June 14, 2024 – Saltaire Sounds visited Diggs-Latham Elementary Visual & Performing Arts A+ Magnet School to perform for first and second graders in an interactive concert. The group is comprised of eight performers, two actors, two dancers, and a string quartet. It is currently being directed by Marina Zurita.
All members of the group are alumni of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and many of them served in the ArtistCorps Program, so it was a nice reunion, according to musician Raphael Papo. The ArtistCorps Program utilizes the skills of UNCSA students and graduates to provide arts instruction, integration, and exposure to school-aged children and seniors in the Winston-Salem community. Members of Saltaire Sounds are now based in New York and Europe.
“The UNC School of the Arts and ArtistCorps Program have been a strong partner of ours for many years,” said Diggs-Latham Principal Dr. Cassandra Dobson. “We see how they significantly impact our students’ education by enhancing our A+ Magnet program, and it is awesome to see how these former ArtistCorps members are now successful in their artistic, musical careers.”
Saltaire Sounds were passing through Winston-Salem on their way to Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks. They have been invited for the second time to perform at the Ocrafolk Festival sponsored by Ocracoke Alive, a non-profit that encourages and sponsors cultural, artistic, educational, and environmental activities in the Ocracoke Island community.
“Ocrafolk Festival features musicians, storytellers, artisans, and characters of Ocracoke Island and beyond who come together for one incredible weekend of performances and fun,” according to Ocracoke Alive Executive Director David Tweedie and Ocracoke Alive President Desiree Ricker. “Ocrafolk Festival fans and audiences have been an integral part of our story, along with countless volunteers, performers, and supporters that we call family. Ocrafolk isn’t produced by an incorporated town or large corporation. This event is grassroots and happens only if everyone lends a hand.”
Saltaire Sounds created a project that aims to take inspiration from Ocracoke Island – its stories, people, music and fundamental nature. They will use the themes to bring a group of very different disciplines together to create a piece that is collectively devised and showcases each discipline in its own right.
For the performance at Diggs-Latham, they intended to show the students elements of the work, making it as interactive as possible for a seated audience. The concert became an integrated program that introduced students to the concept of an island and utilized sound and movement to reflect weather and nature in general. Performers added humor, story-telling, and even juggling to capture the students’ attention. The musicians and dancers showed the nature of their craft while also singing, playing, and dancing with movement and sound inspired by themes of an island.
Submitted by Amanda Gordon, Diggs-Latham Elementary School Magnet Coordinator