Study Guide

The Boy Who Grew Flowers

ATTENDING A PERFORMANCE AT TILLES CENTER The concert hall at Tilles Center seats 2,242 people. The Krasnoff Theatre seats 490 people. When you attend a performance at Tilles Center, please note:

ARRIVAL

• Plan to arrive approximately 30 minutes prior to the show. • Performances cannot be held for late buses. • LIU Post Public Safety will direct buses to parking areas. • Remain seated on the bus until instructed to unload. • Please stagger chaperones throughout the group to help keep students in line

and moving quickly to the seating area. • Groups are directed into the theater in the order that they arrive.

BEING SEATED (IMPORTANT!)

• Upon entering the theater, ushers will direct students and teachers to sit row by row. Students will be seated in the order which they enter the building. Groups from your school may be seated separately from one another throughout the theatre. If your classes are separated please do not worry- you will all be dismissed together! We ask that at least one chaperone be assigned to every 15 students for grades Pre-K- 5, and one chaperone to every 30 students for grades 5-12. We recommend that a teacher or chaperone sit at the end of each row of students in the theatre. With adequate adult supervision, students which may be seated in different sections of the theatre will have enough chaperones to ensure safety. We ask for your full cooperation with this procedure in order to start the show on time!

• Please allow ushers to seat your group in its entirety before making adjustments within the row. This allows us to continue seating groups that arrive after you. Once the entire group is seated you may rearrange students in new seats and use the restrooms.

• Groups are not permitted to re-seat themselves. If there is an issue with your seats, please see a staff member.

• All students must be supervised by a teacher at all times including when going to the restroom - high school students are no exception.

DURING THE SHOW • There is no food or drink permitted in the theater or lobby areas. • Photography and audio/video recording are not permitted during the

performance. • Please turn off (or leave behind) all electronic devices, including cell phones,

portable games, cameras, and recording equipment. Keep them off for the entire performance. The devices may interfere with the theater’s sound system as well as being disruptive to both the audience and the actors. And please – no texting or checking messages during the show!

• Please do not disturb the performers and other members of the audience by talking.

• If something in the show is meant to be funny, laughter is encouraged! • Please do not leave and re-enter the theater during the performance. • There is no intermission; visit the restroom prior to the start of the

show. Performances generally run 50 - 60 minutes.

EMERGENCY CANCELLATIONS If schools throughout the area are closed due to inclement weather, Tilles Center performances will be cancelled. If, on the day prior to a performance, it appears that inclement weather may cause a performance to be cancelled, all schools will be called by our staff to alert them to this possibility. School representatives should periodically check the Tilles Center website (tillescenter.org) when winter weather advisories and warnings are in effect. Updates will be posted regularly on the home page. On the morning of the performance a message will be posted on the website no later than 6:30 AM indicating if the performance has been cancelled.

If a performance is cancelled, Tilles Center will attempt to reschedule performances on a date mutually agreeable to the artists and the majority of ticket buyers.

YOUR ROLE AS AN AUDIENCE MEMBER TO THE TEACHER: An essential component needed to create a live performance is the audience. Please talk with your students about what it means to be an audience member and how a “live” performance is different from TV and movies. Please share the following information with your students prior to your visit to Tilles Center. Some performances may involve audience participation so students should behave appropriately, given the nature of the performance and the requests of the artists on the stage. By discussing appropriate audience behavior, as a class ahead of time, the students will be better prepared to express their enthusiasm in acceptable ways during the performance.

BEING AN AUDIENCE MEMBER: Audience members play an important role— until an audience shows up, the performers are only rehearsing! When there is a “great house” (an outstanding audience) it makes the show even better, because the artists feel a live connection with everyone who is watching them. When the “house lights” (the lights in the part of the theater where the audience is sitting) go down, everyone feels a thrill of anticipation. Focus all your attention on the stage and watch and listen carefully to the performance. The most important quality of a good audience member is the ability to respond appropriately to what’s happening on stage… sometimes it’s important to be quiet, but other times, it’s acceptable to laugh, clap, or make noise! If the audience watches in a concentrated, quiet way, this supports the performers and they can do their best work. They can feel that you are with them!

The theater is a very “live” space. This means that sound carries very well, usually all over the auditorium. Theaters are designed in this way so that the voices of singers and actors can be heard. It also means that any sounds in the audience - whispering, rustling papers, or speaking - can be heard by other audience members and by the performers. This can destroy everyone’s concentration and spoil a performance. Do not make any unnecessary noise that would distract the people sitting around you. Be respectful!

