Doktor Kaboom Finds the Fun Side of Science

With a bright orange lab coat, biker gloves and goggles, Doktor Kaboom! is quick to engage his audience in his science lesson that focuses as much on fun as it does on learning. Scientist David Epley will be the first to admit that his alter ego is a bit cheesy and stereotypical, but all the more fun when he can use this to get the laughter going and engage families in exploring the fascinating world of science.

“After twenty years of [performing] interactive comedy, I knew that what I could bring to the table that would be different was a comic character that brings scientific concepts across in a funny, entertaining way,” Epley says. “My audiences are always an active part of the show. I think this interplay between Doktor K and his audiences makes for more exciting performances, more memorable performances and gets kids invested in the event right from the start of the show.”

Amid the fun is a message, Epley says, and that is that science is for everyone, not just the people who find it easy.

“I hope to teach kids that and remind their parents of it. They’ll all go home excited about doing some science together, and I will teach them some very cool things to do together.” Doktor Kaboom! explores scientific method and application with some hilarious antics like air cannons, banana catapults and the creation of “elephant toothpaste.”

A full blown science “geek” himself, Epley was spotted early for his abilities and attended the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a two-year residential high school for students gifted in science and math.
“We had to take the SAT as part of the application process,” David relates, “had our own electron microscope and a campus wide internet before the Internet. Heaven for us geeks, but it was also there that I discovered my love for performing.”

He then went to the University of North Carolina but had difficulty deciding whether to pursue chemistry or theatre. In the end theatre won, and he took his BFA in Acting and Directing. He spent twenty years working as an actor, first in children’s theatre performances in North Carolina and West Virginia, then as part of a three-man comedy team for Renaissance Fairs that performed ancient literature like Beowulf and Dante’s Inferno with a comedic twist. He decided to create his own one-man show and thought involving his great interest in science might offer some great possibilities. Doktor Kaboom! was the result.

David thinks that people do have some misconceptions about math and science.

“Most people in this country will say they hate math. This is because they find numbers confusing, and I get that,” he says, “but math is not about numbers, math is about patterns. Numbers are just how we describe those patterns; they are the alphabet for math.”

So, what are some practical ways to enjoy the wonders of scientific exploration?

“Science is like Shakespeare; it is not meant to be read, it is meant to be done,” David says. “Every parent should take their kid to a hands-on science museum and play with them. Then, go home and make a habit of doing science together. Parents will sometimes say, ‘I don’t know science. I can’t teach it to my kids.’ I say, you don’t have to. Learn it with them. It’s fun stuff, and it really is pretty straightforward stuff, as well.

Doktor Kaboom! will be performing in Loeb Playhouse, Stewart Center on the Purdue campus on Sunday, November 20th at 3 p.m. Come early! Beginning at 2:00 p.m. in the Stewart Center West Lobby Purdue’s Network for Earthquake Engineering and Simulation (NEES) will have activities and information relating to earthquakes and tsunamis. Patrons will get to see how engineering helps minimize damage from natural disaster through design and construction techniques. They will also have a Make Your Own Earthquake station where children will be able to jump on a board with a sensor that transmits the “shake” to a computer program seismograph.

“We will be able to personalize the seismographs, and the students will be able to take with them a printed copy of the earthquake they created,” says Pamela McClure, NEEScomm Instructional Designer for NEES.

For more information on Doktor Kaboom! please visit the Convocations website at www.convocations.org.

Laura Clavio, Assistant Director

CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS

There are two often ignored facts that the music of Genuine Negro Jig, the Grammy winning recording by the Carolina Chocolate Drops addresses. First, African-Americans had a string band music tradition, and, second, that tradition had roots in the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina. A forerunner of bluegrass and country music, the string band was instrumented by banjo, fiddle in the late 19th century. Guitar, snare drum, jug, kazoo and harmonica, bones, washboard and mandolin were added later. Most African-American bands played the old time music of the region, and the Choc Drops have revitalized many of the foot-stomping songs with a dash of their own modern flair. Additionally they dropped into their recording original compositions and even a cover or two.

The original band met in 2005 at The Black Banjo Gathering in North Carolina. All three were trained in Piedmont banjo and fiddle music by 90-year-old Joe Thompson, believed to be the last living performer from the Piedmont string band era. The group freely interchanges instruments, but a lion’s portion of the vocal work goes to classically trained vocalist Rhiannon Giddens as it is so beautifully demonstrated in here electrifying rendition of Reynadine.

