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Flynn Center Presents Compagnie Hervé Koubi
Flynn Center Presents
Compagnie Hervé Koubi
An immense thank you...The Flynn Center recognizes that field trip resources for schools are extremely limited, thus matinee prices for schools are significantly lower than prices for public performances. As a non-profit organization, the Flynn is deeply grateful to the foundations, corporations, and individuals whose generous financial support keeps matinees affordable for schools.
thank you to the Flynn Friends at Wake Robin for sponsoring this performance.Thank you to the Flynn Matinee 2017-2018 underwriters: Northfield Savings Bank, Andrea’s Legacy Fund, Champlain Investment Partners, LLC, Bari and Peter Dreissigacker, Forrest and Frances Lattner Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Tracy and Richard Tarrant, TD Charitable Foundation, Vermont Arts Council, Vermont Concert Artists Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation, Vermont Community Foundation, New England Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Flynn Jazz Endowment. Additional support from the Bruce J. Anderson Foundation & the Walter Cerf Community Fund.
Welcome to the 2017-2018 Student Matinee Season!Today’s scholars and researchers say creativity is the top skill our kids will need when they enter the workforce of the future, so we salute YOU for valuing the educational and inspirational power of live performance. By using this study guide you are taking an even greater step toward implementing the arts as a vital and inspiring educational tool.
We hope you find this guide useful and that it deepens your students’ connection to the material. If we can help in any way, please contact [email protected].
Enjoy the show! -Education Staff
Hervé Koubi● Hervé Koubi previously trained
as a pharmaceutical doctor, but later decided to focus on his career as a dancer/choreographer.
● Hervé Koubi, named after its creator, is an all-male dance company including 12 French-Algerian and Burkina Faso dancers.
● Their movement is extremely physical; audiences will see flips, head spins, and trust falls.
● The performance features various genres of music including the sounds of Johann Sebastian Bach, Hamza El Din& the Kronos Quartet, and traditional Sufi music.
● In this piece, Hervé Koubi traces and explores his own path, made of entanglements, a complex weave.
● “I try to stay away from creating the spectacular just for the spectacle; but prefer to create something where the musicality of each dancer, of each body is in the service of the purpose of the performance.” – Hervé Koubi
Here are some of the things you can expect to see:"What the Day Owes to the Night" is a 12-man mash-up of hip-hop, Brazilian martial arts, street performance, and contemporary dance. Koubi, a pharmacist turned choreographer raised in France, didn't learn of his family's Algerian roots until he was in his twenties. That discovery inspired him to create work reflecting his heritage. The result, says company manager Guillame Gabriel, "is history with a big H: the history of France and Algeria, and the history of Herve. Herve had to find his history in the darkness and give it light." The initial idea wasn't to work only with street dancers or only with men, Gabriel says; it's just what happened along the way. In 2009, Koubi staged an audition in Algeria, which attracted more than 200 men and only one woman. "It's not easy to dance in Algeria -- you can dance traditional folkloric dance with no problem, but contemporary dance is a little harder," Gabriel says. "In a certain way, you would hide dance behind sport. You have to train in the streets at night."
"Hip-hop is not Algerian: it came from the U.S., then it came to France, then to Algeria," Gabriel says. As the piece was made, "We showed (the dancers) a series of movements and asked them to respond to that, then created choreographic material. There are some movements that come from the dancers' skills: spins, acrobatic skills, capoeira, martial arts. They belong to a global choreographic language used to give meaning to what Herve wanted to say."
What to expect
hip-hop martial artsstreet performance
contemporary dancespins acrobatics
capoeira
A Step by Step Guide to “Getting” Dance (adapted from the Performing Arts Society of Acadiana)
Watch the patterns created by the dancers on stage● What groupings do you see?● Which dancers seem to be working together
or in opposition?● How many dancers do you see in the
movement?● Are the dancers all moving or are some
using stillness?● Do the dancers form any shapes with their
bodies?● Do the dancers seem to be imitating any
moves or actions from everyday life?