Applause is the best way for an audience in a theater to share its enthusiasm and to appreciate the performers, so feel free to applaud at the end of the performance. At the end of the performance, it is customary to continue clapping until the curtain drops or the lights on stage go dark. During the curtain call, the performers bow to show their appreciation to the audience. If you really enjoyed the performance, you might even thank the artists with a standing ovation!

THE BOY WHO GREW FLOWERS Written & Directed by Mara McEwin

Choreography by Emily Bunning Music by Martyn Axe

Costumes & Puppets by Patti Gilstrap Lighting & Set by Cody Grey

STUDY GUIDE

THE PERFORMANCE

The Boy Who Grew Flowers Written & Directed by Mara McEwin

Choreography by Emily Bunning Music by Martyn Axe

Costumes & Puppets by Patti Gilstrap Lighting & Set by Cody Grey

The Boy Who Grew Flowers, based on the book by Jennifer Wojtowicz, is the story of a young boy, Rink Bowagon, who lives on top of Lonesome Mountain with his unusual family of rattlesnake tamers and shape-shifters. The townspeople agree that Rink's family are quite strange, but they are unaware of Rink's spectacular gifts. Whenever the moon is full, Rink sprouts beautiful flowers from his head. When a new girl, Angelina, moves to town, Rink’s life truly begins to grow. Their friendship quickly transpires, and for the first time, Rink is no longer an outcast. The Boy Who Grew Flowers is a delightful and thoughtful story that lends itself to exposing young people to diversity, navigating adversity, creating empathy and celebrating individualism. At times, the characters are portrayed through shadow puppetry: The Bowagons, townspeople, school students, as well as parts of the set: the winding roads of Lonesome Mountain, the stunning full moon, and the growing flowers from Rink's body. The Boy Who Grew Flowers, thematically celebrates the differences among us, while artistically and visually exploring varying theatrical styles

BEFORE SEEING THE PERFORMANCE

Ages 4-5 Read The Boy Who Grew Flowers Discuss colors, textures and images in the book Go on a nature hike around the school and collect or bring in flowers for

students to use in an art project Make a pressed flower bookmark Make a self-portrait using leaves and flowers

Discuss Dance What is modern dance? Expressive movement with freedom to

move as you choose. How can we use our body to create a story?: Make a flower dance with circles. Circle your head, arms, feet,

legs. Make small and big circles with your different body parts Plant your body like a seed and grow slowly into a flower.

Some students could be the farmers/sun/rain while others could be the flowers, then switch rolls.

Additional Resource Books for Ages 4-5:

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf The Snail and The Whale by Julia Donaldson & Axel Schieffer Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae The Sneeches By Dr. Seuss Who We Are!: All About Being the Same and Being Different (Let's Talk about You and Me) By Robie H. Harris

AGES 5-6

Read The Boy Who Grew Flowers Discuss themes: This story is about a boy who is different from

others. Do you have a friend who is different from you? What are those differences?

How can you get to know someone who may seem different? • Say “hello,” stand in line with them, invite them to play,

offer to be their partner, sit with them at lunch. Angelina asks, “Why won’t anyone talk to him?” and the

question “rattled in the minds” of the classmates.” What does this mean? Pretend you are the classmate to whom Angelina has asked

the question, “Why won’t anyone talk to him?” What would you say to Angelina?

How would you talk with your friends if you saw

someone like Rink in your class who needed help making friends?

Discuss people’s differences: Everyone has strengths and weaknesses Have students make a list of their strengths Have students draw a self-portrait:

Look into a mirror and draw what you see

Add texture: string, tissue paper, etc.

Discuss Dance: What Is Modern Dance?

a form of dance that is very open in style and can express or communicate an idea, action, emotion or experience through movement.

Create a flower dance, by using big circle shapes with different parts of your body. What are different ways you can make parts of your body into circles? Use your body, legs, head, etc.

Additional Resource Books for Ages 5-6: The Sneeches by Dr. Seuss The Name Jar By Yangsook Choi The Invisible Boy By Trudy Ludwig

AGES 7 and up

Read The Boy Who Grew Flowers Discuss themes: This story is about a boy who is different from

others. Do you have a friend who is different from you? What are those differences?

