Our third episode, “The New Kid in School,” is about inclusion. The episode is about two friends who encounter someone new in their dance studio. One friend wants to include her, the other refuses, worried that it will ruin their friendship. How many of us can relate to this, even as adults? Expanding our friend groups is a lifelong experience.
Our premiere party to accompany the release was an extension of the school assembly play that we wrote (with the same title) that has been successfully touring schools since 2012. The show includes a fictional story of how Alphabet Rockers became a band, similar to the web episode, which we premiered as a part of the play. We performed the “mash-up” of Dynamite in costumes from the episode, to oohs-and-aahs of the audience. After this scene, we wrote in our journals and Tommy shares that he has been bullied at school. We turn to the audience in a dramatic “freeze!” of the scene to hear from the audience how we can help him. Following the show, we had a “talk-back” with the audience to discuss empathy, kindness, and understanding. We concluded with a kid-led cypher, featuring our incredible kid stars from Dynamite and future music videos.
Thanks to:
- La Peña Cultural Center for hosting us – particularly Jocie for incredible sound/video support
- Julio Salcedo (Director) for coming up from LA to support the release!
- Our super fans from Destiny Arts for raising incredible young talent
- Harvardwood for a special grant to Kaitlin for her work in producing this event series
