Teacher Guides
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Teacher Guides can be used as stand-alone resources or to connect to your English Language Arts, Social Studies, and/or Arts curriculum. While some of the guides are connected to Apollo School Day Live performances, they are adaptable as a stand-alone resource for classroom instruction. The Guides include links to online resources that will help enrich your students’ experience of the subject matter. Guides may contain worksheets, essential questions, and reference Common Core Learning Standards as well as NYC Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts benchmarks.
Florence Mills: The Queen of Happiness
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
The immense talents and philanthropy of Florence Mills (1896 – 1927) earned her the nickname, the Queen of Happiness. Though her singing was praised by thousands of fans in the U.S. and in Europe, no recording of it exists, leaving us to imagine the sound of a voice that delighted so many.
Performed by LaFrae Sci and Groove Diplomacy, The Queen of Happiness: Florence Mills, is an immersive, multimedia musical experience that will introduce young audiences to Mills, the Harlem Renaissance, and the music connected to Mills’ life and the times in which she both lived and inspired.
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Between the World and Me
Monday, October 28, 2019
Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Award-winning book Between the World and Me is a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about race and American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son. Structured in the form of a letter to his teenage son, Coates’s story moves from Baltimore's West Side to Howard University in Washington, D.C., to New York City and to Paris, France addressing along the way what it means to inhabit an African American body in America.
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RHYTHM & BLUES REVUE WITH THE MICHAEL-DAVID BAND
Friday, May 3, 2019
The Rhythm & Blues study guide is a companion to the May 3, 2019 School Day Live Performance The Rhythm & Blues Revue with the Michael-David Band is a musical journey that begins with the birth of Rhythm & Blues in the 1940s and illustrates how music has reflected political, social, and cultural change. The study guide highlights the contributions of early Rhythm & Blues pioneers such as Louis Jordan, Wynonie Harris, and Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton and innovators like Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and others who performed at the Apollo Theater.
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TAPOLOGY: Embracing the Legacy
Friday, April 5, 2019
From Bill “Bojangles” Robinson to Gregory and Maurice Hines, the legendary Apollo Chorus Girls and Savion Glover, the Apollo stage has been a home for tap dancers since it opened in 1934. Michigan-based arts organization, Tapology, pays tribute to the art of tap dancing with a show highlighting technique, style and history.
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MULTI-GRAMMY® NOMINATED BOBBY SANABRIA MULTIVERSE BIG BAND | NYC BOOGALOO
Friday, May 18, 2018
Master percussionist and bandleader Bobby Sanabria and his Multiverse Big Band take us on a musical journey to discover Boogaloo, a fusion of soul music, Rhythm & Blues, and Latin rhythms that was born in New York City in the 1960’s, particularly El Barrio, Harlem, and the Bronx.
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LaFrae Sci & The Groove Diplomacy Blues Orchestra
String Stories: The Roots & Fruits of the Blues
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
From the West African griot tradition, to the African American a capella spiritual tradition and work songs, String Stories highlights the history of the Blues and the evolution of its accompanied instruments such as the guitar and banjo. Through this multi-media presentation featuring an orchestra comprised of vocalists and instrumentalists, students will experience the story of the Blues, that magical vehicle that gave voice to the voiceless, traveled the country, and then took on the world.
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Blackberry Productions
March On!
Thursday, February 15, 2018
March On! follows the journey of four attendees from their arrival at the nation’s capital to the moment when Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington in 1963. Based on oral history interviews with March on Washington attendees. Written by Daniel Carlton. Conceived and directed by Stephanie Berry.
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Harlem Symphony Orchestra
Friday, March 31, 2017
Musicians from The Harlem Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players took the Apollo stage to thrill and delight young audiences with a program of classical music. This performance included instrument demonstrations and selections from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Scott Joplin, and Jessie Montgomery. Led by music director and conductor Amadi Azikiwe, the Harlem Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players featured graduates of some of the nation’s most prestigious music institutions.
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Meeting Dee Dee's Voice
Dee Dee Bridgewater with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra
Friday, October 30, 2015
The Apollo kicked off the 2015-16 School Day Live season with Jazz! Meeting Dee Dee’s Voice stars virtuosic vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and members of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. This performance will highlight the human voice as a key instrument in a jazz ensemble. By “meeting” Dee Dee’s voice, students will learn more about the art form of jazz, the rich musical history of New Orleans, and the ability of the human voice to build narratives and spark imagination, both with and without the use of words.
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Africa Now! Tumi and The Soil
Friday, October 10, 2014
Apollo School Day Live pays tribute to the music of South Africa with some of its most dynamic young performers. A cappella trio The Soil sung songs meant to uplift and inspire, fusing their voices in sweet harmonies filled with positive messages. Considered one of South Africa's most respected voices in Hip Hop, poet Tumi Molekane delivered fluid Raps that spoke to the state of post-apartheid South Africa. South Africa Now: Tumi and The Soil was presented as part of the Africa Now! Festival in collaboration with World Music Institute and Community Works.
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