SPOT
TLIGHT
ART N O T WHAT
IS YOU
BUT Y O U
W A
H T
OTHERS
MAKE Edgar Degas, French Artist
THE SPOT In this edition, our digital magazine SPOTLIGHT, focuses on the Integrated Arts team. This team is composed of specialists in multiple artistic languages and includes music, visual arts, theater, and body language through dance, sports, games, and performing arts. The group counts on the professional expertise of a pianist, a drummer, a guitarist, a soccer coach, a researcher of folk dances, just to name a few. One of them is Felippe Moraes, from SĂŁo Paulo, who was an artist at Cirque du Soleil! The Integrated Arts team works in collaboration with each other and also in close collaboration with the reference educator of each grade level. Relating expressions through the arts and the body with the projects, creating connections by integrating knowledge and expanding perspectives, and adding a world view that understands culture as production in motion, is just some of the guiding cornerstones. The impact of this work is observed in the development of our learner's capacity to feel, to understand, and to recreate the arts, as shown in the following pages. Enjoy the read and may the arts continue to inspire us!
LIGHT
INVISIBLE BOY
AND HERE WE SEE THE INVISIBLE BOY IN HIS LOVELY INVISIBLE HOUSE, FEEDING A PIECE OF INVISIBLE CHEESE TO A LITTLE INVISIBLE MOUSE. OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE TO SEE! WILL YOU DRAW AN INVISIBLE PICTURE FOR ME?” SHEL SILVERSTEIN
t o p s e h t n O
A piano for e v e r y o n e Do you know our piano, the one that is part of the Escola Concept brand? The one that is always open, like an invitation, for everyone to share their talent and joy freely? Placing it in the central lobby of the Ribeirão Preto Campus was Lariça Teo's idea. “I believe that music can be a powerful tool for the development of children. Through music, I can address issues such as collaboration, teamwork and partnership. Music has the power to bring sensitivity to children and to help them mature throughout their learning journey. Music has the power to change people.”, says the music educator at Escola Concept in Ribeirão Preto.
Lariça's connection with music began at the age of 4 and led her to pursue a degree in classic piano and flute studies from the faculty of music at USP. Nowadays, besides her engagement at Concept, she participates in choro circles, travels to represent her Brazilian music repertoire abroad, and dreams of idealizing a social project for children. "A place where children can have access to all the arts: dance, music and sports,” she imagines.
The “Better World Festival”, a show developed by Grade 9 learners at the end of the 2019 school year connected music, literature, dance and performing arts and was one of the most impressive projects led by Lariça. In 2020, the Escola Concept Virtual Festa Junina counted on her profound knowledge of the Brazilian culture. Her inspirational ideas and dedication made this event even more meaningful.
Fun fact: in addition to playing the piano, Lariça has a hands on profile and "carries the piano" to create musicinspired environments around campus.
Like father
like son
Thiago Maranhão tried to follow his mother's advice and studied mathematics to become a teacher. However, the passion for music runs in his blood, so he quit his math studies, graduated from the drum program, and followed in the footsteps of his father. Ivan Conti, better known as Mamão, a drummer recognized for his participation in MPB recordings and composing the Azymuth instrumental trio, which plays jazz combined with elements of samba, electronic and funk.
In peace with his vocation, Thiago continued working as a cultural producer and musician and moved from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo, where he became involved in music education projects, including Projeto Guri. It was this eclectic formation and a spirit of restlessness that made Thiago a potential educator for Escola Concept. "I came here attracted by the proposal to unite music, poetry and words as forms of creative expression of learning", says Thiago. "What drives my work is to think about how the Integrated Arts team can support and inspire education, mentoring the curiosity process in order to solve real-world problems".
Fun fact: last year, Thiago and his father released a record and show together. Learn more about them on Instagram @poisonfruitlive
She is an
artist and a clown!
