THEATREMUSIC
Title of Work: On the Day You Were Born
TRANSFORMATION
The idea for the production of On the Day You Were Born began when author/illustrator Debra Frasier approached Sandy Spieler and In the Heart of the Beast to create a benefit to celebrate the theatre and the publication of her book in March, 1991. The theatre had wanted to do a play about the natural wonders of the world and Frasier’s book was perfect in both theme and visual style. Ms. Spieler worked in close collaboration with Ms. Frasier, becoming midwife to the creative process in bringing the book off the page and onto the stage. She began by storyboarding the book into sections: a prologue, an invocation, the revelation of wonders, and finally the birth and welcome song. They then constructed tag board models of the show’s three large boxes which open toreveal the text and action of the story. The boxes incorporate mural techniques, banners, animated tableaux and whimsical fabrics in harmony with Frasier’s colorful illustrations.
ENDURINGVALUES THEFAMILYHUMAN ARTISTIC PROCESSES 1. CREATING (Cr) 2. PERFORMING, PRESENTING, PRODUCING (Pr) 3. RESPONDING (Re) 4. CONNECTING (Cn) rtsource ® The Music Center’s Study Guide to the Performing Arts A MULTI-MEDIAEXPERIMENTALCONTEMPORARYCLASSICALTRADITIONAL
About the Artwork: On the Day You Were Born is a play created by In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre. It is based on Debra Frasier’s book of the same title about the natu ral events that unfold on the day a child enters the world. The play combines puppetr y, painting, poetry and music, celebrating the natural miracles of the earth and extending a jubilant welcome to each member of our human family.
Minnesota “On the eve of your birth, word of your coming passed from animal to animal... and the marvelous news migrated worldwide.”OntheDay You Were Born
Artistic Director: Sandy Spieler b. 1953
Background Information: Sandy Spieler went to college with the intention of becoming a doctor. Her school years coincided with a period of political unrest in this country, and these events turned her head from medical books to discoverother healing grounds. A talented visual artist, she began fitting sculpture and music together with theatre and dance to tell stories and explore ancient and daily rituals. She became a puppeteer and joined In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre of Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1974, becoming Artistic Director in 1976. Under her leadership, the theatre has become known for its imaginative productions featuringpuppets of all sizes and styles, from epic totems to table-top proportions. Provocative and strikingly beautiful, these puppets are all built by hand from recycled materials. In the Heart of the Beast has received numerous grants and awards including the McKnight Excellence in the Arts Award and the Twin Cities Mayor’s Award for Public Art.
Creative Process of the Artist or Culture:
Sandy Spieler (Photo courtesy of Sandy Spieler) THE POWER OF NATUREOPPRESSION&
The author’s radiant collage illustrations translate to the stage as actors open giant trick boxes releasing the natural phenomena described in the book. After the performance, the audience is invited to tour the planetary midway where carnival booths demonstrate the scientific information found in the book’s glossary. Topics include: migration, rotation, gravity, the moon’s phases, rising and falling tides, sunlight and photosynthesis.
Creators: Producer: In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre
Author/Illustrator: Debra Frasier b. 1953
FREEDOM
* * *
• Have you ever thought about yourself as being part of the universe?
• Photos: courtesy of In the Heart of the Beast.
• Go towww.debrafrasier.com for additional information.
• Frasier, Debra. On the Day You Were Born. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 1991.
Sample Experiences: LEVEL I
• Improvise scenes in which the characters and conflicts relate to the topics documented in the book’s glossar y LEVEL III
• Illustrations on pages 2, 6, 8, 10, 12 from On the Day You Were Born, by Debra Frasier. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: 1991.
• Compose a welcoming song.
* Indicates sample lessons
• Choreograph a dance of the flaming sun.
• Who is the ‘you’ in the play’s title?
•arrived?What role do the constellations or phases of the moon play in your birth?
• Research how different cultures celebrate birth and make a list of the various rituals or customs.
• Write and illustrate a book about the day you were born using Debra Frasier’s book as a model. Go to www.debrafrasier.com for more information on making
• Write journey stories from the animals’ points of view tracing the migration patterns of their spectacular trips.
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•www.debrafrasier.comLewis,Richard.
• Who were the family members and friends gathered around you on the day you were born?
•books.Perform pantomime plays of birth and welcome based on your book’s personal history stories.
• What is the ‘darkness’ you waited in before you
Multidisciplinar y Options:
• On page 6 there are suggested scenarios about natural forces. Select one and iscuss with a partner how one of these aspects of natue could have ‘welcomed’ you on the day you were born. (For example: I was born at night and greeted by a glittering star in the dark sky.)