This fourth album for the group was awarded a 2010 Grammy as best traditional folk album and begins with Peace Behind the Bridge, a song written by legendary Piedmont guitarist Etta Baker. Other selections include such traditional gems as Trouble in Your Mind, Snowden’s Jig and Cindy Gal. While honoring tradition, the band does not feel bound to it and handily mixes it with modern musical sensibilities and mountain instrument arrangements, even a version of Blu Cantrells’s Hit ‘em Up Style, an urban classic.

Since its release Justin Robinson has left the group. Banjo player, jug bassist, and Arizona native Dom Flemons remains with Giddens,and New York City musicians, beatboxer Adam Matta and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Hubby Jenkins have joined to now make a quartet. The band believes in pushing into new territory, honoring traitiona but not being bound by it. So, the music evolves from it roots with fresh perspectives, instrumentation and interpretation.

Laura Clavio, Purdue Convocations Assistant Director

ScrapArtsMusic Makes the Most Out of Trash

We have almost all heard the phrase “one man’s trash is another one’s treasure”. In the case of ScrapArtsMusic, one city’s industrial scraps, trash and throw away items have yielded a treasure trove of inventive, innovative and, yes, even beautiful, hand-crafted and to-be-treasured musical instruments. It just takes some ability as a welder, an eye for useable material and a wild imagination to envision just what a junk piece of aluminum scrap, an artillery shell or a piece of PVC pipe can become!

It has taken ScrapArtsMusic founder and percussion virtuoso Gregory Kozak and designer Justine Murdy – the heart and soul of the group- all the way to a performance at the closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, an opportunity that helped launch an amazing career expansion.

“It certainly raised our profile!” Greg and Justine commented. “It raised our confidence level, too. We got a lot more internet inquiries. People from all walks (of life) still talk to us about it. It was an incredible experience to see from behind-the-scenes…from costumes, to rehearsals, to pre-recording music, to staging on such a MASSIVE level with performers all being coordinated for a global telecast.

“Another highlight to the whole experience was that Canada had won the gold medal in men's hockey just hours before the Closing Ceremonies began, so there was an especial magic in the air that all Vancouverites -- and international visitors too -- were feeling high from. The weather had been so perfect... people were happy and high-5-ing complete strangers. It was such an unbelievable honor to be a part of something SO big. And we were the last group officially recognized during the Closing Ceremonies, so we felt pretty special to be part of that climax... the closing seconds of the biggest party Canada has hosted -- possibly ever!! Whoa! Sends shivers just remembering how cool it was!!!!!”

The duo established ScrapArtsMusic in July 1998. Greg Kozak is joined in performance by percussion artists Spencer Cole, Christa Mercey, Greg Samek, Malcolm Shoolbraid and Simon Thomsen. Their intricately choreographed routines with over one hundred forty-five instruments made from recycled materials makes them one of the “greenest” groups of performers out there, and one of the most electrifying to watch.

Kozak took a welding course to acquire the needed skills to make their unusual instruments. The instruments create visual art on the stage with their unique shapes and arrays. The performance is very physical and precision-driven, a percussion and movement mania that is both a visual and a sonic treat! They made scrap into art and art into music – thus the name!

Their music is a groove-based fusion of world music rhythmic traditions and twenty-first century pop demonstrating that there are potential musical instruments in many things heretofore unimagined. Some of the instruments include: Annoy-O-Phone, B-52 Drum, Humunga Drum, Junk-On-A-Stick, Sigh-Cordian, Ziggurat Drum and Whirlies, just to name a few.
Now, as they have become world travelers people will bring them scrap and challenge them to create an instrument.

“I’ve had springs from pilates machines, an F4 fuel baffle, a mini-submarine ballast tank casing, a giant cast metal marine propeller and so many other cool forms brought to me from people who "get" my sensibility,” Kozak relates. “ I love taking unexpected materials and re-contextualizing them by making cool-sounding instruments from them. They aren't so much a challenge as they are an inspiration!”

Greg began as a street performer busking around Vancouver and was “discovered” and invited to perform at an NBA half-time show. That led to performing at a high-profile music awards show, and soon the performance began to evolve as Greg worked to develop a precise choreography for the group. They now perform at large-scale professional sporting events, award shows, at performing arts centers, with orchestras and dance companies….the possibilities are endless and challenging.

We asked, “What will young people and families learn or gain from attending a performance?

“Our scrap materials are actually a manifestation of our ideas... so, before you throw away an idea or a scrap or whatever, we hope kids and families might give a second thought to how they might be able to re-use these in an even greater way than simple landfill,” Justine and Greg responded.

“Humanity could benefit from this big re-think! Hopefully we inspire people with a ‘Can Do’ attitude. For example, music making is not limited to patented instruments that can be bought at a store - why not design your own? And not all acceptable ways of performing have been figured out. Push the envelope. You might discover something amazing! Similarly, what one must do to live a good productive life has not all been charted out. You "can" create your own way! Our athletic choreography is a manifestation of our belief in the positivity of being physical on a regular basis, the benefits of eating natural whole foods, and the reward of working together for a common goal.”

