Professional Teacher Training

Professional Development
"Heroes Project" Dance and Music Components

"Heroes Project" is a professional development workshop for teachers with separate "Dance" and "Music" components and a unique framework suitable for teachers and arts coordinators at all grade levels. Teachers are offered specific tools and instructional tasks to fuse the value and impact of academic rigor in curriculum in arts learning with Language Arts, Literature, History and Social Studies, that are aligned with Visual and Performing Arts Framework standards. Each component training session includes a 20-page booklet and a Dance Component video and Music Component CD. Each "Dance" and"Music" workshop session is 2-hours in length, and can be conducted sequentially or over a period of time. Together we can make a difference in the lives of our young people ­ our future arts innovators and leaders!

Dance Component
The dance component helps teachers connect themes presented through dance as a springboard to standards-based learning in core subjects. This dance component provides arts integration to "Language Arts" and"Listening/Speaking" with possible links to "History" and "Social Studies."

Music Component
The music component helps teachers connect universal feelings or ideas through music by using original songs that explore the theme of heroes. It provides arts integration to "Language Arts" and "Listening/Speaking" with the potential for links to 'History and "Social Studies."

Dance workshops are conducted by Bonnie Oda Homsey.
Music workshops are conducted by Bunny Hull.

Bonnie Oda Homsey, Artistic Director of American Repertory Dance Company, was born in Hawaii attended the Julliard School in New York, then received her degree in education and dance at University of Hawaii. She toured internationally as a principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company before relocating to Los Angeles in 1978. Since 1995, she has designing many arts education and community programs with fresh approaches to fostering the value of arts with institutions such as UCLA Design for Sharing, Orange County Performing Arts Education Department, Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts Education Department, J. Paul Getty Center, and MOCA among others. She has been on faculty at UC Irvine since 1997 where she received her MFA and the prestigious Chancellor's Fellowship. Bonnie is Chair of Dance for the Princess Grace Foundation in New York that awards emerging talent in dance, theater and film, and publishing assignments include Issue Editor for the international journal Choreography and Dance, and articles for Envisioning Dance on Film and Video and Ballet History Shockwaves. In 2003, she is establishing a DanceShorts Film Festival in 2003 at the Alex Theatre. She has three teenage daughters and resides in Los Angeles with her husband of 30 years. Please visit the website: www.ardc-la.org

Bunny Hull, founder of Dream A World^™, is a Grammy Award-winning songwriter and performer. She founded Dream A World from a desire to teach children positive values and self-esteem through music. Well-known for the hit song "New Attitude" recorded by Patti LaBelle, Bunny has also written and/or performed with such music luminaries as Quincy Jones, Ricky Martin, Vanessa Williams. She has also composed songs for films and television such as "Beverly Hills Cop", "Leap Of Faith", and "Any Day Now". Kids Creative Classic has released six children's recordings. "Peace in Our Land: Children Celebrating Diversity" is the 2002 winner of the National Parenting Publications Award and Dr. Toy and Parent's Guide to Children's Media. Other award winning releases include "Happy Happy Kwanzaa" a multi-cultural celebration of Kwanzaa in partnership with acclaimed children's illustrator and artist, Synthia Saint James.