• Why is the earth described as the ‘spinning world’?
• Select several constellations and in a large space, have students act as stars, positioning themselves to form their pictures.
LEVEL II
Miracles: Poems by Children of the English-Speaking World. Simon and Schuster, New York, NY: 1966.
• Show the class a map of the night sky and point out various constellations. Locate Polaris or the North Star. Read several Native American myths explaining how the stars came to be in the sky. Ask students to star gaze on a clear night and record what star groups or pictures they can see from their homes.
• Use creative drama and movement techniques to explore land and sea phenomena described in the play.
Additional References:
• Visit the library or go online and read a newspaper published on the day you were born.
• Make a puppet play of a favorite children’s book using the book’s illustrations as the visual aesthetic.
• What other rites of passage, in addition to birth, are cause for celebration in our lives?
Audio-Visual Materials:
•Pinpoint on a map the birthplace of each student in your class.
• Observe tidepools at low tide and discover the teeming life within them. Watch how the moon’s gravity pulls the ocean, changing the tide over the course of several hours’ time.
Discussion Questions: After the video has been viewed:
MATERIALS: None.
INTRODUCTION: We can use our bodies and voices to express physical concepts and form ‘stage pictures.’ This theatre game focuses on using dramatic movement to create some of the natural phenomena described in the play On the Day You Were Born. The exercise helps develop concentration skills and fosters ensemble relationships.
• Repeat this exercise, but this time increase the challenge of the activity by adding sounds to accompany the movements.
Example: LandSea Spinning EarthRising Tide Pulling GravityFalling Rain From the play On the Day You Were Born In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre
CREATIVE
PROGRESSION:
OBJECTIVES: (Student Outcomes) Students will be able to: • Improvise using topics from the play relating to land and sea using creative drama and movement techniques. (Creating & Performing)
• Describe, discuss, analyze and connect information and experiences based on this lesson. Refer to Assessment at the end of this lesson. (Responding & Connecting)
LEVEL I Sample Lesson
THEATRE
TRANSFORMATION
• Begin this creative drama session with a warm-up exercise. Have the class form a big circle. Ask one student to go into the center and begin a simple and repetitive physical movement. One at a time, other students should join in, adding a movement that relates to those that have gone before. Coach the stu dents to use their whole bodies and to explore different levels in the playing space. Continue the game until ever yone has had an opportunity to participate.
• Next, think about some of the land and sea phenomena described in On the Day You Were Born. Make two lists which could be explored through creative movement.
Photo: Michal Daniel 3 SOUND AND MOTION
EXTENSION:
CONNECT: Discuss some of the other phenomena described in the book that could relate to sky or air (ideas might include photosyn thesis, air currents, rain, etc.)
VOCABULARY: stage picture, theatre game, machines (as a theatre game)
• Using the same sound and motion techniques, create the human heart and the human brain. Shift focus from the natural world to the man-made one and create appliances and machines. Begin with toasters, can openers, trash compactors, etc., and then move on to car engines and home computers. Compare how the sounds and movements used to express technology differ from those used in the lesson.
DESCRIBE: State the topic your group selected and describe one or two of the different movement choices performed by people in your group
DISCUSS: Discuss how the different choices your group made related to the topic you were working with.
ANALYZE: Discuss the specific things that made your group task successful and then think of what you could have changed to make it even clearer.
• Share the creative movement scenes with the class.
• Divide the class into teams of 8-10 students. Let each group choose a topic from the lists to explore through sound and movement. Have them use the warm-up exercise as a model process. Give each group sufficient time to rehearse and refine their work through several rounds of vocal and physical improvisations.
ASSESSMENT: (Responding & Connecting)
Emphasis on: Common CoreCA State Standards for Language - Reading; Writing; Listening; Speaking 4 Stage designs by Debra Frasier for the play On the Day You Were Born
Photo: Michal Daniel 5
OBJECTIVES: (Student Outcomes) Students will be able to:
MATERIALS:
PROGRESSION:
THEATRE
THE POWER OF NATURE SCENES IN THE WORLD AROUND YOU
LEVEL II Sample Lesson
• Describe, discuss, analyze and connect information and experiences based on this lesson. Refer to Assessment at the end of this lesson. (Responding & Connecting)
• Improvise scenes in which the characters and conflicts highlight topics such as the migration of animals, the rotation of the earth, precipitation, gravity, the phases of the moon and other natural phenomena. (Creating & Performing)
INTRODUCTION:
From the play, On the Day You Were Born In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre
• None are required; however, a copy of the book, On the Day You Were Born, would be helpful.