Listen to the Music● Is the music fast or slow?● Is the rhythm even, or choppy? Does it change?● If you close your eyes and just listen to the music,
what do you picture? What images do you see?
Check out the costumes, set, lights● What structures or fabrics are on stage with the
dancers? Do they make the stage look like another place?
● How do the lights change in the different pieces? What colors do you see in the lights? Do you see any patterns in the lights or shadows?
● How do the costumes contribute to the performance? Do the colors, shapes, or textures the dancers wear tell you anything?
Questions to Explore, Post-Performance● What kind of emotions did you have when you were watching the show? What kind of emotions did you
see being expressed by the performers?● What kind of movements did you see? Fast or slow? High or low? Smooth or jumpy? ● How did the performers hold their bodies during the dances? How was their positioning different or
similar to other dance you have seen?● What did the music feel like? What effect did it have on you as an audience member? How did the
rhythms affect you?● Did you see any elements of storytelling or narrative in this performance? If yes, in what way?● Were there any moments in the performance that made you think of a different art form or a different
kind of expression (performance-based, visual art, literature, etc.)? What was it and why?
Performance Element: Surprise HeritageThe choreographer, Hervé Koubi, grew up in France and thought of himself as French. When he found out his family was originally from Algeria and his grandfather who lived in Algeria only spoke Arabic, he embraced his Algerian roots. The dance company is made up of mostly Algerian men. The choreographer thinks of them as his brothers.
Pre-Show Exploration(Middle, High School & Beyond)Imagine you found out your heritage is different than you think it is. Consider the following:
● What particular heritage would you be excited to discover you have?
● What heritage might be difficult for you to discover you have?
● Would you attempt to connect with others who share your heritage?
● Do you think others would see or treat you different if they found out about your new heritage?
● Would you think about yourself differently?● What advice would you give to a friend if this
happened to them?
ACTIVITYWrite a letter* (a poem, a short story, or create an art piece) giving advice to yourself if you were to discover you had a new heritage, one you would be happy about. Write another letter* giving advice to yourself if you were to discover you had a new heritage, one you might find more difficult to accept.
Post-Show Reflection● What can you infer/imagine about Hervé
Koubi’s feelings about discovering his Algerian heritage, from the music, imagery, choreography, and any other aspect of this performance?
● How do you think growing up French and studying both biology and dance affected Hervé Koubi’s response to the news about his heritage?
● What do you think Hervé Koubi is saying to us all through this performance about heritage? What advice does he seem to be giving to us?
Pre-Show Exploration (Elementary & Middle School)Imagine you found out you had a super power.
● What superpower would you most want to have?● What superpower would actually make your life
harder?● How would having a super power change what
other people thought about you?● How would it change how you felt about yourself?● Do you think your friends would still want to be
friends with you?● Would you still want to be friends with them?● What makes you who you are?
ACTIVITYDraw a picture showing you with a super power you would like to have. Draw another picture showing you with a super power that would make your life more difficult. Explain both of your pictures to your partner. Listen to your partner describe their pictures. How are your pictures different from your partner’s? How are they the same?
Post-Show Reflection● What do dancers do to make us feel different
emotions when we watch a performance?● How do you think choreographers choose what
they want their dancers to do?● Would you rather be a dancer or a
choreographer?● Which one do you think fits best with who you are?
Why?
Performance Element: Mashups & MixturesThe dance form in this performance is a mixture of urban and contemporary dance, capoeira, and martial arts. There is also a mixture of music from Sufi compositions to Bach.
Pre-Show and During: (Middle, High School, & Beyond)As you watch this performance, look for the ways in which the dancers’ movements reflect various dance styles and martial arts forms.Notice:
● how these movements seem to be different from each other.
● what the transitions from one type of movement to another look like.
● how the different types of movements match or contrast with the corresponding music.
Post-Show Reflections:● What was one of the biggest differences between
the types of movements you saw?● Did you like the mix of dance styles? Do you think
they worked well together?● Where there moments when the music helped to
blend the styles into a cohesive whole?● Where there moments when the style emphasized
the differences in dance styles?