Greg and Justine emphasized that it's never too late or too early to start studying any instrument. In order to have full expression with an instrument though, you have to develop technique and that comes only with putting in practice time.

“It's true for our invented instruments ,too,” Greg affirms. “Practice makes perfect.”

If you are coming to the ScrapArtsMusic performance which begins at 3 p.m. on Sunday October 2nd in Loeb Playhouse, Stewart Center, on the Purdue campus, come an hour early. Youngsters will have the opportunity to make their own free shaker egg from 2:00-2:45 p.m. in the West Lobby Stewart Center. Pick a colorful plastic egg; choose a “filling” that makes a cool sound, tape it shut and decorate with stickers it to your liking. Keep it handy during the performance! Members of the Convos Voice Network will assist patrons with their creations!
What is the most important thing to remember about percussion instruments and listening to a percussion performance?

“Every culture around the world has percussion instruments,” Greg says. “Percussion is a universal language.”

For more information on ScrapArtsMusic visit the Purdue Convocations website www.convocations.org.

Click here for a downloadable study guide with instrument photos and ideas for instruments:
http://issuu.com/convocations/docs/sam_studyguide_keynotes

--Laura Clavio, assistant director of Purdue Convocations

Kennedy Center Teaching Artist: Melanie Layne

On April 14th, twenty students sat in a circle on the floor of their classroom with teaching artist Melanie Layne as she began an in-class demonstration.

“Today we are going to look, think and talk about portraits,” she told the first graders as she created a gesture for each of the needed skills. She laid out dozens of portraits for the students to see. Soon they were engaged with their partner discussing all of the things that they could see in a portrait or a photograph of a person or a group of people. Their task was to talk about what was similar and what was different in the portraits they observed.

What could a first grader notice? You’d be amazed! Melanie wrote down all the things she heard in the sixty seconds allotted for discussion on the smart board. All these things were then discussed as a group, and Melanie taught the students the most important things to always look for in a portrait. Soon they were playing "Pass the Portrait" and quickly pointing out to their partner all the things they noticed. Students soon realized that there were many things they could learn about a person from learning to see the many pieces of information contained in visual art.

The in-class demonstration was part of residency instruction for teachers conducted by the visiting Kennedy Center teaching artist as part of Lafayette School Corporation/ Purdue Convocations’ participation in the Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education program. Over two days Melanie visited four classrooms twice so she could take the students further into the instruction which eventually connects to reading and writing.

Her work also included a three-hour long professional development workshop where teachers learned the theories and practices behind the demonstrated techniques. The method touched upon many parts of learning – visual and oral learning and exploration, attention to detail, interactive participation, and vocabulary to name a few. Teachers were able to see connections to many subject areas such as reading, writing social studies, music, art and biography as well as how this type of learning also naturally lead to assessment of students’ comprehension of the material.

Most participating teachers were from Edgelea Elementary where some curricular integration techniques are being adapted as a common format among their classrooms. The continuity of a common language used by teachers in discussing discipline and teamwork has helped create a larger sense of community within the school. Kennedy Center teaching artists help teachers explore methods of 21st Century learning techniques that lead to meeting multiple objectives in curricular instruction.

Laura Clavio, assistant director of Purdue Conovcations

Convocations Voice Network (CVN) Update

“You’re going to sit in our seats and like it” may seem like quite a flippant thing for an ushering club to say, but this line, found in the “About Me” section of the Facebook for CVN (The Ushering Club), is actually a pretty apt description of our main mission: To provide quality customer service to the patrons of Convocations. However, this is not our only goal. While many may only see the students showing them to their seats at shows such as Spamalot or Blue Man Group, there is much more going on behind the scenes.

Historically, CVN (which stands for Convocations Voice Network) was a club of students set out to publicize Convocations. This was, of course, before we had our lovely Convocations staff who have thankfully antiquated the need for our rather scary mascot, Artie the Culture Vulture. Presently, we still strive to raise awareness and exposure to the arts through other means such as assisting the Convocations staff in publicity events and making donations the Convocations educational outreach program. In addition to this we work to train new student leaders to work in teams, think on their feet, and act professionally. Finally, and most important of all, we do our best to make your Convocations experience a pleasurable one. We have a wonderful team of student volunteers, who are always glad to put on a smile, share their enthusiasm for the performing arts, and help you find your seat. So next time you hear “Can I help you find your seat today?” please, sit in our seats and like it.

