Arts and Cultural Heritage Community Arts Learning Grant
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage
The short-term objective is that the participants learn more about Cuban music, culture, and drumming. The principal long-term objective is that the participants will have an expanded worldview and an interest in cultural and musical traditions around the world. A secondary long-term objective is that the advanced Spanish and percussion students will gain a deep knowledge of Cuban culture and rhythms which will inform their studies, and that a Duluth-based Cuban percussion group will be formed.I plan to measure outcomes by handing out evaluations for each participant, and by communicating with the contact persons of each venue months after the project completes to see what the long-term effects have had on the participants. I will be in constant contact with all three venues that will receive follow-up workshops—The College of Saint Scholastica, The Marshall School and Holy Rosary School—so that the more intense percussion and Spanish workshops can be perfectly suited for the students’ needs. With these venues, I will utilize a checklist with measurable goals so my lesson planning fulfills the teachers’ needs for their classes on an ongoing basis.
All outcomes were reached: Attendees of the workshops reported learning about Cuba and its rich music, and the majority found the workshops to be informative and interesting. At each workshop, some of the audience members came onstage and learned how to play basic rhythms on Cuban percussion instruments. All Spanish students of follow-up workshops reported that they learned new Spanish words and learned about Cuban history, music, and culture. All advanced percussion students of follow-up workshops reported having learned Cuban poly-rhythms and are now able to play Cuban rhythms on multiple instruments. A Cuban percussion group was formed in the Duluth area (to be exact, St Scholastica's Hand Drumming Ensemble added Cuban rumba to their repertoire). Some participants developed a love for Cuban culture and music and begin listening to Cuban music and trying out Cuban food when they visit cities with Cuban restaurants.
Other, local or private