as writing goes, I help people appreciate other’s values, as well as their own. I have a friend who’s severely depressed, and I wrote her a two page letter explaining all the reasons I love her and why she’s my friend. She told me now, whenever she’s feeling sad, she reads that Celia Riley, Literary Media, Junior letter.”
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“I sing, and by doing so, I encourage other people to sing and express themselves freely. I push people to be loud and weird, and to do whatever they like.” Soyini Lydia, Vocal, Freshman
“What I do to make a difference is that I perform in honor of the school, and Duke Ellington himself. I use my art to create a lasting memory of joy and happiness for people, like at pep rallies or concerts, as well as to promote the school.” Christiana Niosi, Instrumental, Sophomore
“I contribute to a larger force, I help make productions happen. I help performances run smoothly so they can leave their intended effect on the audience.” Elijah Whittle, Technical Production and Design, Freshman
“I’m an educator. I teach people about the history of art and museums, while helping in the preservation of fine expression.” Jenay Johnson, Museum Studies, Sophomore
n and Production The Technical Desig d from the Theatre department separate department.
2009
The Grammy Museum donated the fund s to build a recording stud io in the scho ol. It is open to the student body and as wel l as the public.
2007 -2008
2 0
11
Th Sh e Ra ow d Ba ical nd Eli , ma te, E d ll i e its ngto d n e bu ’s t.
Ronald Lee Newman, the first alum to chair a department, changed the name and department from Theatre Tech.
2013
Duke Ellington will have the first all school collective performance, ‘Black Nativity,’ since ‘Dreamgirls’ in 2010.
2014 The school is scheduled for renovation. The facade will be preserved due to its status as a historical site, but the rest of the building will be completely different.
Ellington School of the Arts.” School of the Performing Arts” to “Duke changed from “Western at the The school’s name was
Mr. Israel Theo Hicks started as the first principal.
1977
Ford gave grants to the Workshops for Careers in the Arts. Duke Ellington School of the Arts was established at Western High School from Peggy Cooper-Cafritz and Mike Malone’s Workshops for Careers in the Arts.
1974
1976-1978
Edward ‘Duke’ Ellington passed away
9
19
2
first renovation.
BO H e th n’s on to ed lin rm t C fo n er ide s p es nt Pr de er stu orm on r f . gt fo on lin al ti El eci gura sp au
Gordon Junior High during Duke's
in
All academic classes took place at
Samuel L. E. Bonds started Show Choir, the vocal department’s combination of theatrics and song.
1978-1981
1986
Hillary Clinton spoke at the 20th Anniversary graduation ceremony.
1994
1996
Ellington’s students helped to build the Green Chair as part of an art project installed on the National Mall.
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D be uke A ca El C rts me ling El urre Pro Du ton C ling ntl jec ke Sc DESA celebrated its 20th Anniversary. The G ent ton y, D t be Ell ho theme was ‘This Day In Black History.’ pa eor er f Fu .C cau ing ol o tr ic ge Wor t nd . Pu se ton f th Stevie Wonder and Debbie Allen h , ip b o Sc e A performed for the special. a a e th l f t e. shin Per e Jo ic S its p hoo rts a l g fo h c t on rmi n F hoo rtn of t ls er he U n . ni g A Ken , th ship ve rt n e s. r sit s, an edy y d
Rory Pullens, the current principal, started his tenure.
2006
2002
Co-founder Mike Malone stepped down as Dean of the Arts.
Black Nativity daisyjames SPECIAL EDITION
D U K E E L L I N G TO N S C H O O L O F T H E A R T S P R E S E N T S M I K E M A L O N E ’ S
Behind The Scenes with Malia Williams-Haynes Black Nativity Profiled -- Hear the stories of four major Black Nativity participants Kanye West is he the 21st Century Black Christ or is he just blasphemous and arrogant?