Pre-Show and During:(Elementary & Middle School)As you watch this performance, notice what looks like dance and what looks like martial arts.Notice:
● which moves you can imagine a super hero making.
● which moves look more like dancing you have seen before.
● how there are different kinds of music during the show.
Post-Show Reflections:● Which did you see more of: dance or
martial arts moves?● Do you think it made it better or worse to
have these two kinds of moves?● What did you notice about the music?● How did everything seem to go together?
Activities Human SculpturesAcrobats use strength, flexibility and balance to create an astonishing assortment of shapes with their bodies. In this activity, students will explore making sculptures with their bodies — both singly and in pairs.
● Ask students to spread out in an open space. Each person should find their own personal space bubble.
● Ask students to imagine that they are like clay and can mold their bodies into different shapes like triangles, circles, and squares or into objects like tables, flowers, ladders, etc.
● Ask students to experiment with using high, medium and low levels as they make shapes with their bodies.
● Encourage them to try to use their entire bodies when making their shapes. If students need direction, you may call out different shapes (geometric shapes, letters, numbers, objects, etc.) for them to try to make with their bodies.
● Next, ask students to work in pairs to continue to try to make different shapes and object sculptures.
● When students are done experimenting in pairs, provide time for reflection about the difference between making shapes by yourself or with others.
● To conclude, encourage students to look for shapes that the acrobats make with their bodies during the performance.
Follow-up Questions:● What skills do you need to make different shapes
or sculptures with your body?● How did making shapes by yourself differ from
making shapes with a partner?● What sort of shapes do you think you will see the
acrobats make with their bodies during the performance?
● Watch for how the acrobats work together. How do they support each other? How do they communicate? How important do you think teamwork skills are in order to put on a performance and be part of a company like the Peking Acrobats?
● What skills do you think these acrobats need to have and develop in order to perfect these feats?
● How long do you think these acrobats have to train and practice?
● How important do you think are teamwork skills in order to be a good acrobat?
Movement MemoriesInvite each student to choose one particular movement from the show that stands out in their memory. Remind them of the different types of moves they saw and ask for volunteers to demonstrate the movements as best they remember them. As each volunteer performs a movement, invite everyone to create their own interpretation of that same movement and perform these pieces simultaneously. (Hint: use the lights in your room to cue the start and end of the “performances.”) Ask the students what made these movements memorable.
Concepts of Culture and TraditionDifferent cultures have different traditions of food, clothing, language, and arts. The arts of each culture are often offered as ways to celebrate and share our different cultures. Activity: Give students a chance to reflect on the idea of culture and tradition through a series of quick writing exercises. For each of the following prompts give students five minutes to respond in writing.
● What are some of the cultural traditions you celebrate?
● What other cultural celebrations or traditions are you familiar with?
● What can you learn about people by experiencing the art that they create and perform?
● How do these different art forms help people to express their emotions and/or tell their stories?
Movement MemoriesInvite each student to choose one particular movement from the show that stands out in their memory. Remind them of the different types of moves they saw and ask for volunteers to demonstrate the movements as best they remember them. As each volunteer performs a movement, invite everyone to create their own interpretation of that same movement and perform these pieces simultaneously. (Hint: use the lights in your room to cue the start and end of the “performances.”) Ask the students what made these movements memorable.
Post-Show Writing ActivityAfter seeing the performance, invite students to discuss what they saw and record their impressions creatively. Students can write a short poem about the dance they watched, the ways that their understanding of dance may have changed, elements of the performance that surprised them, and ways that the dancers challenged their ideas about movement.
Post-Show Collage ActivityInvite students to look through old magazines and newspapers to find images and words that reflect their thoughts and feelings as they were watching the dancers perform. Have students cut out the images and words and create a collage which represents the experience, the ideas that came up for them during the performance, and the impressions they were left with. Discuss the collages as a class. Encourage students to tell each other what they see in others’ collages as well as allowing students to discuss their own collages.