How can you get to know someone who may seem different? Discuss people’s differences: Everyone has strengths and weaknesses Have students make a list of their strengths Have students draw a self-portrait:

Look into a mirror and draw what you see

Add texture: string, tissue paper, etc.

Discuss Dance: What Is Modern Dance?

a form of dance that is very open in style and can express or communicate an idea, action, emotion or experience through movement.

Locomotion is moving through space from one point to another Non-locomotion is when you are anchored to one spot using

only the space in any direction but can still be moving. Time – Duration and speed of movement, rhythms Shapes—Design of body in space: symmetrical, asymmetrical,

curved, wide, narrow, twisted Space – place the movement occupies in space: level, direction, path Energy – the amount of force and quality with which movement

it performed: percussive, sustained, swinging, vibratory, rebounding, exploding, suspending.

Choreographer is the person who makes dances. Choreography is use of shape, space, locomotion, rhythm and

dynamics to create dance.

Create a flower dance, by using big circle shapes with different parts of your body. What are different ways you can make parts of your body into circles? Use your body, legs, head, etc.

Have the students work together in groups as choreographers and dancers to make a short dance piece (it can have a storyline or not.) Then have groups share with each other.

Divide into groups of four. Each student in the group then chooses a shape with their body, a path in space, and a way to travel the path. Then have groups share with each other.

Additional Resource Books for Ages 6 and Up Izzy Kline Has Butterflies by Beth Ain Desmond and the Very Mean Word by Desmond Tutu The Boy in The Dress By David Walliams Each Kindness By Jacqueline Woodson

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES (All ages)

1. Have students create their own stories based on having a special talent. This can be written or told out loud individually or as a group. Groups stories can be told by sitting in a circle and each student adding one word or sentence at a time. 2. Have children create their own story about a child or animal who has differences. They could create this together as a group or as individuals. They could write their stories down, tell the stories aloud, draw their stories or put on a play based on their stories. 3. Act out a picture book about differences such as Ferdinand the Bull or the The Sneeches. Teachers and advanced readers can be narrators. 4. Have the students create a series of stylized movements that takes them from one place to another to make a dance.

This could be carefully going down a narrow path, through a scary forest, up a big hill, or over a rushing river. Puppets and Puppetry:

1. Shadow Puppets: Make a shadow puppet using shapes cut out of black construction paper, popsicle stick and glue or strong tape. Cute out shapes and attach to the stick. Use a flashlight to create a shadow on a blank white wall, or white cloth.

Discuss science connections: when using shadow puppets,

light travels as a wave. When you put your shadow puppet in between the lamp and the wall, the puppet blocks some of the light waves. The closer you put your shadow puppet to the lamp, the more light waves are blocked. This makes a bigger shadow. Moving the shadow puppet away from the lamp makes a smaller shadow as fewer light waves are blocked.

2. Rod Puppets: Rod puppets are held above your head on a rod, or stick. A rod puppet can be a very simple cutout on a stick or have several moving parts controlled by additional smaller sticks. With a little experimenting, you'll come up with a puppet that looks just right!

Materials • Pencil • Tagboard • Thin rods made of straightened coat hangers or wood dowels • Scissors • Strong tape • Hole punch • Paper fasteners • Markers, paints, and fabrics

Procedure

• Draw a character on a piece of tagboard. • Decide what parts of the puppet must move. Cut out the

figure and the movable parts. • Use paper fasteners to connect the movable parts of the puppet. • Use strong tape to attach a rod to the back of the puppet.

Add a rod to the back of each movable part so that you can control it. A very long puppet, such as a snake, can be controlled with one rod for the head and another for the tail. Add yarn for hair, paint facial features, and add any other decorations needed to complete your puppet.

AFTER THE PERFORMANCE- Discussion:

1. Who were the characters in The Boy Who Grew Flowers? 2. What happened in the play? 3. Who was your favorite character and why? 4. Did you notice which actors and dancers played more than one

part? 5. How did the actors' and or dancers’ movements help make the

puppets seem real? 6. There were two different styles of puppetry. What were they? 7. How were the Bowagons portrayed? What made them such “strange folk”? 8. How did Angelina deal with being “different?”

