Garri Dance Studio, located in Burbank, was founded in 1958 by Peg Garri. Peg was a talented, well-rounded dancer who worked as an MGM Stock Dancer alongside popular entertainers such as Shirley Temple and Donald O’Connor. Now in their seventh decade, Garri Dance Studio has provided opportunities for students of all ages to participate in quality performing arts classes. GDS has earned the Burbank’s “Best Dance Studio” Award continuously since 2007 according to the Burbank Leader Reader's Choice Poll.
GDS is an enrollment studio, running on an academic calendar with a year end, fully costumed stage performance every June. Dance, music and musical theatre lessons are offered for all ages and levels, toddler through adult, beginners to advanced students. Dance classes include ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, musical theatre, hip hop, contemporary & mommy and me. Piano, voice and guitar lessons are also offered. Teaching staff is made up of a diverse group of choreographers and dance educators with a wide range of experience from professional dance company members to industry professionals.
In 2002, under the artistic direction of Megan Baade (also voted “Best Dance Teacher” by the Burbank Leader Reader’s Choice Poll), curriculum was expanded to incorporate the Visual & Performing Arts Standards for off-site dance programs. For over a decade, Garri Dance Studio has partnered with many Burbank Unified Schools offering customized After School Programs, Artist in Residencies both in person and virtual, as well as Professional Development Workshops for BUSD Staff. Through its BUSD partnerships, Garri Dance Studio has continually sponsored Burbank Unified Students each year, currently almost $7,000 per year, and growing.
Garri Dance Studio is conveniently located in the heart of the beautiful Magnolia Park District in Burbank. Thoughtfully designed and renovated to better suit the needs of its growing student base, the studio offers three dance rooms with sprung wood dance floors, exposed brick, natural light, high beam ceilings, ballet barres and mirrors.
Kaila Troncoso, is a ceramics instructor for elementary aged students, who loves working with children and creating spaces where they can grow and express themselves. During her Speech Language Pathology Assistant studies at Pasadena City College, discovered ceramics and saw how naturally it is connected to social-emotional learning and fine motor development. Blending these interests led her to teaching ceramics today. She creates engaging, developmentally appropriate art experiences for elementary aged students, designing hands-on lessons that build skills, spark creativity, and foster confidence. "I love watching young artists create something out of absolutely nothing."
At the class, the kids will all be making pinch pots and practicing the clay basics. For their final projects, each grade will have a different project. In all other weeks they will be learning the fundamentals of ceramics.
2nd Grade Curriculum
Elisa Evans/ Mushroom House Productions - Drama/Theatre
All children deserve to be self-expressive, creative, and self-confident. The Arts is a main tool to foster this. Theatre empowers children to use their voice, body, and creative instincts. These are skills that will help them all through life, whether it’s public speaking, working with a team, or being adaptable.
Students will be learning about different theatre skills each week.
Intro to Theatre- from the Greeks to Contemporary- a quick overview.
Actors Tools- Voice & Body Movement.
Characters- understanding Character Development.
Ensemble- working as a team on stage.
Setting.
Tableau- Stage Blocking.
Improvisation.
Sense Memory- how our senses inform us and how we use them as Artists.
Writing- students will develop their own characters and use writing throughout as a means of self expression.
Ms Evans' background is in Theatre, Film, and Education. She has a B.A. in Theatre Arts from CSUF and a Certified Teaching Credential through the State of California. She also is a Yoga Certified and a former dancer and began choreographing Children’s Theatre at Fullerton College when I was just 19 years old. She has taught Kindergarten, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade and Theatre for LAUSD, Language in Play (an After-school Writing and Acting program for ESL students) through East LA Classic Theatre, and even an after-school Improv class at Robert L. Stevenson in Burbank.
In addition, she has over 30 years experience in the Entertainment Industry in all avenues of Acting, Sketch Comedy, Improv, Writing, Directing, Producing, Theatre, Film/TV, and Market Research.
3rd Grade Curriculum
PS Science - STEAM
PS Science is a local non-profit organization dedicated to helping elementary classrooms joyfully explore engaging hands-on science. PS Science believes:
Experiencing science in a fun, engaging, and personally relevant way inelementary years leads students to a positive life-long affect towardscience.
