Issue 4, Spring 2016

EXCELLENCE
EXCELENCIA
College of Education – Core Values
INTEGRITY
DIVERSITY
TRANSPARENCY
INTERGRIDAD DIVERSIDAD TRANSPARENCIA
LEADERSHIP
LIDERAZGO
INNOVATION
INNOVACIÓN
Spring 2016, Issue 4: February 8-14
House Keeping
Congratulations to our senior and other student choreographers for a great concert this past weekend. I was so
very proud of our dancers and choreographers. Friday evening set the stage for the entire weekend. There was
so much confidence in each dancer and so much trust between the dancers. I saw each dancer push themselves
in ways they have never experienced before. Each dancer was absorbed in the work, becoming the dance and
not just doing the dance. I was overwhelmed by their commitment to excellence. Thank you all for loving
DANCE.
If you have sold tickets, return your ticket money to Maggie today, Monday - Feb. 8.
Words for Reflection
Every year there is a theme for Black History month. This year’s theme is "Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African
American Memories." The one memory that astonishes me and makes me proud to be a member of the human
race is of those who risked everything to be a part of the underground railroad. These selfless and heroic people
made a difference. My question for me is how do I still fight against oppression?
They were determined to have liberty even at the cost of life. William Still
There was one of two things I had a right to: liberty or death. If I could not have one I would take the other, for
no man should take me alive. I should fight for liberty as long as my strength lasted. Harriet Tubman
I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person: now I was free. There was such a glory over everything. I
felt like I was in heaven. Harriet Tubman
Senior Student Concert Photo Gallery
High School Dance Day
Our next major event is High School Dance Day.
We need everyone’s help in recruiting H.S.
students to come. We have flyers at the KIND
office for you to take back to your H.S. dance
teachers and your studio directors. I have also
included in this email a PDF copy of the flyer if
you want to forward it through email.
There will be classes in Flamenco, Ballroom,
Latin, Swing, Ballet, Modern, Tap, Jazz, Hip-hop,
and Ballet Folklorico. High school dance groups
will also have an opportunity to perform during
the lunch break.
Last year we had 85 H.S. students in attendance. Let’s shoot for 100 this year.
Black History Month
Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and
columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form
jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance.
Hughes stressed a racial consciousness and cultural nationalism devoid of self-hate
that united people of African descent and Africa across the globe and encouraged
pride in their diverse black folk culture and black aesthetic. Hughes was one of the
few black writers of any consequence to champion racial consciousness as a source of
inspiration for black artists. A radical black self-examination was emphasized in the face of European colonialism.
In addition to his example in social attitudes, Hughes had an important technical influence by his emphasis on folk
and jazz rhythms as the basis of his poetry of racial pride. http://www.poemhunter.com/langston-hughes/biography/
Awards:
1943 Lincoln University awarded Hughes an honorary Litt.D.
1960 NAACP awarded Hughes the Spingarn Medal for distinguished achievements by an African American.
1961 National Institute of Arts and Letters.
1963 Howard University awarded Hughes an honorary doctorate.
1973 First Langston Hughes Medal was awarded by the City College of New York.
1979 Langston Hughes Middle School was created in Reston, Virginia.
1981 New York City Landmark status was given to the Harlem home of Langston Hughes at 20 East 127th
Street by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and 127th St. was renamed Langston
Hughes Place. The Langston Hughes House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
2002 The United States Postal Service added the image of Langston Hughes to its Black Heritage series
of postage stamps.
2002 Scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Langston Hughes on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans.
Daybreak in Alabama by Langston Hughes
When I get to be a composer
I'm gonna write me some music about
Daybreak in Alabama
And I'm gonna put the purtiest songs in it
Rising out of the ground like a swamp mist
And falling out of heaven like soft dew.
I'm gonna put some tall tall trees in it
And the scent of pine needles
And the smell of red clay after rain
And long red necks
And poppy colored faces
And big brown arms
And the field daisy eyes
Of black and white black white black people
And I'm gonna put white hands
And black hands and brown and yellow hands
And red clay earth hands in it
Touching everybody with kind fingers
And touching each other natural as dew
In that dawn of music when I
Get to be a composer
And write about daybreak
In Alabama.
NMSU DanceSport Company
As a warm up to the semester, the NMSU DanceSport Company will produce and perform an informal
choreography presentation on Wednesday, February 10 at 8am in the Activity Center Room 229. This is an
opportunity for students to showcase their brief choreography assignment with the public. It is an
opportunity for you to gather a glimpse into the creative process that will be further developed as the
semester progresses. Your input will help them grow. Bring your coffee and donuts and get ready to be
entertained. We hope to see you. FREE!
Guest Artist
The Dance Program and Black Studies Program will sponsor:
Soriba Fofana
Director of MORIA, West African Dance & Drum
Ensemble
West African Dance & Drumming Performance
NMSU Corbett Center Auditorium
Thursday, February 25, 7 pm
Tickets $10 general admission
Workshops $10 per person
Drumming: Friday, February 26, 6pm
First Christian Church (1809 El Paseo Road)
Dance: Saturday, February 27,10-noon
NMSU Activity Center (1600 Stewart St.) Studio
Important Dates
Feb. 9
7pm
Feb. 20
8:30-4:30
Tuesday Night Social Dance Classes. 7-8pm free Mardi Gras Merengue class taught
by Irvin Zavala Verdugo and at 8pm Brandon Romero will teach Samba for a $5
donation.
H.S. Dance Day, Activity Center
Celebrating our Birth
Mike Knapp 2/8
Irvin Zavala Verdugo 2/10
Have a week!
Debra,
Director of Dance at NMSU
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