• Begin by holding a general discussion about the way that a scene’s setting (time, place, weather conditions, etc.) can affect the dramatic circumstances. Cite examples from short stories, plays, or novels that the class has read.
• Next, review the list of topics found in the glossary of the book, On the Day You Were Born, and make sure that the class understands their meanings. The topics are: Migrating Animals, Spinning Earth, Pulling Gravity, Flaming Sun, Glowing Moon, Glittering Star, Rising Tide, Falling Rain, Growing Trees, Rushing Air, and Singing People. Divide the class into small groups and assign each group a scenario to improvise, featuring a topic from the list below.
• Share the scenes with the class.
The dramas of daily life often unfold due to conflicts arising out of weather conditions and/or the presence of natural phenomena. This exercise asks students to create scenes using the glossary from Debra Frasier’s book On the Day You Were Born as the point of departure for dramatic activity.
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• Create a scene where you have to climb a tall tree to avoid danger. You may be fleeing from an animal or person pursuing you or the waters of a great flood.
Glittering Star
•
SUGGESTED SCENARIOS
Flaming Sun
• A heavy rainstorm has canceled your plans for a picnic. Invent something to do indoors which involves using water in its three different states: solid (ice); liquid; and gas (water vapor).
Growing Trees
Spinning Earth
• Create scenes of daily life which depict a ‘whirlwind’ of activity over the course of a day. Try to incorporate as many spinning objects or circular motions as possible, for example: revolving doors, clothes spinning in a dryer, chairs that swivel, a merry-go-round, tops or things that twirl, etc.
• You have created giant sand sculptures on the beach. The rising tide, however, threatens to reclaim them. Is there a way to salvage them from nature’s course?
• You are on a camping trip and have become lost in the woods. Use the North Star as your guiding light to find your way back to your campsite and fellow campers.
Embark on a whale watching expedition and find a school of Orcas encircling your boat. As preparation, do some research on this species of whale to see if you would, in reality, be in any danger.
• You are crossing the desert and must plan your journey so that you are not traveling in the heat of the day. Improvise two scenes, one as you begin and one as you end a day’s travel, paying particularattention to how temperature and weather conditions affect the characters.
Glowing Moon
Rising Tide
• On the month’s full moon, you and some friends have gathered to swap ghost stories. Something unexpected spooks you!
Pulling Gravity
Migrating Animals
Falling Rain
• You have just accidentally knocked a priceless family heirloom off a shelf. How will you replace or repair it? Decide what specific object to use in the scene and determine what action you will take.
Rushing Air • A tornado is approaching and you need to find safety. Choose several different settings for the action: at home, driving on the highway, at school, at a lake, etc. Singing People
DESCRIBE: Describe the process of how your group developed your scene.
VOCABULARY: scenario, tableaux ASSESSMENT: (Responding & Connecting)
• Improvise a scene in which people of different cultures are celebrating something together. Invent a specific event or situation and allow the details to unfold within the action.
• Create a series of tableaux illustrating each glossary topic. Please refer to the Artsource® Unit, David Novak, Sample Lesson II, “Classic Tableaux” for a step-by-step progression of this creative drama process.
EXTENSIONS:
Frasier’s designs for 6 midway booths for the play, On the Day You Were Born. 7
Emphasis on: Common Core - CA State Standards for Language - Reading; Writing; Listening; Speaking
DISCUSS: Discuss whether you felt successful in the way your group portrayed the scene. Analyze the strengths of your work and identify the things you could change to strengthen it.
• Give each group two glossary topics and ask them to invent original scenes incorporating both ideas.
OBJECTIVES: (Student Outcomes) Students will be able to:
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LEVEL III Sample Lesson
INTRODUCTION:
THE
Cover illustration for the book, On the Day You Were Born by Debra Frasier
• Write and illustrate a book entitled“On the Day I Was Born,” to learn about the components and processes of creating a children’s book. (Creating & Presenting)
• Describe, discuss, analyze and connect information and experiences based on this lesson. Refer to Assessment at the end of this lesson. (Responding & Connecting)
• Read the book to the class and afterwards, allow children to respond to how the story made them feel. Use some of the discussion questions in the Artsource® Unit to further guide your discussion.
• Examine the book’s vibrant illustrations. They were all created by the process of paper cut-outs. Using blue and yellow paper, practice this technique by making the star-scattered endpapers as examples.
