|
 |
|
Esta página no está disponible en español. St. Louis Post-DispatchDancing Brings Spanish Culture To Life At SchoolsBy Shane Anthony
December 25, 2002 The Cultural Kaleidoscope sent Tamara La Garbancita McIntosh to teach students about Spanish culture, and the pupils clapped, cheered and sang. Students at Lincoln and Blackhurst elementary schools in the St. Charles district recently traveled to Spain with their imaginations and a presentation full of music and dancing. At both schools, The Cultural Kaleidoscope sent Tamara La Garbancita M cIntosh to teach students about Spanish culture, dance and music. Students clapped, cheered and sang. Several were able to participate in a mock bullfight or a dance number. At Lincoln Elementary, third-graders Braxton Jumper, Elaine Hacker and Chase Dougherty; fourth-graders Madison Heidenreich and Steven Tarwater; and fifth-grader Halle Benton donned costumes provided by McIntosh and her partner, Raul Gomez. Then they danced in front of their classmates with instructions from McIntosh while the audience shouted, "Ole!" "I don't know how they remember all that stuff," Braxton said after finishing the dance. Halle said the music and movement made her want to do something similar in the future. "I'd like to dance like that someday," she said. Kristin Denbow, Lincoln's principal, said the Missouri Arts Council covered much of the approximately $900 cost of the program. The program was worth the $350 the school had to pay, she said, especially with the growing number of students who speak Spanish who attend both Lincoln and Blackhurst schools. Elaine Hacker said she is one of those students. Her family is from Puerto Rico. When she came to the school, she said, she didn't know English well, but she does now. Her fellow students said they didn't learn Spanish in class, but the school has a Spanish club after school. McIntosh, 49, taught students how to play castanets while swirling around in a white dress. Gomez played guitar. The dances were part of what McIntosh, who grew up in the United States, learned while living with Spanish gypsies when she was 18 or 19. She had been attending a conservatory in Frankfurt, Germany, she said, when she saw a woman perform a flamenco dance. She asked her to teach her the dance, she said, but the woman's reply was that she could learn it best from the gypsies. McIntosh said she learned more than just dancing during her time with a gypsy family. She learned about self-esteem and living life, she said. Even the dance has more to it than movement and music, she said. "It's how the oppressed people deal with being an outcast," McIntosh said. "It really empowers you." In her program, McIntosh said, she tries to pass along some of those empowering messages while encouraging students to learn about and respect other cultures. McIntosh is an adjunct assistant professor of dance at the Conservatory of Music in Kansas City. The Cultural Kaleidoscope also presents programs on Russia, Spain and the Ukraine.
|