We are Philippe and Pamela and we are excited to be sharing this exciting chess themed integrated arts program with you. We will be highlight and animate the theatrical elements of a chess game through play and improvisation. Philippe Laurent is an engineer and chess tutor; you can find some of his work for Concepts in Chess. Pamela is an aerialist, musician and actor you can find a full-length theatrical Christmas Special and some musical performances.
We will be using chess as the storyboard for participant-directed theatrical exploration of game theory and creative story telling. There are components of dance, music, costume making, and storytelling.
Some materials we have found useful for our activities are:
On-hand art supplies for light prop / costume building (as students wish to create) some examples of chess headpiece and costume building materials are:
These activities are flexible and programming can be adapted to appropriate timelines ranging from 50 minutes to full day, full week or as an inquiry-based permanent exhibit.
We will be bringing the opportunity to explore an assortment of artistic disciplines; movement, music, strategy, character work, costume craft and design, composition and cinematography, and improvisation all connected with the game of Chess.
We open with options and explore what is of the most interest.
This brochure is intended to demonstrate what Chess Ballet Theatre has been offering to schools and their students during the 2023 school year. The proprietary rights to Chess Ballet Theatre and all program content thereof are owned by Steel The Sky and Concepts In Chess (Pamela Gardner and Philippe Laurent respectively). The funding and opportunity to develop the program has been graciously provided by HCA (Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts).
Chess Ballet Theatre has been offering a multi pronged program combining music, dance, and chess. Children are immersed in the magical world of “Glittering Leaf Forest”. Which is narrated by the Storyboard Conductor to be a place of joy, dance, music, song, and play. As the Storyboard Conductor introduces the children to Glittering Leaf Forest the Songsmith introduces musical undertones which prompt the Storyboard Conductor to tell the students about “The Forces of Shadow”.
The Forces of Shadow are usurpers who have infiltrated Glittering Leaf Forest to steal the joy, dance, music, song, and play. These dark forces, led by their own dark king, do not understand the eternal abundance of the forest. It is the task of the Storyboard Conductor and the Songsmith to take the students on a journey of discovery through the land of Glittering Leaf Forest that culminates in defeating and forgiving the King of the Forces of Shadow; making the forest whole again.
Here are some our operational documetns so far, as we refine the presentation of the development of our program: