Guide students through the entire creative process of bringing a story to life. In this multidisciplinary 4-session residency, children learn a traditional morality tale from Mali, West Africa; they meet the characters and each child assumes a role. Each student...
Art Form: Music
Our Programs
Sogo Bo
Diadié Bathily and his troupe use dance, drumming and song to tell a timeless West African traditional cautionary tale. The riveting story of a child who doesn’t listen to his elders is played out by dancers wearing ceremonial masks and larger-than-life costumes. The...
Joia Passport: Rhythms Around the World
This fifty-minute interactive concert will take students on a journey around the world through rhythm! Students stamp their passports, get on an airplane, and away they go to Brazil, Africa, Cuba, The Caribbean, and Japan. They also learn hand-clapping rhythms so they...
Team Building Through World Percussion
This residency is a hands-on percussion experience. Students use authentic percussion instruments to learn to build community and teams during a rhythmic journey around the world. The rhythms of Brazil, Africa, the Caribbean, Cuba, and Japan are designed to explore...
Samba Blast!
A hands-on, team-building rocket blast to Brazil! With authentic instruments, students will build a satisfying musical ensemble in only fifty minutes. This workshop is fast-paced, powerful, and a joy for students. Great for International days or a one-time amazing...
Baby Artsplay!™
Springboard offers children ages birth to three years, along with their teachers, parents and caregivers, the opportunity to take part in a Baby Artsplay!™ residency program in their community. The goal of a Baby Artsplay! Classroom-Based Residency is to provide...
Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts
Springboard to Learning is the only Missouri affiliate of the National Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts. The Wolf Trap professional development model helps to prepare young children for a lifetime of learning by educating, modeling, and coaching...
Capoeira Angola: Movement and Music
Capoeira serves as an introduction to Afro-Brazilian Cultures. Students are also introduced to cultural concepts of Brazil, Brazilian history, and the Portuguese language. Classes are taught over a period of 8 weeks. Classes are divided into four parts: 1) Stretching...
Stories with Drums
Kunama drums, sings, dances and tells stories with a vibrant energy, bringing together students of all ages. The tales, rich in African-American folklore, come to life through audience participation in music and dance from the United States, Africa, Brazil and the...
Mammal Music
Marko and his magical guitar enliven audiences with interactive songs that will move your body and your mind. His live musical show features songs from his new solo album "Mammal Music," which was made with Grammy Award Winning Children's Music producer Dean Jones....
Ethnic Percussion
This cross-disciplinary program builds students’ self-esteem, increases their concentration and problem-solving abilities, and fosters their belief in both the importance of their work as an individual and their role in the community. In this way, it correlates very...
Rhythms and Folklore of Africa
Kenya's signature program highlights cultural diversity through stories and illustrates African culture in an entertaining way. It is ideal for schools, festivals, theater and community events. And it can be adapted to either indoor or outdoor venues. Audience...
Scott Joplin: The Ragtime King
The music of Scott Joplin influenced a whole generation! Explore the life and music of an American original. This exciting and engaging program combines storytelling, live music and audience participation and traces Joplin’s path from an inauspicious beginning in...
Milky Way, Moons, and Meteorites
Join educator, author, and songwriter Dinosaur O’Dell for an interactive assembly about outer space science. The students learn about the planets in our solar system, gravity, the greenhouse effect, friction, and the difference between meteors, meteorites, and...
Endangered Species Project
In this live music presentation, audiences will learn about animals like Missouri’s own Hellbender Salamander, the ever-elusive Magic Rabbit, and the beloved sea cow – Manatee. You will also hear the tragic story of the Passenger Pigeon whose plight inspired the...
MusicMaker
A SPRINGBOARD SIGNATURE PROGRAM (Originally Developed by Mark Pagano) Students develop a variety of literacy skills through music creation and songwriting in this hands-on residency. Students learn the basic components of music while constructing themed lyrics to...
Papa’s Percussion and Puppets for Preschoolers
The energetic enthusiasm of “Papa” Wright is woven throughout this workshop designed to introduce young students to the percussion family of instruments. A wide variety of instruments become the vehicles to learning to count and play simple rhythms. By using puppetry,...
Music! Music! Music!
Melody, rhythm and dance provide the motif for these stories! Kids will be dancing, singing, clapping and tapping along! Also available for virtual performances. Audience: Grades PK-K Format: Performance Curriculum Connections: English/Language Arts Teaching Artist:...
Storytelling Express: A Musical Journey Around the World!
Conductor and Engineer Bobby Norfolk will magically transport you on their from express train across vast continents where you will meet mysterious characters whose adventures will entertain and enlighten you. You’ll be amazed as Bobby brings to life diverse cultures...
Musical Traditions from the Middle East
Featuring a wide array of exotic instruments, this performance focuses on the rich musical heritage of the Jews, Arabs and Persians. Through ancient stories and song, two of St. Louis’ most talented multi-instrumentalists, Farshid Soltanshahi, a native of Iran, and...
Sounds of Brazil
With the program “Sounds of Brazil,” Samba Bom brings the audience on a journey into the five regions of Brazil by playing the music of each region. The program is a cornucopia of information about Brazilian history, geography and people, starting with the indigenous...
