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Fana Soro is Masabo's Artist in Residence. He has years of classroom experience both in the Scandinavian school system and in Canada. Fana's goal throughout his classroom visits is to promote cross-cultural understanding, appreciation and respect. Fana believes that in order to achieve this goal, the arts must be integrated with academic learning. Fana has been Vancouver's most booked Artist in Residence through the Vancouver School Board.

In a Residence Program, Fana will make consecutive visits to the same classroom. Students will be introduced to the Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa through it's traditional music, dance and song. Fana arrives with 15 balafons, 15 djembés, an array of small hand-held percussion instruments and much pride for his culture. Each student will experience every instrument, learn a call and response song in a tribal language, and learn some basic elements of traditional West African dance. By the end of the Residency, the students will be able to perform a short traditional West African melody. The Residency can be delivered in French or English. Upon completion of a Residency, many schools have invited Fana and the Masabo to perform a school show in which the Residency classroom is invited on stage to accompany the group with the new skills they have learned - it has been hugely successful!

A Study Guide is available to the teachers of Residency classes to prepare them for Fana's visit and to provide resources for continued learning about the culture of Côte d'Ivoire in between Fana's visits.
Click here for Resource Links.

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAMS AVAILABLE:

 A Cultural Venture to Côte d'Ivoire

Une Aventure Culturelle en Côte d'Ivoire

A Cultural Venture to Côte d'Ivoire is an educational kit that supports an artist in residence program with Fana Soro, an Ivoirian musician, dancer and teacher who has shared his culture with thousands of children and youth in West Africa, Scandinavia, Asia and Canada. The kit contains an assortment of cultural items such as musical instruments, cowrie shells, mud cloth, a calabash and a traditional Gpelyé mask. All items come from the savannah region of northern Côte d'Ivoire and were handcrafted by the Senoufo, a people who settled the region bordering Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire.

Locally developed learning materials that accompany the kit have been piloted with a grade 8 enriched social studies class at Britannia Secondary School in Vancouver, BC. The series of 8 lessons places the Senoufo in their geographic and historical context, introduces their complex social and cultural traditions and identifies similarities and differences between Senoufo and Canadian society.

Some advance preparation by the teacher is essential before the students meet the artist. All resource materials must be read or, in the case of web sites, searched thoroughly and the teacher must be familiar with student worksheets. The first two introductory lessons on the geography of Africa and the history of West Africa are to be taught by the teacher alone. The artist then joins the unit in the third class, when the cultural features are presented. To implement the unit successfully, the teacher and artist must collaborate equally in the classroom - the teacher as learning facilitator and the artist as cultural presenter.

The active participation of the artist as a teaching partner is a requirement for students to fully understand the significance of the cultural items and appreciate their role in Senoufo society. Fana speaks knowledgeably about topics outside the common experience of Canadians, such as Poro, the rite of initiation for boys, and voodoo, a powerful belief system. He explains the everyday activities that are shown in slides of his village, demonstrates traditional musical instruments and teaches a simple dance. Most effective of all, Fana personifies the wisdom, creativity and industriousness that are the best attributes of the Senoufo people. Working with Fana in the classroom and seeing him engage students in an exploration of a hitherto unknown society provides teachers and their classes with a truly unique cultural venture to a distant land.

Valerie Dare (teacher) and Mary Filleul (teacher)

For more info please contact Valerie Dare at 604.713.8276or 604.251.1576 vdare@vsb.bc.ca

To print the Lesson Plan for a Cultural Venture click here: Français   English

Vancouver School Board Artist in Residence Program

• 1 - 1 hour Professional Development session with Artist and Teacher.
• 6 - 1 hour classroom visits by Artist.
• For bookings contact Peggy Bochun pbochun@vsb.bc.ca at the Vancouver School Board.

Artsmarts Grants for Artist in Residence Programs

Attention Teachers, Principals, District Coordinators, PAC's and Homelearners Programmers!

ArtsSmarts is the largest education initiative in Canada dedicated to improving the lives and learning capacity of Canadian children by injecting arts into academic programs. The importance of engaging young people in artistic activity is critical to their evolution as creative thinkers. It is they who will soon be leading Canada’s growth in terms of cultural, social and economic development. ArtsSmarts is offered to BC schools through ArtStarts in Schools. Sponsored by the JW McConnell Family Foundation. It provides schools with matching grants for young people to gain hands-on experience through artist-in-the-classroom activities that actively engage students in the art-making process. ArtsSmarts' main objectives are establishing long-term relationships between schools and local artists, and integrating the arts across the K-12 curriculum. ArtsSmarts provides up to 60% of the cost of eligible artists' expenses, with the school, the district and/or other sponsor providing the remaining 40%. Schools in the Kootenay area are funded up to 75% of eligible expenses. The maximum allocation of funds per school is $2,000. Sources of funding that do not qualify include the district's annual Artists in Education grants and/or student fees. Teachers, principals, district coordinators, PACs, and artists can apply for ArtsSmarts grants. Proposals are reviewed by an ArtStarts in Schools selection committee.

Each ArtsSmarts grant application must include:

• a completed application form
• an overview of the proposal with detailed information on the artist-in-the-classroom activities
• the curriculum integration and cross-curricular themes
• balanced budgets; résumé or curriculum vitae of the artist(s)
• a timeline for implementation.

Applicants are notified of the results, in writing, within six to eight weeks of the application deadline. If you are successful in obtaining a grant, you will receive information on the conditions of the grant with your notification letter. Successful applicants must submit final budgets and timelines before ArtsSmarts funds are released.

For information, contact asgrant@artstarts.com

Remote Artist in Residence Program

This program is designed for schools outside of the Vancouver area.

Artist will host a condensed Residency, spending 7.5 hours in class over a 5 day period, this equates to 1.5 hours of classroom instruction each day for the school week).

For more information contact Lisa Soro masabocc@shaw.ca

What the students are saying about Fana Soro, Artist in Residence.

• "I liked dancing, playing the instruments and singing. I liked the way we moved our heads. I think you are lucky to teach it. I hope you come back" - Alana, Cook Elementary.
• " I had a lot of fun with you. I hope you had fun with us. I liked playing the balafon best" - Fionna, Shaughnessy Elementary
• "My favorite activity was playing the instruments. And my favorite instrument was the drum. And I think that is was nice to be with you" - Eli, Britannia Elementary.
• "I had a lot of fun with you. I will miss you when you leave. I especially liked the balafon. I wish you could work with us forever" - Amy, Seymore Elementary.

For teacher reference contact:

• Yvette Cassidy at Britannia Elementary (604) 713-4497
• Charmian Bland at Cook Elementary at (604) 713-4828
• Eric Hartman at Shaughnessy Elementary (604) 713-5500
• Paul Nicholls at Dickens Elementary (604) 713-5392
• Robin Holburn at Tupper Secondary (604) 874-9131

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