●● Do you think the different acts were symbolic of life in any way? Did
some acts seem to represent struggle? Which ones and how did they communicate this? Did some represent joy? How was this communicated? Think about moments in your life where you might feel struggle or joy. If you were going to create a routine, acrobatic or movement-based, to depict a struggle in your life, how would you choose to show this? How would you represent a joyful moment with acrobatics or movement?
●
WORDS COME ALIVE: Arts Integration ActivitiesProviding the opportunity to actively explore the world of the show helps students become more engaged and connected audience members, thinking about artists’ choices and approaching the performance with enhanced curiosity. For more information about our arts integration activities:● click here● call 652-4548● Email Lauren at
Imagine that you are a reporter interviewing one of the characters in the play. 2. Brainstorm a few facts about the character using a mind map similar to the one included in the resources at the end of this packet. Include facts you remember from the show as well as facts you may know about the character’s species, such as its habitat and what it likes to eat. 3. Think of some imaginative questions to ask them! Examples include: What do they like to do for fun? What is their favorite season? Who are their best friends and why? 4. Write a short blog post or magazine article about the character you “interviewed.” Make sure to include some of the facts you recalled as well as your imaginary content! 5. Share your article aloud with a friend or to your class.
Movement PhrasesLearning goals: Determine importance; synthesize; think abstractly.Performing goals: Combine locomotor and non-locomotor movements with structural form.
Ask students to choose a story or process to illustrate through movement. (Perhaps “going to a party” or “meeting someone new.”) As students to identify a specific beginning, middle, and end of their story/process, and create a movement to express each part. Select a movement expressing the beginning from one of the students and lead the whole group to repeat it. Repeat the process for the middle and end, connecting the three sections so they flow from one to another. Tell the students that they have just created a movement phrase!To extend this, ask each student to generate shapes representing three moments related to their own personal journey. After they each choose shapes, instruct them to link the shapes together so that one flows smoothly to the next. Tell the students to change from one shape to another as you clap to signify transition. Divide the class into small groups, asking each student to show his/her own movement phrase, all at the same time, to the other groups.
Creating DancesLearning goals: Express a complete idea; synthesize.Performing goals: Adjust and reproduce movement sequences of locomotor and non-locomotor movements with consistency.
Once movement phrases have been created, have students combine their individual phrases into one collective movement phrase, and have them choose a starting and ending position for their performance. Have them decide where in the space they should be at the beginning and end of their performance and have them create ways to get there. Share the resulting dances with the other students.
● Perform the phrases with the dancers in different spatial relationships – e.g. close together or spread apart – and decide which is most effective. In each case, decide on a way to enter and exit the space.
● Divide the class into fours and ask each student in the group to show the others a 4-count movement phrase that represents a certain moment or emotion from their personal journey. Then instruct them to teach each other their phrases and to create a way to link them together to make one 16-count movement phrase. Once every group knows their phrase, create a sequence and perform one at a time. Perform the movement phrases together, but with each dancer starting at a different point in the phrase.
● Use two contrasting pieces of music to accompany the dance and see how they change its feel. Adjust the choreography to fit both selections.
REFLECT:How effectively do you feel your phrases and dances told a story? Could your story be interpreted in many ways or just one? How did it feel to tell a story without using words, and only using your bodies?
WORDS COME ALIVE: Arts Integration Activities
Balancing Duets Part IHave the students divide into pairs. In each pair, ask one student to hold a large book in his/her hands. Ask the other student to gently try to disturb the first student’s balance. Now have the first student hold the book in different way (e.g. balance the book on his/her head, shoulder, foot, etc.) and have the second student again try to gently disturb the first student’s balance. Once the first student has tried a few different positions, have the students switch roles.
Ask students: Which positions made it easier to keep your balance and the balance of the book? Why?
Balance Duets Part IIAsk two volunteers, one smaller, and one bigger, to hold each other’s wrists and to put one foot together and pull against one another, trying to share balance. If they need help, encourage the smaller person to be lower and further out in space, using both the head and hand out to the side. The larger person must stay taller or higher.