With a Bachelor in Theater and a Major in Art Education, Andressa Bianca Neves first decided to be an educator when she was still in elementary school. She was inspired by how she could use the arts to express her feelings. "The importance of art in people's lives is clear, after all, it is part of our culture and history. It helps to communicate, interact, and develop socially." she says. A new hire for Escola Concept Salvador this year, Andressa had what can be considered "the luck" of facing the pandemic in such a short time. "The integrated arts classes come as an important educational resource for the development of the child, providing support for social interactions, even if it happens through the screen," Andressa says.
Outside the work environment, Andressa integrates and leads the Intrépidas Filhas Do Fogo group, which combines pyrotechnics and theater. She is also a practitioner of yoga and meditation and loves to dance, walk on the beach, and go hiking. "Every practice that involves contact with nature brings me great well-being," she says. A curiosity about Andressa, which our little students already know, is that she gives life to the clown Xuvisko and presents herself whenever there is an invitation from the Early Years groups. "To make the decision to become an artist is already a great challenge, so what can we imagine when a woman wants to be a clown? It is a triple challenge!," she says, with joy and persistence. Fun fact: Andressa leads the Intrépidas Filhas Do Fogo group, which combines pyrotechnics and theater
Embracing
mistakes
One of the greatest lessons that Claudia El Bayeh DehĂŠ learned from school was taught by a former Art teacher. She had a collage to make at home, but she didn't quite understand the purpose. When she compared her work with that of her peers, she was devastated. "I considered it a mistake, a failure, but the educator embraced me and valued my creativity, dispelling the myth that there is always one right way to do things", she says.
Since then, Claudia has kept the arts as her favorite area. While in school, she started studying photography, majored in arts and continues to enroll in courses, especially on the education model of Reggio Emilia, in Italy, where she travelled with a study group. This year, Claudia took on two new professional challenges: she joined the Concept team of educators in SĂŁo Paulo and started to collaborate with the organization HundrED, based in Finland, in search for disruptive models in education.. "It is very good to be in a school where, more than making decorative props for events, the Art educators are called on to contribute to the projects from their creation to the execution", she says.
Fun fact: Claudia researched about children books illustration in her graduate studies on Arts.
Everybody loves E m í l i o Emílio Calsani was the star of the Festa Junina and the Rise and Shine event at Concept Ribeirão Preto, when he led a scavenger hunt and announced the dances. He is responsible for one of the classes that students usually like best, Body and Movement. He also knows how to use charisma to involve learners in proposals that go beyond soccer and other ball activities. "The projects that explored the themes of the circus, with the Grade 1 group in 2017 was remarkable, as it was the Human Body Project, with the Grade 7 teenagers last year," he says.
A former athlete, Emílio has a major in Physical Education from the University of Ribeirão Preto and holds a specialization in sports training from USP. In his spare time, he enjoys working out (functional training), watching sports on TV and cooking. In June, his routine changed a lot, as Emílio became the father of Alice, his newest reason to live. Fun fact: Emílio is usually the MC of the Festa Junina celebration and children call him "tio milho", or "uncle corn", playing with his name and the typical food of the festival.
WINDOWS
Professor and researcher Anamelia Buoro, Master and PhD in Communication and Semiotics at PUC
TO THE
São Paulo, author of several books, among them "Olhos que pintam" and "Olhar em Construção", talked to us about the importance of art for
WORLD
understanding the world. Grandmother of 8 grandchildren, Anamelia indicated interesting alternatives for exploring art with children and adolescents in times of social isolation. The chat was part of the Morning Bites series in June and is available in full on our YouTube channel.
CLICK HERE TO WHATCH THE VIDEO
“Children are naturally expressive, they know much more than we do. The more we listen to them and spend time with them, the more we understand how they understand the world. As adults, we are losing that ability”, commented Anamelia, who defines art as being the materialization of different human beings’ lives and perceptions of the world into some artistic language. “I like to think of the idea that our senses help us to understand the world. They make us think of children and of how they behave in the face of art. They take to their body every expression they feel, speak and express. The child is a body that builds meaningful connections to the world”, Anamelia contextualizes.
