Workshops for Grades K-8

Little Dragons (Ages 4-6, Pre-K, K, Grade 1): This special series of workshops is developed with our youngest performers in mind…Through singing, movement, games, and stories, these workshops nurture and encourage children’s love of play. The stories become adventures brought to life, interwoven with traditional songs, dances, and games. Each session stresses teamwork, cooperation, and mutual respect, while also encouraging individual expression.

Hobby Horses (Ages 7-8, Grades 2-3): In these workshops, students use their whole body, natural curiosity, and creativity to explore music, dance, and drama through traditions, songs, stories, and crafts according to the changing seasons. Emphasis is on encouraging use of the imagination while developing performance skills in a comfortable setting. Perfect for kids who like to play and explore all the arts.

Jesters (Ages 9-11, Grades 4-6): Dragons, villains, jesters, and more…The workshops are action-packed and performance-based, where students continue to explore the theatre through traditional stories and plays. Students read and write scripts, create characters, and produce skits based on broadly played characters and outlandish or mythical situations. A riot of fun and imagination!

New! Revelers (Ages 12-14, Grades 7-8): These workshops delve into exactly what makes a Revels experience so special, through fun activities that take them into the inner workings: Both onstage and off! Special Guests from Revels creative team will share the art of song leading, coordinating over a hundred people backstage, and how we combine singing, dancing, audience participation, and acting into a one-of-a-kind Revels event. For your favorite future directors, stage managers, designers, and artists… it’s time to build a Revels!

Workshops for the 2014-2015 School Year

Registration for Fall 2014 Workshops is now open. Register now!

Little Dragons with Teaching Artist Oran Sandel (Ages 4-6, Pre-K, K, Grade 1)
Fridays 4-5:30pm: August 29 – November 7 and 14 (no workshop September 5 and October 31) – $300

Hobby Horses with Teaching Artist Emilie Moore (Ages 7-8, Grades 2-3)
Mondays 4-5:30pm: September 8 – November 10 and 14 (no workshop October 13) – $300

Jesters with Teaching Artist Danny Pushkin (Ages 9-11, Grades 4-6)
Thursdays 4-5:30pm: September 11 – November 13 and 14 (no workshop September 25) – $300

Revelers with Teaching Artist Danny Pushkin (Ages 12-14, Grades 7-8)
Tuesdays 3:30-5pm: September 9 – November 11 and 14 (no workshop November 4) – $300

» At the end of each season all classes come together for a sharing of material with each other and parents.
The Fall 2014 Sharing will be held on Friday, November 14.

» Classes are all held at the Washington Revels Office, 531 Dale Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20910
If you have questions about the workshops please call 301-587-3835.

Before Care is available for all age ranges. Times and pricing are available on the registration form.
Check back here for Winter 2015 dates, to be posted this fall.

Little Dragons with Teaching Artist Oran Sandel (Ages 4-6, Pre-K, K, Grade 1)
Fridays 4-5:30pm

Hobby Horses with Teaching Artist Emilie Moore (Ages 7-8, Grades 2-3)
Mondays 4-5:30pm

Jesters with Teaching Artist Danny Pushkin (Ages 9-11, Grades 4-6)
Thursdays 4-5:30pm

Revelers with Teaching Artist Danny Pushkin (Ages 12-14, Grades 7-8)
Tuesdays 3:30-5pm

TEACHING ARTISTS

Our workshop leaders are skilled in multiple performing arts disciplines, both as talented performers and as gifted teachers. Emphasis is placed on helping youth to actively engage in the creative process, to gain performing skills and confidence, and to develop a deeper understanding of cultural traditions – all while having fun!

EMILIE MOORE
A Reveler since childhood, Emilie Moore has grown up with a foundation of traditional music, dance and drama, and of course a delightfully large and loving Revels family. She helped inaugurate the Education Workshops in 2010 as the assistant and coordinator of all three classes, a role she maintained through the next two years. She continued to work more intensely with the 2nd-3rd Workshop, assisting Emma Jaster and co-teaching with Danny Pushkin, coupled with being the on-call substitute for all other workshops. Accompanying her experience in the land of education, she has worn many hats in the Revels community, both onstage and off. From Production Assistant, to Props Crew, to May Queen, she has tried it all! She has stage managed the children’s chorus for many years, working closely with the children’s directors in both May and Christmas. Wherever there are children in Revels, you will find Emilie there, too! Since 1997 she has been fully immersed in the kinds of seasonal celebrations that form the core of Revels and are the bedrock of the education programs. She is passionate about educating the next generation, but more importantly doing so surrounded by the joy, health, love and peace that encompass Revels.

DANNY PUSHKIN
A native Washingtonian and performer specializing in very physical theater, Pushkin is passionately engrossed in the study of ritual theater traditions and the cultural role of fools. Danny was last on stage with The Christmas Revels in 2010, as Parson Maybold in a production based on Thomas Hardy’s Under the Greenwood Tree. He is also an Associate Company Member of Synetic Theater, where he last performed in Antony & Cleopatra. In his other life Danny writes, directs, produces and performs in musicals and theater for young audiences. He is a Resident Artist at Adventure Theatre, where he recently appeared in Serge Seiden’s production of Charlotte’s Web. Danny is also a teaching artist in Washington Revels’ after-school workshops. Danny’s puppet musical, Pascal’s Aquarium, was recently presented to critical acclaim at the Capital Fringe Festival.

ORAN SANDEL
While you may recognize Oran Sandel from many years on the Washington Revels stage, Oran has been a teaching artist in the Washington area for 34 years. 23 of those years were spent with Arena Stage’s Living Stage, working with underserved youth of the DC area. After Living Stage, he spent six years as a lead trainer with the Shakespeare Theatre’s Classics in the Classroom teacher training program. He has been trained in arts integration with the A+ Schools Program (Greensborough) and the Kennedy Center, and is fully versed in aligning lessons to the National Standards, as well as the Standards for many states. By integrating arts with curriculum, he enlivens the process for all students, helping them to retain information by increasing the relevancy of the curriculum to their lives. In the field of Early Childhood Education, Oran co-created, with Living Stage founder Robert Alexander, the Children First preschool teachers’ training. At present, he is a regular visiting play specialist at Amazing Life Games Preschool, a consultant with the Early Childhood division at Centronia, and a teaching artist with Adventure Theater.