Amy K. Tannahill, Convocations Voice Network

"MY HEART IN A SUITCASE"

Life influences art. If there is any question of this, one need only tour a museum, listen to music, read a book or, for those of us who prefer the comfort of our homes, a simple Google search will yield a plethora of results pertaining to art influenced by life. Yet, art is not limited to life’s influences. In fact, one form of art can often influence other forms of art. Convocation’s presentation of My Heart in a Suitcase will help demonstrate this cycle of art influencing art.

For those unfamiliar with My Heart in a Suitcase, the play, which will be performed by the ArtsPower National Touring Theater, tells the story of a 12-year-old girl growing up in Nazi Germany and the struggles she must face when her parents make the decision to send her to the safety of England on the kindertransport when it becomes too dangerous for her to stay in Germany.

Although the story is wonderfully adapted to the stage, it was originally written in the form of a memoir by the author Anne L. Fox. Like all memoirs, My Heart in a Suitcase focuses the author’s recollections of a period in her life, specifically, her youth. The ArtsPower staging of My Heart in a Suitcase is a theatrical retelling of the memories Fox recounts in her memoir.

Because the play is based off of Fox’s memoir, the characters brought to life on stage are based on real people and events Fox experienced as a young girl. For example, the character Dorit, was truly a friend of Fox in her youth. Dorit Sasse is still alive and has even conducted interviews about her past friendship with the author. Even the author herself is represented as her young self on stage through the main character Anne Lehmann.

There are thousands of memoirs in print today, so what is it about My Heart in a Suitcase that influenced ArtsPower to adapt it for the stage? For one, Fox’s memoir is presented through the view of 12-year-old Anne. Anne’s perspective allows the young people in the audience to better relate to and understand such a character and her experiences. Although Fox’s memoir depicts events that occurred in 1939, many of the themes are relevant to today’s young people. Issues that young people still deal with in the 21st century, such as peer pressure, acceptance of differences, and standing up for one’s beliefs. Perhaps the selection of Fox’s memoir is best summed up in the idea that its young main character and the relevant issues that are depicted can reach many young people in audience.

Fox’s memoir was also selected to be adapted for the stage because it provides an important lesson on history, differences in personal beliefs, and separation from one’s homeland and family. The play is set in Nazi Germany and discusses historical events before and during WWII, including the Holocaust. Since the play is based off of Fox’s own experiences, the audience is made familiar with events on a personal scale. They are able to see the divide between two young friends over personal belief and also witness a young girl’s struggle to find courage in her separation from her family and home after she is sent to England on the Kindertransport.

In all, the ArtsPower production of My Heart in a Suitcase is a powerful retelling of Fox’s heartbreaking memoir. Like the memoir, the stage production touches on themes relevant to today’s youth. This powerful story inspires audience members to further pursue the history of the Holocaust and leaves them with a message about combating intolerance. The strength of the character Anne Lehmann, in light of a very discouraging situation leaves, the audience with a message about love and hope in a time of despair.

Stephanie Larson, Purdue Convocations student employee

Kennedy Center Meeting: A Glimpse of the Future

I recently attended the annual meeting of the John F. Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education program. Purdue Convocations and the Lafayette School Corporation (LSC) are partners in this program that pairs arts presenters and school systems to present top quality professional development training to area teachers. This is the fourth year for the local partnership. Cindy Preston, a second grade teacher at Edgelea Elementary attended representing LSC.

The meeting focused on a look into changes in education and how we can meet the challenges of 21st Century learning. Two major challenges to arts education are funding and keeping up with the rapid pace of changing technology.

The keynote speaker, Bill Capodagli, author of The Disney Way and Innovate the Pixar Way, emphasized the importance of leadership and innovation in moving an organization forward. He pointed out how less structured work environments led to more productive and creative employees in several companies who chose to try a new approach to their corporate environment.

Futurist Garry Golden, whose work is to help people learn how to anticipate and lead change, forecast an even greater leap forward in technology in the next ten years. He told the group that we are now entering a learner-oriented era in which learning is not so much institution, or teacher, - driven, but will be more about what we learn from those around us. It will not be so much about what is delivered as it will be about our own self-directed efforts. He predicted that soon almost everyone will have a hand-held electronic device and more and more content will be delivered through these devices. Learning is making the leap from formal to informal. He also predicted the emergence of what is termed, “Third Place”. These are locations that are not home and not work where people gather to interact or gather information, like cafes, malls, parks, etc. This calls for new ways of communicating.

Arts education researcher Eric Booth helped attendees look at the work of author Daniel Pink’s book Drive and how the arts and arts education can help deliver what our culture needs and wants – innovation, creativity, discovery, increased curiosity and engagement, authentic learning, sustainable rigor, and, most specifically, intrinsic-motivation.

Laura Clavio, assistant director of Conovcations