In an analogy to the singular moment we are going through, Anamelia decided to conduct her reflection based on some works by the French artist Henri Matisse (1869 - 1954), known for his liveliness and also for portraying the world through windows. “Matisse was an intense producer among the artistic avant-garde and painted more than 70 canvases with windows. The windows of the places where he lived were the motif of his life", she explained. In this exercise of looking outside, or of framing the little environment inside, we managed to capture what he valued inside spaces, in different situations of time and space.
Matisse THE WINDOWS OF
“Matisse was an intense producer among the artistic avant-garde and painted more than 70 canvases with windows. The windows of the places where he lived were the motif of his life."
Mosaic with Matisse paintings
HAVE YOU LOOKED OUT THE WINDOW TODAY? Below, we list some tips that can help families, in times of social confinement, to foster a look at art and to expand children's repertoire.
1
Explore the skill of description, making connections with the outside and with the inside, from any window in the house.
2
Create situations, dance, read a text aloud for other people to hear. Pay attention to their reactions.
3
Exercise description, analysis, research and interpretation, skills that can be worked on by everyone. The space of the house, at that moment, needs to be a studio space, where we can dance, draw, sing and paint, with no preparation , freely with whatever we have at our disposal.
4
Respect their age groups, listen, rather than confront, find possibilities for space exploration.
5
Let your imagination flow and explore the experiences within the space in which you are.
6
Dialogue without judging to build possibilities together.
TALENT SHOW
One of the most watched TED talks in the world is, "Do schools kill creativity?", from Sir Ken Robinson. In this talk, he provokes us to think of an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity. With that in mind, Escola Concept does everything possible to foster learners' passions and creative expressions and we are happy to foresee the result even in some very little kids.
Ana Beatriz Terra Grade 8 Concept RibeirĂŁo Preto
What is the meaning of Art in your life? Art to me is music that I have loved since I was a baby. It's my vital energy! I know it sounds clichĂŠ, but it's super true. I'm super emotional with music, I like to include music in everything I do. Who are your influences? Since I was little my parents influenced me to like arts in general. I go to concert halls, to the theater, and I listen to great singers like Chico Buarque, Elis Regina and Caetano Veloso. Today, several young artists who do covers are influencing me, such as Sofia Oliveira, Elana Dara, Bia Marques, among others. How does music help you through quarantine? It has been a period of transformation for me. I am very shy and I am trying to deal with it better, because I want to pursue a career as a singer. I started to think about how I wanted to show what I do versus my insecurities. That is why in the last few months I decided to post my covers on the internet.
What instruments do you play? I play guitar, ukulele and keyboard. I started to study guitar 3 years ago and I also took some singing lessons. Ukulele I learned by watching videos and researching by myself. How have people reacted to the videos? I'm loving it, because people are identifying with what I do. My group of friends is growing and I have been connecting to some people who do the same as me. I feel that I have evolved a lot and I am happy with that! I'm trying to understand who my audience is, because I want to create my own style, so all feedback is being very important to me.
Alice Braga Nunes Grade 9 Concept Salvador
What is the meaning of Art in your
At school, which project were you
life?
most proud to participate in?
I like to observe works of fine arts thinking about perspective and imagining what went on in the artist's mind when it was made. It is always very interesting to try to see the situation through someone else's eyes.Â
The re-reading of African works that we did at the beginning of the year. It was very difficult to do that job. We applied a new technique that after drawing, we enlarged the drawing to remake only part of the canvas. I think it was very different from anything else I've done.
What projects are you doing at the moment? I made a series of paintings focused on themes of social relevance such as feminicide and racism. However, my moments of inspiration are very sudden, ideas come out of nowhere, after that I work as quickly as possible to finish the work soon. What activities interest you most? Definitely re-readings. Give another meaning to an existing work and leave it my way. It is both challenging and fun.
