The Cal Performances Classroom (K–12)
The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been concealed by the answers. — James Baldwin
At Cal Performances, we believe that the arts are essential to every child’s development and that regular participation in the arts leads to lifelong arts engagement. Through the performing arts we discover diverse cultures and perspectives, gain insight into complex subjects and ideas, ignite our curiosity, and become inspired to explore our own creativity. While the arts connect fluidly with curriculum, even more meaningfully they connect us to one another through experiences that strengthen our empathy, and celebrate our common humanity.
Each season at Cal Performances, you will find a menu of compelling, world-class performances for any age. For SchoolTime, several artists on our season offer specially designed one-hour versions of music, dance, circus arts, and theater performances that highlight the dynamism, yet retain the richness and depth of their mainstage performances.
We also work with master teaching artists and educators to provide resources to effectively integrate the arts into your classroom, including engagement guides for each performance, teacher workshops, and in-class residencies (offered through our Berkeley Unified School District middle school partnership.)
You can create your Cal Performances classroom through our programs for grades K–12:
SchoolTime Performances: Four of our regularly scheduled performances are reprised for K–12 students in one-hour performances during the school day.
K–12 Engagement Guides: Tailored for each SchoolTime show, engagement guides explore a performance’s art form, themes, cultural and historical context, and curricular connections, and provide project-based learning activities, guided reflection, and artistic tools and resources to encourage personal and meaningful connections with the performing arts.
Teacher Workshops: Three-hour immersions into a performance’s artistic concepts and the performing artists’ creative process, scheduled approximately three weeks before a SchoolTime Performance to give you plenty of time to engage your students in preparation for seeing the performance.
AileyCamp: A tuition-free six-week summer program inspired by Alvin Ailey and fully funded and run by Cal Performances.
2023–24 Season SchoolTime Matinee Performances
Performances take place at 11am in Zellerbach Hall (or other venues as listed) on the UC Berkeley campus, and serve kindergarten through high school students. Seats are $10 each.
Urban Bush Women: Hair & Other Stories
Grades 6–12
Thu, Nov 30, 2023 / 11am–12pm
The remarkable Brooklyn-based performance ensemble Urban Bush Women presents a dance-theater work developed from personal narratives that explores race, identity, and concepts of beauty through the lens of Black women’s hair. “The Urban Bush Women are committed, triple-threat performers who dance, sing, and act with a sometimes searing sense of truthfulness.” (The New York Times)
OKAN
Grades K–12
Tue, Mar 5, 2024 / 11am–12pm
Named for the word for “heart” in the Afro-Cuban religious practice of Santeria, OKAN fuses its Afro-Cuban roots with American jazz, Dominican merengue, Brazilian samba, and folk music from across the globe in powerful songs about immigration, courage, and love. “OKAN crafts jazzy, heady grooves informed by Afro-Cuban culture and a world of sound.” (Chicago Reader)
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Grades K–12
Fri, Apr 5, 2024 / 11am–12pm
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns, its magnificent dancers bringing to life classic masterpieces and exuberant new works. Steeped in the sounds of jazz, blues, and hip-hop, the Ailey repertory celebrates the Black American experience, offering music and movement as expressions of pure joy and as opportunities for reflection and resistance.
Special opportunity for non-educators!
As this performance falls during several districts’ holiday week, families, and organizations with groups of 10 or more are invited to submit orders.
Drum Tao: 30th Anniversary Tour
Grades K–12
Fri, Apr 12, 2024 / 11am–12pm
A feast for the eyes and ears, Drum Tao’s mesmerizing productions combine thunderous traditional taiko drumming with dazzling staging, theatrical costumes, and dramatic lighting effects. Flute, marimba, and harp are added to the drum ensemble for dramatic effects, and high-octane choreography brings fresh new energy to this centuries-old Japanese art form.
Angélique Kidjo
Grades K–12
Thu, Apr 25, 2024 / 11am–12pm
Over the past four decades, Angélique Kidjo has become one of the most adventurous and compelling artists on the international pop music scene. The five-time Grammy winner makes connections across genres, generations, and geopolitical boundaries, raising her clarion voice and electrifying, eclectic musical vision to address complex subject matter through radiantly joyful music. Throughout all this, “Kidjo’s voice is constant, an instrument of such power and clarity that it sounds equally capable of polishing glass or announcing Judgment Day” (The New Yorker).
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some of our most frequently asked questions. If you have a question that isn’t answered here, please feel free to reach out to Rica Anderson, our Education and Community Programs Manager at randerson@calperformances.org.
K–12 Engagement Guides
The practice of good teaching and learning aligns with rigorous artistic inquiry, and you’ll be able to guide your students step-by-step through an artistic challenge that will introduce them to creative thinking and problem-solving similar to that of the working artist. Each engagement guide includes project-based learning, reflection and frames for making personal and meaningful connections to the work of art. Engagement Guides are posted 3 weeks before the SchoolTime Performances so you have time to prepare yourself and your classroom for a deeper experience. Check here for updated materials 3 weeks before the performance date.
AileyCamp
AileyCamp celebrates 20 years in 2022!
2022 marks our 20th anniversary of offering Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp to the Bay Area community! This year, we’re excited to invite AileyCampers back to the UC Berkeley campus to experience this rigorous and joyful six-week camp in-person, and to perform their Finale show in Zellerbach Hall.
Please contact us at aileycamp@calperformances.org, or (510) 642-4630 for more information.
Support for the Cal Performances Classroom is provided by the California Arts Council, a state agency; the Bernard E. & Alba Witkin Charitable Foundation; and generous individuals.