Tag Archives: Brooklyn Children’s School

OPERA KIDS – the movie

Posted on April 1, 2021 by dannyashkenasi

“Opera Kids” is a documentary about the Creating Original Opera program that I had taught and also helped develop with my colleagues at the Metropolitan Opera Guild Education Department since 1990. It was directed by Max Sturm, who participated in … Continue reading →

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No First Grade Operas – for now

Posted on March 16, 2020 by dannyashkenasi

  Thanks for nothing, COVID19   On Friday I received the following email from one of the first grade teachers at the Brooklyn Children’s School:   Dear Danny, The first grade operas have to be postponed. The DOE and our … Continue reading →

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TROLL AFFECTION!

Posted on October 29, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

  How a genre and boundary bursting Swedish movie brought back to mind a certain LGBTQ friendly First Grade Opera Tune I just saw the movie “Border”, Sweden’s entry for this year’s Foreign Film Oscar, and let me say, right … Continue reading →

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Another Year, Another Trio of First Grade Operas.

Posted on March 29, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

Three first grade operas have performed in their classrooms in front of an audience of parents, grandparents and loved ones.  In three consecutive days 1-3’s “Diamond Kids”, 1-2’s “The Alicorns” and 1-1’s “Imagine” regaled audiences with stories, dialog, lyrics and … Continue reading →

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On the Anniversary of My Father’s Death

Posted on March 27, 2017 by dannyashkenasi

My father, Abraham Ashkenasi, died on this date last year.  Above is the last picture I took of him, the last day I saw him in person. It was February 16, 2016.  Two days earlier my mother called me to say … Continue reading →

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NfaC Repost and Update – Mister Danny and His Most Sung Song

Posted on May 5, 2016 by dannyashkenasi

Today I repost one of my first and still most popular “teaching artist” posts, featuring the Pre-K standard “We’re Singing” (well, standard in my Pre-K curriculum).  This year’s Pre-K classes at the Children’s School have taken to the tune with … Continue reading →

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FIRST GRADE OPERAS: New Similarities and Differences

Posted on November 5, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

When all three first grade classes chose “Magic” as the theme for their original operas I worried that the three pieces would all end up being too similar.  However, the three “Theme Sentences” (for 1-1: “Magic can control people’s minds”; … Continue reading →

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4th Grade POWER OF PROGRESS – The Immigrants

Posted on October 5, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

Last spring the full 4th grade of the Brooklyn Children’s School presented “The Power of Progress 1840 – 1920”, a multi-media, multi-disciplinary event where different groups of children created presentations and performances on such topics as Suffragettes, Newsies, Tenement Buildings, … Continue reading →

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THE ENDURING POPULARITY OF DRAGONS IN KINDERGARTEN – The Fairy Tale Opera 2

Posted on July 18, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

Every year when I start the Fairy Tale Opera project in Kindergarten (at the Brooklyn Children’s School), I ask the class to make a long list of characters that appear in fairy tales.  Then the kindergartners choose three characters around … Continue reading →

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FIRST GRADE OPERA #1: Astronaut Alice and the Moon Aliens

Posted on April 25, 2015 by dannyashkenasi

ALICE: I told Lollipop I would never ever forget him or leave him and now he is gone.  I  can’t find him. DIGGER: Alice, we will find him together, just like we found the moon rocks. Don’t give up, we … Continue reading →

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