A final performance

Students at Abram Lansing Elementary School, along with local dancers, percussionist and storyteller, presented their year-long original story-telling performance project on May 20, 2008.

Through grants from the Partners for Arts Education and Partners in Dance, the school and the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company secured money to bring the artists to the school to coordinate the project.

Along with the dance company, storyteller Pleasant DeSpain and percussionist Brian Mellick worked with students.

"This project gave students at our school a chance to become theater experts by first creating a story and then adding the dimensions of the theater to tell that story," said Abram Lansing Elementary School Principal Cliff Bird. "It was a wonderful experience."

Earlier this year, the fourth-grade class wrote a story with the help of DeSpain – the tale of a Cohoes student who opens a teacher's locked desk drawer and finds a dragon. That story, along with some other creative ones, was performed by the students.

Dressed in colored t-shirts, students in grades five through two told their original stories through percussion, choral speaking and artistic movements.

In preparation for the final product, each grade gave input in a specific area, such as costumes, set design or the narration.

In addition to the artistic aspects, the project aligned with the New York State curriculum in social studies, English Language Arts, physical education, math, science and technology. Students will kept journals throughout the process, as well.

This project was made possible with public funds provided by the New York State Council on the Arts and administered through Partners for Arts Education. This project was supported by Partners in Dance with support from the NYS DanceForce which receives funding from the New York State Council on the Arts Dance Program and Altria Group, Inc.