Words from the Drum
Kunama drums, sings, dances and tells stories with a vibrant energy, bringing together students of all ages. The tales, rich in African-American folklore, come to life through audience participation in music and dance from the United States, Africa, Brazil and the...
Dancing Through the Decades
What songs would you hear if you turned on the radio 20, 40 or even 60 years ago? Find out in this fabulous program by one of the top ten musical groups in St. Louis, as rated by The Riverfront Times. From “Jump, Jive and Wail” to the “Electric Slide,” Kittie Moller...
Interstellar Counting Systems for Space Aliens (and Kids)
Students are engaged through interactive stories and songs that incorporate finger plays, movement, fill-in-the-blank lyrics, counting, and dramatic expression. During this musical journey, Dino and the students discover monsters under the bed, help a space alien fix...
Eat Like a Rabbit, Swim in Peanut Butter and Other Healthy Tricks
Dino, the Nutrition Musician, communicates his message about healthy food and an active lifestyle through interactive music and stories, engaging children with finger plays, movement, fill-in-the-blank lyrics, counting, dramatic expression and humor. The students meet...
Around the World with Dinosaur O’Dell
Go on an adventure around the world! This geographical journey transports students to all seven continents and highlights details about each one. Utilizing interactive music and stories, Dino sings of the world’s longest river, the tallest mountains and the largest...
Haitian Market Dance
Join award winning musician Rodney Lindor on a voyage to Haiti. Students will experience Rabordy, Djoumba and Contradance all set to the rhythms of the Haitian Drums. With an afternoon at a lively marketplace as the backdrop, students will explore the culture of Haiti...
Stories of West Afrika
This ensemble is eager to take students on a fun-filled excursion that is bound to leave a lasting impression on their hearts and minds. Learn about the customs and art of Mali and Guinea in West Africa through engaging drumming, song, and dance. Students will earn...
Motivation, Interaction and Space Aliens: How to Trick Earthlings into Learning
Professional Development for K-2 classroom teachers and Elementary School Music Teachers Earthlings learn best when they are engaged. And they are engaged best when they are interactive. Dino O'Dell's workshops focus on engaging intrinsic motivators in three areas:...
Wright Rhythms for Small Hands
While scraping, shaking and striking a wide variety of instruments, the enthusiasm of Glen “Papa” Wright energizes the classroom as he leads students through a creative musical adventure. Instruments are amusingly introduced to demonstrate basic rhythms, sound effects...
Harmonica and the Blues
From the Civil War to the Great Depression to the present day, participants explore the history of the harmonica and the blues with Sandy Weltman, one of the Midwest’s foremost harmonica players. Each participant receives a harmonica, a practice tape and a music...
Dance to the Drum, Drum to the Dance
Join Kunama Mtendaji on an exciting journey exploring the rhythmic textures of African percussion through music and dance. This program will focus on either the folklore of the United States, or areas in West Africa, Haiti, and Cuba, and will emphasize the languages,...
Carnaval! Brazilian Percussion
Moacyr Marchini, a native of Brazil, invites students to experience the heartbeat of his native country. The classroom will be filled with students playing tambourines, shakers, rain sticks, cowbells and traditional Brazilian instruments such as the pandeiros, the...
Brazilian Percussion
Take an exciting getaway to Brazil! After seeing the sights in a short videotape and a demonstration on how to play Brazilian national instruments, students warm-up with theater games and play music with a South American flair. Available for after school. Audience:...
West African Drum Orchestra and Culture
Students in this program learn how to play West African drums and other percussion instruments. As they sit in a drum circle each week, where the focus is on their fellow students’ work, they learn to listen. Lessons about rhythm and improvisation are interspersed...
Alphabet Adventures: Phonics Fun
Pre-writing and pre-reading skills are introduced to young learners through the excitement of music, movement, story and visual art. Each session, with children’s book author and illustrator Sandra Griffin, focuses on a vowel or one of the common consonants. Hearing,...
All That Jazz!
With dancer/choreographer Alicia Gbaho, students explore Jazz Swing dance and the music and history associated with it. Vocabularies increase and confidence is strengthened as students learn partner dances such as the Lindy Hop, Charleston, and Jitterbug. The...
Gathering the Village: West African Song
DeBorah Ahmed of Rhythms in Anoa will introduce your students to West African culture in this exciting and fun-filled workshop. Students will learn about the traditions of the Manding cultures of West Africa through rhythms, songs, choreography, and discussions of the...
Blast Off to Health
Join award-winning musician and master storyteller Dino O'Dell for a dose of healthy fun. Dino introduces students to a cowboy, a space alien and five singing carrots in a show that teaches nutrition, healthy activities, the "crash" of eating junk food, and the...
Songs Can Change the World
During this sing-along for little folks, young children build community and experience joy as they keep the tradition of American folk music alive. This residency includes singing and movement and emphasizes themes of family and friendship, diversity, the environment,...
FIRE DOG Roll
FIRE DOG engages students in an entertaining and interactive performance that shares songs and stories in creative ways. Students take a rock and roll journey where they meet Missouri’s endangered “Hellbender” Salamander, take an airplane to the Amazon, walk with the...