What tip do you suggest for incorporating art into everyday life in this new reality of social isolation? When you have nothing to do try to reinvent something in your home, it is a way to let creativity run wild and make your home more fun. Here, we have already painted the living room table, the door and even the walls.
Bruna Dias Borges Grade 9 Concept Salvador
What tip do you suggest for What is the meaning of Art in your life?
incorporating art into everyday
Art is a way of expressing emotions, culture and history. Through art I try to express my feelings and my thoughts.
life in this new reality of social
What projects are you doing at the
isolation? Start with something to distract yourself and soon it can become a way to enjoy time in this phase of isolation.
moment? I am currently in the process of customizing clothing. What activities interest you most? I have a lot of fun working with different materials, other than paper and color pencils.
At school, which project were you most proud to participate in? Last year, some colleagues and I made a tree out of recycled materials. Our idea was to raise awareness and encourage people to stop polluting the forests. I believe it was the best art work I have ever done.
Henrique Almendra Pre K3 Concept SĂŁo Paulo
What is the meaning of music in Henrique's life? Henrique is 3 years old, plays with almost all instruments, but the favorite has always been the guitar and percussion instruments. Currently, he is delighted with the drums. It's curious. Nobody in our family plays instruments. We love music, but we don't know how to play anything, unfortunately. But we started to realize that he uses music as a way to get closer and communicate with people.
And does he already have a preferred style? We try to expose him to a wide variety of rhythms and musical styles. But recently, the next big thing has been the rock. In the Virtual School, how has he
How do you, as parents, encourage
been producing music activities?
him?
The days he has a virtual class with Igor (music educator) are undoubtedly the most awaited for him! And he loves the music activities that are sent! He watches the videos 10 times, sing, plays... These are his favorite activities.
We let him play. Henrique loves doing shows and playing different roles. Sometimes he is the drummer, sometimes the vocalist, sometimes the bassist. Usually, he chooses a band, a show, and a specific song, and from there he studies it, memorizes it, and starts to imitate the members. So there is a lot of makebelieve involved in this game too.
CREATIVE KIDS Does your child engage in creative personal projects and experiences in which he/she develops passions and talents beyond what is proposed by the school? Share these stories with us and help us value his/her talents and inspire other children to keep their creative juices flowing! Luiz Eduardo Scaff, Grade 7 learner at Escola Concept São Paulo, is an example of a creative kid. He likes to innovate and build machines with electric circuits. CLICK HERE to check out his latest invention!
PROJECT
EH T N I
ART
PANDEMIC Recreating, reinventing and rethinking. These verbs are present in the routines of our learners, and they gained even more strength in this period when campuses are closed and new learning opportunities have opened up. With the Virtual School, we discovered talents, transformed emotions into art and dialogue with different languages of artistic expression. We also visited museums, exercised creativity, innovated and engaged in international movements and challenges. In summary, we enjoyed many good moments between colors, clicks, papers and canvases. To celebrate these productions, we have created a special exhibition gallery to honor our artists.
Finding humor: Michelangelo and Da Vinci surviving the Pandemic
Creating, imagining and innovating: inspired by classic paintings
Gathering data through all senses: nature inspired artworks
An elite player on our Concept Team
Scott McMullan joined Escola Concept SĂŁo Paulo last month as the Associate-Head of School. He was born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, which is a very cold city in the prairies. As he prefers warmer weather, moving to Brazil in 2003 was a dream come true. His wife Alessandra is originally from SĂŁo Paulo and they have a 7-year-old son Thiago that was born while they were living in Colombia. Prior to joining Escola Concept, Scott lived in South Korea for 3 years as the school principal of an international school. Scott has always worked in education and coached sports. The following article spotlights a fun fact about him: Scott plays on the Brazilian National Curling Team and has represented Brazil in international competitions.
