Written by Barbara Krebs,
Young Audiences volunteer and Sunburst Society member

“What does the artist do? He draws connections. He ties the invisible threads between things.”
—Anselm Kiefer, German painter and sculptor

A few weeks ago, Young Audiences hosted an event to celebrate the organization’s supporters and the arts and education experiences that, together, we were able to bring to Maryland students over the past year.

I imagine the connections. From teacher to student. From student to parent. From tap dancing to the nucleus of an atom. From all the “invisible threads between things.” That’s what Young Audiences does: Connects kids and imagination to education through the arts.

Having been to a number of YA’s events, I had a reasonable idea of what to expect. Inspiring statistics of successes achieved in area schools. Teaching artists demonstrating classroom arts techniques. Audience participation. Delicious hors d’oeuvres and delightful cocktails. Animated conversations that explore the arts and our connection to Young Audiences. And on this occasion, expansive views of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

It’s easy enough to write this basic list of how YA celebrates. What’s harder to capture is the excitement, inspiration, imagination, and connectedness that ensues.

For example, teaching demonstrations began with Khaleshia Thorpe-Price, who is involved with a program new to Young Audiences: Baby Artsplay. This program provides engaging activities designed for parents, caregivers, and early childhood educators to use the arts at home, daycare, and school to set our youngest learners on a path toward kindergarten readiness.

As she passed out small egg-shaped rattles (easy for small hands to hold), she explained how she uses simple songs and movement to engage the kids. Later she distributed scarves, which were used in a peek-a-boo song that encouraged creativity, imagination, and movement.

See, describing it doesn’t do it justice – but if you can just visualize for a moment (encouraging active imaginations here!) a roomful of slightly self-conscious professional people waving scarves up, down, and sideways while they “flew” or “sashayed” or “danced,” you begin to get an idea of how this reaches young kids who have no inhibitions about imaginative play. And better yet, these are techniques that can then be taken home and easily recreated to help children learn through play.

How about tap dancing? Quynn Johnson made music with her feet! Sliding, spinning, tapping toes, tapping heels–the rousing rhythms got and held our attention just as it does the K-8th-grade students she instructs.  Whether it’s math, science, or literacy, her feet teach the lesson. I asked her about that later, admitting that I understood how tap dancing could teach math. But I wondered how she connected this art form to science and English. I then learned how she taught different rhythms to illustrate the nucleus of an atom; or the life cycle of a hurricane; or the development of Pinnochio from a wooden puppet, to a wooden puppet with a long nose, to a little boy.

Last up was Regie Cabico, a slam poet and theatre artist who produces wonderful, thought-provoking performance art informed by his Filipino American identity. Working in theatre, he constantly struggled to secure roles, being labeled “not Asian enough” for some and “too Asian” for others. And so he connects with his students, who also grapple with not being or appearing “something” enough. Feeling “other” is a universal theme that connects us all.

So I imagine the connections. From teacher to student. From student to parent. From tap dancing to the nucleus of an atom. From all the “invisible threads between things.” That’s what Young Audiences does–connects kids and imagination to education through the arts.