The Famous Columbia Explorers Academy!

Posted by Tai on January 28, 2009

School Shows School Residencies

Rehearsals for the Columbia Explorers show started yesterday. I’m very excited about the show. This residency was a blast, but I wouldn’t expect any less from the kids at this school. The four-class residency was split between two days per week, with myself and volunteer Mariah on Tuesdays, Kate and volunteer Mani on Wednesdays, and rockstars Ricky, Jason, and Sarah teaching both days.

Barrel of Monkeys has been teaching at Columbia Explorers Academy for years, since back when it was called Davis-Shields Elementary, and is the birthplace of “That’s Weird, Grandma” favorites Cereal Story and Untitled (Astronauts).

Since we’ve been back to the school year after year, most of the students have seen us perform, and recognize us in the halls. I can’t help but feel a little like a celebrity walking the halls of CEA with my fellow teaching artists and hearing, “It’s Barrel of Monkeys!” On our first day I was delighted to see the students I taught last year, now in fifth grade. They yell and wave and say hi. One of the boys told me he’s been getting good grades this year. It’s nice to hear news from them.

The feeling of celebrity certainly goes the other way, too. The amazing stories these kids write stick with you, and it’s fun to point out authors to your fellow teachers (“Hey look! It’s the author of Astronauts!”). Whenever we’re lucky enough to get a story’s author in the audience at “That’s Weird, Grandma,” the cast clamors to see him or her from the wings, pre-show. We all want to see the face of the writer that created the story we’ve been having so much fun performing.

Since most of the kids at CEA have seen a BOM show at their school, they’re often already psyched to see us from the moment we walk in the classroom, because they already know what the end result is going to be: they become famous. They’re eager to create and share their ideas. We brought a few surprises for them this year: lead teacher Ricky and new Program Director Elizabeth, along with a lot of input from the company, shook up the standard BOM curriculum and devised some new exercises intended to spark stories that incorporate characters and settings from the kids’ own neighborhood. I’ll write more about these new writing exercises as I continue to blog throughout rehearsals. Stay tuned!