WATCHING A FORMER BUGS STUDENT PERFORM

It has been very promising to have many of our BUGS students transition from our elementary school program to the middle school program, many of those students go off to other schools that help to continue and challenge their education. Willis Brandon is one of those students. Willis Brandon is now a student at Roland Park Elementary/Middle School which is in the Roland Park area of Baltimore City.

One of the after-school programs he volunteers with is the RP Dance Club. Willis has been dancing for 4 years at Morton Street Dance Center. He has been assisting Ms. Liz Pelton, RP Dance Club teacher, on Fridays with demonstrating and executing choreography for the students.

Well, on Friday, Feb. 11th, Mr. Algernon and the Middle Schoolers ventured to RPEMS. The Middle Schoolers were informed of a children's performance that they were going to see but Mr. Algernon did not disclose who would be performing.

We arrived, settled into our seats and got prepared for the performance. Then Willis Brandon walked in, dressed in his costume and took his place. Ms. Liz had a group of her students introduced Willis and his partner, Morgan James, who also is a dancer at Morton Street Dance Center. Once the Middle Schoolers, all of whom went to BUGS with Willis, saw him, they sat up in their chairs and watched intently. Willis and Morgan danced a beautifully choreographed duet by Madi Jackson who is a teacher at Morton Street Dance Center and dancer with Full Circle Dance Company. This performance by Willis was the first performance they had seen of him dance outside of BUGS.

As we left, they were very excited and proud of their friend's performance. Great job by Willis and Morgan!! Thanks to Ms. Liz Pelton for allowing the BUGS Middle School Program attend this performance!!

Silly at BUGS

We recently got the new game Twister Hoopla. It's different than the classic Twister as you have hoops that a partner and yourself have to hold. For example, you may spin the board to head to head, or elbow, to head, etc. As you can image this game gets pretty silly, pretty fast. I couldn't help taking some pictures of this super fun new game.

Card Self-Portraits

I just had to show off some of our finished playing card paintings. We began looking at some famous portraits like the Mona Lisa, and some famous self-portraits, like the ones Frida Kahlo painted. Then we took playing cards and transformed the faces into our own, or someone we know. I think they are turned out beautifully, enjoy.

Chesapeake Arts Center trip

It was a chilly day for a field trip to the Chesapeake Arts Center. Students sat in the large auditorium to enjoy the Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble on February 3. There was first storytelling by Baba Abiodun. Then, an introduction to the western African instruments played like the Djembe drum, Djun-Djun Bass drum with a Kenkeni and more. A large assortment of drummers and dancers ranging from age 2 to age 70 captivated us as we watched and listened to this artistic performance. We even got to see a stilt walker known as “Chakaba” who acts as a spiritual police. The Dickerson family founded and directed this organization which promotes cultural awareness through the performing arts and we were very lucky to have seen such a great performance!