• Method #1 Interviewing: Ask your parents, grandparents or caregiver about the day you were born. What specific details remain in their memories? What was the weather like? What time of day were you born? HUMAN FAMILY ON THE DAY I WAS BORN
• A copy of Debra Frasier’s book, 0n the Day You Were Born; materials for book-making, paper, pencils, scissors, glue, colored construction paper, markers, etc. You can find more detailed information at www.debrafrasier.com.
MATERIALS:
THEATRE
This lesson is based on ideas and activities which author Debra Frasier used as an artist-in-residence in an elementary school. Using her book as a model, Debra inspired the imaginations of her students to record the facts surrounding their births in an original book.
PROGRESSION:
• Introduce your students to the idea of making a personal storybook about the day they were born. Have them begin gathering information by using two methods.
• Next have them create two pictures about the season of their birth which will serve as a double-page addition to their book. Have them weave text of one or two sentences using the adjectives from their brainstorming session through the imagery on the two pictures.
• Using the paper cut-out technique, have children create artwork expressing their view of the planet earth on the day they arrived for a page of their book.
• Now, seat your students in the order of their birth dates. Divide the class into four groups representing the different seasons in which they were born and have each group brainstorm a description of their season using only adjectives.
• Have each student make a map of their birthplace pinpointing the planet, continent, country and precise place of their birth.
When does the sun arrive at your house? How do the people and animals respond to it? What happens as a day passes?
• Talk about the sun, asking a series of questions such as:
• Method #2 Library Visit: Make a trip to the library and do an internet search for a copy of a newspaper published on the day you were born. What significant events were happening in the world? Did any natural phenomena occur, such as an earthquake, tornado, thunderstorm, appearance of a comet, etc.?
• Look at different views of the planet: NASA slides or photos of the earth as it looks from space; the view of land from an airplane; the layout of rivers and lakes as they might look to an eagle flying overhead; pictures of the undersea world of coral, kelp forests, and exotic marine life, etc.
• Have children move their desks into a circle. Turn out the lights, light a candle or switch on a flashlight.
• Record the things you learned through these two exercises and prioritize three or four key ideas to include in your book. Be sure to have the exact time of your birth and/or arrival date to use as the beginning of your story. If the details of the day of your day of arrival are unknown, select the “time of your arrival” with your family.
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• Turn your focus now to Frasier’s book and explore the wonder of the events in a series of classroom activities.
• Then, cast one student in the role of the sun and the rest of the class in the role of the earth and have the earth rotate and ‘face’ the sun.
• Do a second map, much like the corner insert on an ordinary state map, showing in closer view, the detail of their neighborhood and home. Include local landmarks and color.
Using a ball or free-standing globe, talk about the miracle of the planet which spins in perfect balance without strings or support.
• Create a page of artwork honoring the sun with accompanying text of your choice.
• Create a dedication page for your book.
• Write a title page. Make up a name of a printing press or publishing company for your book.
• Compose a welcome song to close your story, celebrating your birth.
• Using your initial research, find out what phase of the moon you were born under. Do a page of artwork to depict the night sky on the day you were born and then a page with appropriate text.
• Finally, create a cover for your book, giving the reader a glimpse of what is inside. Continue to use the paper cut-out process, this time gluing the artwork onto cardboard or more substantial paper than that which was used for the book’s pages.
• your
“Migrating Animals,” illustration from the book On the Day You Were Born
artistic accomplishments with a class birthday party and have each student give a reading of his or her own remarkable book! 10
• Next do a land page and a water page illustrating something specific about your birth place or birth date. Write a sentence of text to illuminate each.
Celebrate
• Select paper for your book’s endpapers (the pages between the beginning and end of a book and its •cover).Bind the books.
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VOCABULARY: endpaper, title page, dedication
ANALYZE: Select one or two pages from your book and discuss why you selected the specific images and words to describe your birth place or birth date.
• Use the paper cut-out technique to cut a window from tag board. In each of the four panels of the window show one scene at four different times of the day or in four different seasons. a summary of steps and processes.
DESCRIBE: Recall the whole process you went through in making your book. Describe the process in a summary of steps and processes.
DISCUSS: Discuss the importance of the research aspect of the project.
EXTENSIONS:
CONNECT: Discuss why this book relates universally to all of us, yet can be very specific to our own experience. Emphasis on: Common Core - CA State Standards for Language - Reading; Writing; Listening; Speaking
• Have students select or compose music to accompany their stories. Record audio cassettes of them reading their stories with the music and sound effects they have chosen.
ASSESSMENT: (Responding & Connecting)