Yolantha Harrison-Pace

As an African American of Cherokee and Arapaho heritage, Yolantha Harrison-Pace has utilized her ancestral rainbow, bringing a richness to K.E.R.A. and the Core Content elements of the Arts and Humanities that embraces her passion for children, education and the performing arts. This passion has given birth to such projects as Dance Ole’, Colonial Kaleidoscope, We, Too, Are Native Americans, and WARM as…. Her mission is to encourage academic excellence and human dignity through the pursuit of the Arts and Humanities. She has received many honors for her work with at-risk children in after-school programs and for her work in schools, colleges, universities and theatres throughout the United States, including the Chamber of Commerce Big Apple in Education Award.

W.A.R.M. as…
(West African Rhythm Movement and Sound…)

This residency project provides an opportunity for students to appreciate and celebrate African Culture through learning an African Dance combination, learning to play a rhythm on an African drum, learning to wrap fabric for African clothing, in addition to receiving an overview of the lifestyle of the people of West Africa. We will study the elements of dance using African movement as our basis, using hands-on learning through active participation in movement, drumming and choreography with assessment of terminology and the elements of dance in written response and through a performance showcase. The ultimate goal will be for each student to experience the artistic process of creating and/or performing an African dance.

Grade level: 4th and 5th grades
Materials: African music, Kente Cloth, drums, rain sticks
Time: Ten 45-minute sessions
Project Core Content Goal: Study West African Culture through studying the elements of dance as seen in African movement
Previous lessons: Prior to my visit the students should study an overview of West Africa, it’s people and their culture
Curriculum integration: Multiplication for counting in sets of eight, the use of patterns, study of angles, study of reflection, reading of African literature, storytelling, art through jewelry making and African Adire tie dying for African clothing

In fulfillment of the Core Content for the Arts and Humanities Assessment, Primary through grade five with assessment at grade five, I have outlined WARM as… as a project in preparation for the fifth grade requirements for assessment in dance for creating, performing and responding. WARM as… is designed in a flexible manner as to be user-friendly in its embracement of the Kentucky Education Reform Act educational goals. WARM as… has been devised with the intentions of being easily integrated into all subject matter fields relying on what students have previously learned and building on past life experiences to acquire new information through the medium of dance and the performing arts. Its goals are not only to create movement ideas, patterns and dance with the purpose of acceptable assessment, but ultimately to:

• Coincide with the educational goals of reinforcing basic communication and academic disciplines
• Assist in the development of self-sufficient students
• Give exposure to diverse traditions and customs within an historical and cultural context
• Encourage students ability to think and solve problems through experiencing the creative process