Is curling a popular sport in Canada? Curling has always been a popular sport in Canada, but more for middleaged people. It is becoming more popular since it officially became an Olympic sport in the 1998 Winter Olympic Games, in Nagano, Japan. Twenty years ago, there was not a lot of investment in the modality, so the best players had other professions because they could not make a career from the sport. When did you begin playing and training? I started playing with my parents in the 80s. We lived next to the curling club. It became more serious when I was about 14 years old and I started training 4 times a week in a combined schedule with other sports. I remember playing against 30-yearold adults and beating them!
Can you briefly explain what curling is? It is a sport of strategy. Each team has 4 players and each one throws 2 rocks, so each “end” consists of 8 rocks per team. One player at a time “throws” the rocks to hit a target, that we call a “house”. The rocks are thrown with a specific rotation, to make them curl. The other players are positioned to “sweep” in front of the rock so that it can follow the planned trajectory to hit the target. The team with the closest rock to the center of the “house” scores a point. This 2-minutes animation in Portuguese is very nice to get an overview of curling. LINK HERE.
What learning experiences can you take from curling to other areas of your life? I always say that curling is like chess on ice. It is a very strategic game so you must be always thinking about your next shot and what your opponents will do, creating a cause-effect relationship. You also need to continuously analyze the situation and be flexible in your thinking so that you can adapt to new situations.
How many times have you defended the Brazilian team? How did it happen? When I first moved to Brazil, in the early 2000s, there was no place to curl, so I stopped playing. Then I moved to Colombia with my Brazilian wife and I heard about some Brazilians living in Canada that were starting to curl. Years later, when we moved back to Brazil in 2014, the Brazilian Ice Confederation got in touch with me and invited me to join the team as a vice-captain. It has been a lot of fun and every year we travel and represent Brazil in international championships. Now, I am very excited that there is an official Ice Arena in Morumbi, Sao Paulo to play curling. It is the first ever dedicated curling ice in Latin America.
What was the biggest competition you participated in? Even though I have played against some of the best teams in the world, the highlight was in January 2019, when we played in a World Qualifier event in New Zealand. In that championship we beat Denmark, which is a very traditional curling nation that was ranked 11th in the world. It was Brazil’s first ever win in an international event.
How important is it for children to play sports?
Did sports play a role in you ending up in the educational field?
Sports are incredible for children and not only because it helps lead a healthy lifestyle. Sports are important because they can help teach about collaboration and working with others. You have to commit to your teammates and everyone must depend on each other to be successful. When a child finds a sport they like, they must practice a lot and dedicate themselves to getting better. They will be faced with challenges and obstacles, but the persistence pays off as they learn to win and lose.
Absolutely. I started coaching high school basketball and volleyball when I was 18 years old and I quickly discovered that teaching students was my passion. My first University degree was in Physical Education and my first job was as a high school PE teacher. I am very grateful for all that I have learned and accomplished because of sports.
Do you have an idol in the sports field? I don’t think that I have a sports idol, even though there are a lot of players that are extremely talented and amazing athletes. I think when growing up, I was always focused on getting better and competing with my older brother. He was also very athletic and we would play a lot of sports together. So probably he was my main reference.
SPORTS ARE IMPORTANT BECAUSE THEY CAN HELP TEACH ABOUT
col
n o i t a r o b a l AND WORKING WITH OTHERS.
COOL SONGS FOR KIDS
Many families want to learn more about the songs that their Early Years' children sing at school. With this request in mind, the educator Igor Oliva, from Escola Concept SĂŁo Paulo, created the playlist Cool Song for Kids on Spotify, with music both in English and Portuguese.
The list also includes international and Brazilian songs that are aimed at all age groups, such as Yellow Submarine (The Beatles) therefore,
and
Carinhoso
they
construction
of
are
the
of our learners.
Igor Oliva, Escola Concept SP
(Pixinguinha), part
cultural
of
the
repertoire