Cultural Arts

2025-26


We’re excited for a year full of inspiring cultural arts programs and assemblies! This year’s lineup includes Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, Living Rhythms, Bollywood Dance, ABCD Drumming and Songs, Learning in Motion, and the Natural History Museum outreach program. Our students love these experiences, and we can’t wait to celebrate culture, creativity, and learning throughout the year!

Every year, the Northwoods PTA provides a diverse range of cultural arts programs to all students of all grades! Bringing these activities to Northwoods is one of the largest investments that our PTA makes each year, and could not occur without the generous financial support of our PTA members and our school PTA annual fundraiser donations. Assistance is also provided by the United Arts Council (UAC) of Raleigh and Wake County.

Every year, our volunteer PTA Cultural Arts representative attends UAC training sessions and an art fair as well as apply for UAC grants to help cover the costs of bringing these activities to our school. Cultural arts programs are selected based on feedback collected from teachers and students each year. The PTA cultural arts volunteer then contracts and coordinates all activities with the artists, UAC and school staff.

 

Cultural Arts Assemblies and Programs for the 2019-20 School Year.

See below for the current 2019-2020 schedule, and check-in for updates throughout the year as more activities are being planned. For the moment we have 3 assemblies scheduled for all our student body and a 3-day workshop scheduled for our graduating 5th graders. A special animal program from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science is being developed for our AU students, and in March our entire student body will enjoy learning about latin dance and culture in the gym during one of their PE classes. The dates for each assembly are also listed on our Northwoods Community Calendar.

*Please note that given the limited space available in the cafeteria, attendance at cultural arts assemblies is limited to students and teachers.  

Yasu Ishida - Japanese Magical Journey

November 15, 2019: Grades k-2 from 1:15pm to 2:15pm; Grades 3-5 from 2:30pm to 3:30pm

Combining traditional Japanese theatre, lion dance, music, origami, magic, and storytelling, Yasu will guide audiences to the enchanting land of Japan. He will share excerpts from a Japanese traditional folktale with origami, a Japanese traditional vaudeville act with the playing of a traditional flute, and a Japanese lion dance. Yasu's programs include stories that he performs with lots of audience interaction and participation.

To learn more about Yasu Ishida and his performance, you can visit his website at:

https://www.yasutheatre.com

 

NC Museum of Natural Sciences Outreach Programs - Meet the Animals
(K-5th grade workshop ECS1 & ECS2)

Friday December 13, 2019

Meet some of the Museum’s animal ambassadors and learn about their characteristics, adaptations, and the roles they play in our environment. Students will get the chance to touch live animals and ask questions from a Museum animal expert.

https://naturalsciences.org/index

 

5th grade workshop - Black Box Dance Theatre company - Moving a Revolution

Dec 17-19, 2019

After their very successful Revolutionary War workshop for the past two years (which was turned into a play to “bring history alive” the first year), our 5th grade teachers have asked for another three-day workshop by the same company.

Black Box Dance Theatre company (composed of dancers with diverse backgrounds including a Purple Heart Wounded j) believes the best way to understand something differently/deeper/authentically is to make a dance about it! Workshops are designed to elicit and integrate ideas from participants in the construction of new dances. Students are left with the pride that comes from creating dances and the knowledge of how to do more.

To learn more about this dance company, you can visit their website at:

http://www.blackboxdancetheatre.org/index.html\

 

Rick Brown - Meet Sir Isaac Newton

January 17, 2020: Grades k-2 from 1:15pm to 2:15pm; Grades 3-5 from 2:30pm to 3:30pm

Sir Isaac Newton makes a guest appearance to talk to students of all ages about his life, and how he changed the world of science. Sir Isaac will bring his Laws of Motion and Theory of Gravitation to life for your students. He starts by telling the students about his early life and about the famous the story of the apple falling on his head. Since man has always wanted to move things, so Sir Isaac shows how they got better at doing just that. Students try to break the third Law of Motion which deals with action-reaction. Using students to help, Sir Isaac demonstrates his three laws of motion in fun and exciting ways. He marvels at all the ways that the Laws of Motion have been used for by mankind including especially the space travel that has taken place during the last 60 years.

To learn more about Rick Brown and his performances, you can visit his website at:

https://www.scienceedventures.com

 

ComMotion (Community in Motion) - Rhythms of the Latin World Workshop
(Latin Dance workshop during PE class, K-5th grade) 

DATE CHANGE! -  The Latin Dance Workshop will now be held Wednesday March 25th

In this workshop students will experience several hundred years of history and culture through Latin dance and music, learning how the customs and beliefs of waves of immigrants from across the globe have blended and evolved. Beginning with the indigenous people and moving through successive waves of immigrants, the instructors will describe the basics of the culture, such as economy, language, and value system then demonstrate examples of the music and dance. The instructors will explain how the succession of cultures influenced the evolution of the society, as seen in the music and dance.

Students will learn about some of the most popular dances from Latin America, including their origins and evolution. They will get to practice basic steps and simple turns in several dances, such as Merengue, Salsa, Samba, and Bachata, which can be performed either on their own or in partnership.

- If weather permits, each grade will spend the 45 minute workshop outside on the blacktop. If weather is not good enough, principal Nixon will try to arrange the cafeteria to host the event (The gym will be the back-up plan).
- We will need parent volunteers for each grade ( 2 parents for each 45 minute session grades 3-5 in the morning, and 4 parents for each 45 minute session grades K-2 in the afternoon).
- A sign-up genius will be sent out right after the Book Fair is finished.

To learn more about this program, you can visit the following website: 

https://www.unitedarts.org/artist-directory/artist-directory/rhythms-of-the-latin-world-workshop.3722375

 

Trent Arterberry - Think Bigg

April 28, 2020: Grades k-2 from 1:15pm to 2:15pm; Grades 3-5 from 2:30pm to 3:30pm

Think Bigg blends mime, storytelling and puppetry into a hilarious show of kid-friendly stories and characters. Featuring lots of audience participation, students learn about non-verbal communication and specific mime techniques both onstage and in their seats. "In short episodes as a racing-car driver, a pilot, a robot, a digital dude, a puppet named Mr. Bigg and the classic man-trapped-in-box scenario, he fascinates his young audience and involves them in trying some of his moves and realizing the power of the imagination." - NOW Magazine, Toronto

To learn more about this artist and his performance, you can visit his website at : 

http://www.trentshow.com

 

 

Cultural Arts News

 

Have questions or would like more information? Contact us using the form below and we will be in touch!

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