Through practicing the processes of science, students elevate their criticalthinking and become more conscious learners.
By connecting families to the science learning happening in school, student’s see that science occurs in the world, not just in a classroom.
With support and mentorship, elementary school teachers can deliver joyful, inquiry-based science in their classrooms.
The PS Science STEAM program for the RL Stevenson 3rd grade classrooms this spring will allow students opportunities to employ their creativity and develop critical thinking to understand science and engineering core ideas and solve engineering problems.
4th Grade Curriculum
The Art Room - Jenna Macho - Art
The Art Room in Schools program highlights five artists each year spanning many artistic movements and time periods. This year, we'll teach about four artists at Stevenson (time being the restraint there)- Hockney, Mondrian, Amy Sherald, and Da Vinci! We'll learn about painting with tempera, watercolor and crayon resist, pencil sketching in the style of Da Vinci, and clay and glazing techniques. Our focus is always to teach foundational skills (like the elements of art and the principles of design) within the context of famous artists. We believe that exposure to all types of art and mediums helps young artists explore the visual arts in a stress-free environment.
Ms. Jenna Macho, a BUSD alum and credentialed teacher, will be heading The Art Room in Schools program at Stevenson this year! She is the owner of The Art Room in Glendale and heads most of the programming in Schools through the studio.
5th Grade Curriculum
Andrew Grueschow - Music Scoring
Andrew Grueschow is a LA based percussionist with an interest in music the world over. He has traveled to Ghana, West Africa several times. Studying the music of the Ewe and the Dagombas, and recording traditional drumming for Zadonu Records. Andrew is a faculty member at California Institute of Arts, where he teaches in the African Music and Dance department and the World Percussion department. For the last 20 years Andrew has been teaching percussion based workshops. Often focusing on the music of Ghana and composition/performance of original works, in schools throughout Southern California for the Music Center Education Division, Segerstorm Center for the Performing Arts, LA County Office of Education, and Los Angeles Philharmonic.
He has been actively involved in curriculum and lesson plan development for all of the arts institutions he is affiliated with. Andrew has extensive experience leading teacher professional development with the Music Center, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and special projects such as the Music Learning National Consortium LLSN & Technology Enhanced Arts Learning TEAL. "Scoring a Story" These student workshops will empower students to score a story. Students will create their own patterns, and make choices about the elements of music to create their own original music that will pair with a story that is appropriate for their grade level. We will work as a large group to practice ideas, and then do independent creative work in small groups, scoring individual parts of the story. The small group work gives us a chance to engage many of the speaking and listening aspects of common core, and as students are making choices about their musical elements, they will be asked to show evidence in the text of their story to drive their musical choices. All aspects of the VAPA music standards are covered, as students engage the playing of music, but also the literacy of music (reading and writing their own patterns). Along with the focus of building student’s musical skill, teachers will also gain understanding of the social-personal development that music making can facilitate (focus, teamwork, listening, etc.), and integrating through parallel processes between music and other curriculum areas (tracking, decoding…).
Please consider donating to the Family Giving Campaign so we can keep programs like these at our school. Click below to get information on this campaign, including our benefit levels.
All of the following programs and events were funded by your contributions to Families For Stevenson… including a unique arts curriculum for EVERY grade.
In School Arts Education Classes
Music for TK, Kindergarten and 1st grade (12 Weeks)
Musical Theatre for 2nd Grade (10 Weeks)
Visual Arts for 3rd Grade (10 Weeks)
TBD for 4th Grade (10 Weeks)
Musical Scoring for 5th Grade (10 Weeks)
Technology/Classroom Programs
Stem Lab Upgrades
AV Equipment for the Auditorium
Teacher Support Fund (in-classroom necessities)
Librarian Lunch Hour
In-School Field Trip (4th & 5th Grade)
FFS Events
Snow Glow Dance Party
All Grades Dance Performance
Winter Auction
Student Talent Show
Stevenson Rocks! (Spring Carnival)
5th Grade Field Day
Click HERE for more information on this year's events.
For more information about Families for Stevenson, please email: [email protected].
