1) How did you come up with the idea for Salem: A Musical History?
This idea began during a discussion with my husband, who is the Band director at Salem State University, about Patrick Gilmore, who had the “best band in the land” in Salem in the Mid-1850’s. We discussed how it was a shame that I, as a music teacher in Salem, didn’t even know this part of our city’s rich culture and how our students are missing out on a great opportunity to learn about it. I did some more research and became fascinated by the social life of Salem during this productive time in our history and found resources to help explore more. I have also often been concerned about the lack of dance education in our country; I feel this is an expressive art form that too often gets ignored though it can have some very positive impacts on our students. This inevitably led to the question, “So now that I know this, what am I going to do about it?” I am a firm believer in hands-on learning as a major part of our learning, even with history. Having collaborated often with Ben Chertok and the recent development of the Collaborative grant by SEF, I thought this would be a great opportunity to try and do something about it. You all (SEF) agreed and we were off and running.
2) How did you feel the actual event measured up to your original vision?
The Big Picture was there, though there were details that are not yet realized and aspects that can be improved – I feel the students were able to gain a better understanding of the time period. I had envisioned a dance specialist working with the kids and a small band like Patrick Gilmore’s playing in halls like Hamilton Hall 155 years ago, but was very pleased when I came across the Library of Congress Folk Dance archives on the web and was led to Jim and Maggi Dalton, both of whom provided great learning for me and our students.
3) What are your plans going forward from here?
Immediately, some of our kids will be performing at the Read Science Picnic this Saturday! (June 25th; 11am-3pm at Salem Willows Park)
My hope is that this will become an annual event, growing by grade each year with the older students helping to teach the younger students and learning more complex dances as we develop. Many parents have offered to help with more sewing and the 5th graders seem eager to return and spread the word – we better not put our machines away so soon (hopefully we can share this with our kids so they can learn to sew also!). We are looking into the possibility of doing a winter dance (the annual Salem Christmas dance held at Hamilton Hall) and a summer dance.
Also, expanding on the times, I would like to find ways to incorporate some more period elements over a longer learning time such as planting a garden that would be time period authentic (perhaps a part of a community garden), weaving cloth, dying fabric, churning ice cream, learning period songs, touring period ships, and checking out areas in Salem that have to do with the Slave trade like the underground tunnels. This is all a part of integrated learning, and we have all we need right here in our city – what an awesome opportunity!
