Soundscapes Community Outreach Program

Youth Outreach

Mark Jackson and Rebecca Caron were a part of the Taos Municipal Schools Elementary Arts Visiting Artist Program again this year. The program has been conceived and developed by Tanya Vigil, the Visiting Artist Coordinator for our schools; we thank her for the privilege of including us for over a decade!

This school year project was a welcome return to in person learning in our schools after a long Covid-19 hiatus. The Elementary Arts Theater Company Project is a collaborative project; Mark Jackson and Rebecca Caron, of Taos Soundscapes, were privileged to be part of this remarkable educational experience. This School year we worked with the 3rd grade classes of Liz Gilroy at Arroyos del Norte Elementary and Gwendolyn Countryman at Ranchos de Taos Elementary.

Author Casandra Romero wrote a bilingual play, “La Tormenta de Taos”. The play opens with a frightening storm illustrated by a wind swept dance, a metaphor for Covid-19 and other disruptive events that upset the rhythm and flow of our lives, our connection with the earth and each other. This gave our participants the opportunity to discuss and process the impact of Covid 19 on their lives. It also emphasized the important information we can gain from different cultures and engenders respect for the wisdom that can be shared amongst all of us.

Rebecca Caron, Soundscapes Artistic Director and Cellist was the Project Manager and Musical Coordinator. She selected traditional melodies and arranged them; she wrote Spanish lyrics, set to the tunes, that reinforced the lessons about self care learned by a young conejita (rabbit) as she traveled to various animal communities. She returned home to her Conejo family after she gleaned wisdom from other animal communities: las abejas / the bees taught wise harvesting from our land and good nutrition (song 7 dance) , Truchas/ Trout taught hydration from clean water, (dance only), Tecolote / Owls taking deep breaths to calm and center our selves, Los Lobos / Wolves taught about making sure to get enough regenerative sleep and tEl Gran Venado / the Great Wise Deer emphasized how important it is to stay connected to the land. Rebecca also played along with the students while they learned their songs and dances and when they performed.

Mark Jackson, Taos Soundscapes President and Baritone was the Choral Director for the project and did a brilliant job as their sing instructor and conductor. He was also the Swiss Army knife of all colleagues, pitching in to help with dance instruction, props and more!

Amber Vasquez showed her gift in choreography for illustrating the music and the story with dance; she managed to capture the way the animals move and the spirit of each piece of music. She seems to always create interesting, age appropriate dances that meet the children where their capabilities are as she nudges them forward. She and Casandra really have their fingers on the pulse of the community and have a magical way of relating to children.

I was so proud of the way everyone worked together to create a wonderful community of learning and to share how performances can tell stories, communicate and heal. Life is a performance and these arts build the confidence in individuals to be artists with their lives.

The project culminated with 2 performances at the Philip Bareiss Gallery on Saturday, May 14, 2022 that were paired with an exhibit of student art work created during this years’ Visiting Artist Program.

The project is also incorporated into a bilingual book edited by Teresa Dovelpage that includes a children’s storybook version of “La Tormenta de Taos” along with the script of the play. Ursula Salazar’s class at Enos Garcia Elementary school illustrated the book under the guidance of Maye Torres, another one of our tremendously gifted Taos Artists.

There will be a book signing event Monday, July 11, noon-2 p.m. on the Taos Plaza with Taos Mayor Pascual and special visiting artist and South Africa-born, award-winning jazz singer and composer. This is also a free event, please come join us to celebrate the work of our gifted students!

“La Tormenta de Taos” was also part of the NMPED Datacasting Pilot program which allows families to bring digital learning into their homes and relays content through broadcast signals. Thanks to DART (Digital Action Research Teams), this project will be available in every library in New Mexico as an e-book. The system was also used to share instructional videos for the songs and dances we taught so students could practice when we weren’t there.

You can read more about this project and enjoy some photos from our classroom time and the performance in the “Tempo” section of THE TAOS NEWS, May 12-18 and June 30-July 26 of 2022.

Taos teachers, students and artists create ‘La Tormenta de Taos’

Visiting Artists open students’ pathways to creativity: Once again, Taos Municipal Schools made the students’ creative talents shine

All Taos Soundscapes events are free to children 12 and under, when accompanied by an adult!