Now divide the students into pairs and ask them all to try the exercise. After they have had some time to practice, they can begin to play with forming interesting balanced shapes.
Ask students: How did you shift your center of gravity in order to keep you and your partner balanced?
Balance Duets Part IIIDivide the class into pairs and suggest that each pair moves from one shape to another, shifting their balance points as they create different shapes with their bodies. Play some soft music to help their concentration as they create different shapes balancing in space. Challenge them to use different parts of their bodies to create the weight and counterweight of each balanced shape.
Ask students: What adjustments did you need to make in order to continuously shift balance points? How did you and your partner communicate and work together to keep from falling? Were you each taking on the same amount of weight in each shape or did one person support more weight in some poses?
Balancing Part IAsk your students to stand up and then ask them where their centers of gravity are. Next challenge them to stand on one foot and ask if their centers of gravity have changed. Challenge them further by asking them to move their arms in different ways as they stand on one foot.
Ask students: What changes did you notice in your center of gravity when you stood on one foot? How did your balance change when you moved your arms? Did you have to work different muscles to keep from falling over?
Balancing Part IIFirst ask students to stand on a pillow in a safe, open, soft area. Ask them to balance on one foot, and then to experiment with their balance by holding different objects as they stand on one foot.
Ask students: How does each of these objects affect your sense of balance? How does standing on the pillow, rather than the floor, change things?
We can’t wait to see you at the theater!
The Flynn is a place for ALL students, and these tools can help! Pre or Post-Show Video Chats:Help students build enthusiasm or process their experience with a free, 5-10 minute video chat before or after the show! We can set up Skype/Facetime/Google Hangouts with your class to answer questions about the content, art form, and experience. Contact Kat, [email protected] to set up your chat!
Autism and Sensory-Friendly Accommodations:The Flynn Center has been working diligently to break down barriers for audience members with disabilities, with a particular focus on those with sensory-sensitivities. Social stories, break spaces, sensory friendly materials, and more are available for all student matinees. Feel free to let us know ahead of time if any of these would be useful, or ask an usher at the show!
We appreciate and value your feedback● Click here to evaluate our study guides.● Click here for Teacher Feedback Forms for the
performance.● Click here for Student Feedback Forms for the
performance.● Click here for Parent Forms to help parents engage
with their children around the show.
Educational StandardsThe Common Core broadens the definition of a “text,” viewing performance as a form of text, so your students are experiencing and interacting with a text when they attend a Flynn show.
Seeing live performance provides rich opportunities to write reflections, narratives, arguments, and more. By writing responses and/or using the Flynn Study Guides, all performances can be linked to Common Core:CC ELA: W 1-10Student Matinees support the following National Core Arts Standards: Creating: Anchor #1, Responding: Anchor #7, #8, #9, and Responding: Anchor #10 and #11.You can use this performance and study guide to address the following Common Core Standards:CC ELA:RL 1, 5, 7, SL 1-4, RH 7C3: D2.Geo.2, 3. 6. 7
This guide was written & compiled by the Education Department at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts with inspiration from the Herve Koubi Website. Permission is granted for teachers, parents, and students who are coming to Flynn shows to copy & distribute this guide for educational purposes only.
Hello from the Flynn!
Teachers, a couple of reminders:● Share your experience with us! Use the feedback links, or
share your students’ artwork, writing, responses. We love to hear how experiences at the Flynn impact our audiences.
● Explore other student matinees at the Flynn this season. We still have seats in some shows and we’d love to help you or other teachers at your school enliven learning with an engaging arts experience!
Etiquette for Live Performances:The Essentials● Listen, experience, imagine, discover, learn!● Give your energy and attention to the performers.● Please do not eat or drink in the theater.● Talk only before and after the performance.● Turn off wireless devices. ● No photos, videos, texting, or listening to music.
*These are guidelines... We understand that some students may need to experience the performance in their own way, and we are here to support all students and their unique needs.
