Beastmaster, the Reptile Experience - Bill Styer

Bill Styer has been presenting his "educational and entertaining live reptile show to amaze all ages for many years. The animal's geography, habitat, feed and care will be detailed as each creature is presented, and an opportunity to touch or hold a snake is offered. Each (45) minute program may include (1) classroom visit. This should be a visit of 10-15 minutes before the program.

ACTIVITY: Animal Appreciation/Demonstration.

Blue Sky Puppet Theatre

Unique, exciting, educational performances that combine puppets, sing along music and humor. "The Barker of Seville", "Tree House", "Phase Shifters" and others teach the students cooperation, diversity and perseverance.

Randy James Dance Works - Dance For Joy

As a recipient of the New Jersey Governor's Award for Arts Education, they take a fresh and bold approach to modern dance. Join the experience of the athletics and emotions of the moving world guided by the dancer improvisation. Traditions, communications  and ethnicity are explored along with lessons in how common gestures can become dance movements.

Rhonda Robinson Jazz Quartet

This lively quartet involves their audiences in the history of jazz musicians, composers & compositions as well as the relationship to the evolution of musical theatre, particularly African-American.

Hats Off To America - Ray Owen

Ray Owen, national recording artist and candidate for Grammy nomination presents, "Hats Off to America, an award winning musical journey through history, full of rousing songs, stories, history, heritage, humor, theatre and wide-eyed surprises. Travel on a tuneful adventure equipped with guitar, banjo, concertina, and lots of harmonicas, not to mention a mountainous hat rack of dramatic period hats with a crew of colorful characters that step right out of history and on to the stage, pulling you into a world of fun.

ACTIVITY: Folk Music and Storytelling

ImagiMIME - Will Maxey & David Geyer

ImagiMIME is an auditorium of delight ... laughter ... and high energy. Classical mime - white face, illusion and music - is skillfully blended with contemporary theatre - characters, props and audience participation. The result is excellence in education and performance. ImagiMIME adapts their 45 minute performances to the audiences. During a preshow with the preschool and kindergarten classes, David and Darrah meet with the young students to share their change to white face as well as showing the costumes, props and masks used during the assembly. Young adults are challenged with energetic celebrations of the human spirit. .. And ImagiMIME is perfect for non-English speaking students.

ACTIVITY: Movement Theatre

JAZZ interactions - Damon Foreman Trio

Jazz Interactions provides a comprehensive view of the history of jazz, America's Music from its early roots in the Louisiana Delta, through the Big Band Era, on to be-bop, and into Jazz-Rock Fusion. The renowned Damon Foreman Trio performs examples of each type of music. This group is perfect for all ages. Workshops are available.

ACTIVITY: Music Performance

Eagle Warrior

Eagle Warrior, an Eastern Lenape (or Delaware) Indian, presents his unique program of Native American culture, history and tales interspersed with his haunting flute music performed in Traditional American Indian style. He separates the myth from the fact and brings this important part of American history into the present.

John The Wizzz - Magic & Puppet Show Messages

John the Wizzz presents a comedy magic and puppet show that includes ventriloquism and live animals. His training as a teacher helps him make each show meaningful as well as fun and entertaining.

ACTIVITY: Magic & Puppetry

A Tarantella of Tales

Terri Mastrobuono, actress, storyteller, mime, and folklorist, weaves tales drawn from the vibrant folklore of Italian culture. With her inimitable animated style, Terri’s stories create a rich tapestry of mime, the spoken word, and inventive audience interaction. They are culled from authentic folklore sources and incorporate literary tradition and cultural understanding into themes that illuminate the comedy arising from our common human foibles.

Maxey Mime - Will Maxey

Mime, masks, monologues, music and mayhem are used to introduce the principles of movement theatre and expression. Will Maxey brings his years of experience to the stage for an intimate and entertaining look at an old art form.

ACTIVITY: Traditional Mime

Nicolo Whimsey

The Nicolo Whimsey Show combines juggling, music, comedy, character acting, pantomime, circus skills, poetry and audience participation in a variety arts extravaganza that thrills students and teachers alike, while heightening their appreciation for the visual, verbal and musical arts. Students participate enthusiastically in the performance and emerge inspired to use their imaginations in their own creative activities.

ACTIVITY: Circus Skills

Opportunity Is Everywhere

Opportunity is Everywhere - Especially for Children-is an upbeat presentation that combines a motivational story with music. Students learn about conflict resolution, drug prevention and affirmation for enhancing self-esteem. Students will have an opportunity to participate in the musical portion of the presentation, play percussion instruments and enjoy the musical performance.

ACTIVITY: Motivational Speaker

Rising Above - Michael Aronin

Take a hilarious but highly inspirational looks at the world through Michael's eyes, and learn how you too can reach your full potential in life. His program spans a wide range of topics. Michael's goal remains to educate his audience about the needs of the disabled and also their desire to be accepted into the mainstream of society. After leaving his audience gasping for breath, he takes a more serious tone, recounting his own childhood growing up with Cerebral Palsy in an able-bodied world.

ACTIVITY: Motivational Speaker

The Loud Poetry Guy

Fast funny poetry readings and story readings from works of today's best-known writers to new and original goodies.

ACTIVITY: Poetry & Storytelling

The Bluesman

The blues is the foundation of all popular music being played today. Uniquely American, this music style thrills the world. B.B. King protégé Damon Foreman delights audiences with his informative interactive program, using his guitar and vocal skills to tell the story of how the blues was the psychotherapy of the 1800's, how, when bad things happened, you dealt with them through songs, and how blues was a secret language that only some people knew about. Audiences keep the rhythm by clapping hands, and through call and response, which dates back to ancient Africa.

Barry Louis Polisar

Not Just An Author Visit Barry Louis Polisar is four time Parent's Choice Award winner as well as a winner
of the MD Library Association's award for his "ability to communicate with and excite children to read." Barry performs in schools and libraries nationwide and has performed at the white House, The Smithsonian and The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Barry's program is part musical concert, part poetry reading, part author visit. Barry talks about his books and how he came to write then, sings his songs and also recites his poems as part of the presentation designed to inspire children to read and write. Barry can also present "writer's workshops" where students can "meet the author" and ask him questions about his songs, poems, books, and manuscripts in progress. Barry brings in not only his finished books, but also copies of his marked up "rough drafts" for the students to
see.

Recommended for grades K-6

Big Ideas

Patricia Shih is a multi-award winning singer-songwriter, recording artist and television personality. She offers 15 different concerts for all ages: Disabilities, The environment, The Family, Freedom (Social justice and human rights), Halloween, The Holidays (Christmas, Chanukah, & Kwanzaa), Kindness, Literacy and Love of Learning, Nonviolence & Cooperation, Multiculturalism and Differences, Safety (substance and child abuse prevention), Self-esteem, Women in History, Back to School – Learning is Cool! And the Best of Big Ideas. All audience participation may include spontaneous songwriting, sign language, singing, movement, theatre, and “guest starring”. Styles include folk, rock, country, rap, storytelling and poetry. Themes may be mixed. Patricia plays with electric & acoustic guitars; first accompanist is a guitarist/bassist; second is a drummer/percussionist.