ABOUT TREEHOUSE SHAKERS

Treehouse Shakers, Inc., a non-profit dance and theater company, was co-founded in 1997 by Emily Bunning, choreographer/dancer, and Mara McEwin, writer/actor. The company has created and performed thirteen original dance-plays for young audiences and adults in many established performance venues, including theaters, festivals and schools across the nation. Most recently the company was awarded the CUNY Dance Initiative, Flushing Town Hall 2015-2018 Space Grant, selected artists for the New York State Presenters Network Roster, and as artists participating in the prestigious BAM Professional Development Program in association with the DeVos Institute of Arts Management for the 2014-2015 cycle. Treehouse Shakers also created and performed the dance programming for the Emmy Awarded-Television show, Alex & The Kaleidoscope. Currently, Treehouse Shakers has six original performances for young audiences on a rotating tour across the nation including: Animal Rhythms: Two African Folktales, which introduces audiences to rhythm, modern dance and theater through the power and culture of West African folklore. Let’s Talk About IT! for teens, incorporates the vocabulary of dance, world folklore, real-life stories, and video interviews of everyday teens. Hatched, for the youngest viewers ages 0-6, is about baby animals and their life on the farm. Our newest piece is the dance-mystery, Under the Tangle, about an orphaned young girl who becomes trapped in an enchanted labyrinth, for ages 8 and up. Olive & Pearl for ages 2-5, premiered in 2017. The Boy Who Grew Flowers is Treehouse Shakers’ newest work to premiere in 2019. Treehouse Shakers’ work has been praised by The New York Times, FOX TV’s Good Day Street Talk, New York Magazine, Time Out Kids, New York 1’s Parenting Report, CBS- TV’s Morning Show, Mommy Poppins, Village Voice, New York Post, and The Daily News, among others. Some recent highlighted performance venues for our dance-plays include: Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), BMCC’s Tribeca Performing Arts Center (NYC), Queens Theatre in the Park (NYC), United Nations (NYC), The Peter Jay Sharp Theater (NYC), The Ailey Citigroup Theater (NYC), Manhattan Movement and Arts Center (NYC), Symphony Space (NYC), Flushing Town Hall (NYC), The Palace Theatre Stamford (Stamford, CT), Long Island Children’s Museum (Garden City, NY), Victoria Theater Associations (Dayton, OH), Alden Theater (McLean, VA), Aronoff Center (Cincinnati, OH), Paramount Theater (Peekskill, NY), Westhampton Beach Playhouse (L.I., NY), Tribeca Film Festival (NYC), Jacob’s Pillow (Becket, MA), Two Rivers Theater (Red Bank, NJ), Black Rock Theater (Germantown, MD), Bucks County Playhouse (New Hope, PA) and Elias Center for the Arts (Mifflinburg, PA).

We would love to hear from you! Send us your drawings, writings or your activities from the study guide.

We will post on our website and blog. Thank you!

This program was Originally Commissioned by and Developed at The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College, Purchase, New York, Director Seth Soloway is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York Legislature, Materials for the Arts and Individual Contributions to Treehouse Shakers. Flushing Town Hall provided a 2018 Space Grant for the initial creation of this piece. This event is presented by Treehouse Shakers. Treehouse Shakers

PO Box 186 Radio City Station

New York, NY 10101

www.treehouseshakers.com contactus@treehouseshakers.com

212.715.1914

THIS STUDY GUIDE WAS CREATED BY TREEHOUSE SHAKERS, INC. © 2018

Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, at LIU Post in Brookville, is Long Island’s premier concert hall.

Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post in Brookville, is Long Island’s premier concert hall. For 39 years, Tilles Center has been host to more than 70 performances each season by world- renowned artists in music, theater and dance. Tilles Center was the first to bring the New York Philharmonic to Long Island and Bruce Springsteen’s legendary “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” was recorded onsite.

Tilles Center’s Concert Hall seats 2,242 and features orchestral performances, fully-staged operas, ballets and modern dance, along with Broadway shows, and all forms of music, dance and theater from around the world. Thanks to the generous support of Eric and Sandra Krasnoff, the Krasnoff Theater, formerly Hillwood Recital Hall, has been refurbished and expanded to include new cushioned seats, a regraded floor for better views and an improved overall layout.

Tilles Center’s Education Programs are made possible, in part, with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Arts Education programs are made possible, in part, by the

Gilbert and Rose Tilles Endowment for Arts Education.

School Partnership Program

2019-20 School Partner Districts

The Portledge School (Independent) Lawrence Woodmere Academy (Independent)