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The music room at Andrew Jackson School, 1213 S. 12th St., contains album covers from such luminaries as The Beatles and Elton John. If the 16 members of the institution’s rock band continue to manipulate their instruments masterfully, future students may be inspecting their images.
Though their fingers could bring fame, they have used their entire frames since May to help BalletX and composer Robert Maggio to form “Jackson Sounds,” a 27-minute ballet Center City’s The Wilma Theater will stage Nov. 16 to 20.
Matthew Neenan and Christine Cox, the co-artistic directors for the six-year-old dance company, joined Maggio and the musicians at the Passyunk Square school Nov. 2 for their third workshop through the “Inside the Mind of the Choreographer and Composer” residency project. The after-school gathering marked the last extended chance for the youngsters to see how their creativity will receive professional treatments. BalletX chose to construct its inaugural piece with children at the suggestion of a friend of Cox, who lauded Jackson’s music program.
“This experience has been so instructional for everyone involved,” the resident of 21st and Catharine streets said of the six-month partnership.
Jackson might not leap to one’s mind when considering local schools with strong artistic identities, but Cox and Neenan found the site’s participants incredibly talented and remarkably diverse. With six fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts between them, the dancers hoped the students’ multiple ethnicities would yield tunes for which they could craft corresponding moves and Maggio could devise classical arrangements.
“The beauty of the project has been remembering how much artistry children can have,” Neenan said.
The Jackson representatives began to show their gifts just before their time as seventh graders ended. BalletX and Maggio, a West Chester University professor and three-time collaborator with Neenan, visited in May to glean their ancestries’ musical influence, finding that contemporary songs appealed more to their tastes.
“All my inspiration came from the first session,” Maggio, winner of numerous fellowships and grants, said of his receptivity to the learners’ popular and rock music tendencies.
Also new to collaborating with children, he is working with BalletX and Jackson through The Community Partners Project 2011, an endowment from the Philadelphia Chapter of The American Composers Forum. The budding virtuosos enticed Maggio on his spring stop with three selections, “Black Horse & the Cherry Tree” by Scottish singer KT Tunstall, “Never Forget You” by the English band Noisettes and a folk tune from Nepal. Sajan Lama recommended the final ditty as an homage to his heritage, and he and his mates, though certainly thankful for their vacation, awaited September to see what their accomplished helpers had made of their input.
“We wanted to dance,” the resident of the 1100 block of South Clifton Street and seven-year guitar player said.
Maggio and Neenan spent the warm months blending their artistic fires, with the composer deciding two cellos would best suit his approach to the students’ picks.
“I wanted an instrument with a meaty sound,” the University of Pennsylvania alumnus said.
Neenan, whose company has served as the resident troupe for The Wilma since 2007, sought to uphold its quest to inject athleticism, emotion and intimacy into dance and returned at the start of the year to discuss steps that would prove complementary to Maggio’s notes. The students, more accustomed to having their hands make impressions, had their feet lose their initial inhibition, with Neenan ready at last week’s session to reveal the videotaped results.
Before the display, the children assumed their customary stances and, with two drummers and a pianist, formed a mini army of guitars. With music instructor and Rock Band director Chris Argerakis leading them, the lively players delighted their guests with crisp versions of “Never Forget You” and “Otherside,” a ’00 hit for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Danika Shinn provided the vocals while shifting her fingers across her guitar’s strings.
“The opportunity was open to all of our kids,” second-year principal Lisa Ciaranca-Kaplan said. “We wanted children who were willing to share favorite songs, dances and aspects of their cultures.”
She beamed as her charges concluded their tandem of tunes.
“They are having so much fun,” she said of the Jackson figures, “and I think BalletX is, too.”
The musicians gave their lower limbs chances to become akin to their upper portions by studying and practicing what Cox and Neenan have rendered. The two, whose productions have taken BalletX to numerous American cities and to Colombia and South Korea, reviewed September’s meeting, with Neenan recalling how quick the students were to ascribe adjectives to Maggio’s output. The descriptions inspired him and Cox to conceive gestures and motions to exude robust reactions to the composition.
“Robert gave us a score that is challenging and exciting,” Neenan said.
The students typically require two practices to perfect a song, so their second look at the moves tested their history of quick yet fluid comprehension. Maggio turned on his computer and out came samples of “Jackson Sounds.” Cox and Neenan continued to encourage the younger artists to examine the meaning of each step, with all participants, especially Sajan, enjoying the opportunity to create, tinker and laugh.
“The best parts of our involvement are sharing ideas and dancing,” he said of the unprecedented occasion.
A fan of The Beatles, Green Day, Guns N’ Roses and Nirvana, the 13-year-old is relatively new to dancing but relishes the chance to add another talent. He composes his own music and has shown his skills at Jackson by joining guitar club when in sixth grade and its successor, rock band, last year.
His playing penchant will reign when the production hits the Avenue of the Arts. Jackson will perform before the ballet Nov. 16 to 18, with the possibility they will cap off BalletX’ Fall Series ’11 by playing the three weekend shows, too. Ciaranca-Kaplan has secured an on-site performance for kindergarten through fourth graders Nov. 17 and for the rest of the school the next day.
BalletX has stressed remaining self-confident to the eighth-graders regardless of their specialties.
“Life will give you so much to overcome,” Cox, who defeated dyslexia, said. “Music is an incredible way for us to grow.”
Shinn has played guitar since sixth grade. With pink and blonde locks, the 13-year-old, a resident of the 1600 block of South 16th Street, looks as if she could front a band. She has been strengthening her singing for four years and has moved from being nervous when faced with a microphone to enjoying all vocal opportunities. She credits BalletX for improving her belief.
“The project has helped us greatly,” she said. “We have become better at expressing and learning about ourselves.”
For more information, visit balletx.org.
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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