the faculty
Dr. Pogonowski is in her 20th year at Teachers College. Among her teaching responsibilities are courses in musical creativity and problem solving, comprehensive musicianship, and interdisciplinary studies that relate to the work of the Creative Arts Laboratory (CAL). Throughout her career, she has appeared as a clinician for Professional Development Workshops nationally and abroad. She is the first person in her field to define metacognition as a dimension of musical thinking .
She has written numerous articles and chapters on issues of teaching and learning music. Recently published is an article "Manhattanville Music Curriculum Project: A Personal Retrospective" which appears in the July 2001 Music Educators Journal. Dr. Pogonowski contributed a chapter titled "Contextual Teaching and Learning in Music" published in 2002 by the Music Educators National Conference in a book entitled Dimensions of Musical Thinking in Learning and Teaching edited by Eunice Boardman, former director of the Graduate Program in Music Education at the University of Illinois.
She has served on the editorial boards of the Music Educators Journal and General Music Today. Dr. Pogonowski was national chair of the Special Research Interest Group (SRIG) in Creativity for eight years. In addition to her responsibilities as a full-time faculty member, Dr Pogonowski provides artistic and educational leadership for CAL, teaching 20-30 workshops per year for arts specialists and classroom teachers who participate in CAL.
Mr. Swift received his BFA of Sculpture and Art Ed. at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He went on to get his MFA in Sculpture at Maryland Institute's College of Art at the Rhinehart School of Sculpture and his Ed.M of Art and Art Education from Teachers College, where he teaches Sculpture. For 10 years he has taught, as well as written and coordinated curriculum at UNC in Greensboro for Arts and Sciences Camp. Jason also taught in both public and private schools in North Carolina. He was an Artist in Residence at the Maryland Institute's College of Art and he still makes and exhibits his own art.
Ms. LaRue holds an M.A. in Dance and Dance Education from Teachers College Columbia University. She has been on the faculty of the Teachers College Creative Arts Laboratory since 1995, working with educators and K-12 students in New York City Public Schools to integrate the arts with the core curriculum. Ms. LaRue finds that by giving students opportunities to explore or examine subjects through their kinesthetic and sensory modalities they become more invested in their studies. Kim LaRue's background includes performance and choreography for numerous musical theater productions, character roles in ballet productions, improvisational performance projects in museums, galleries, and out-of-doors, and commercial choreography for special events in Texas and New York. She has taught dance workshops in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Connecticut, and Europe. Ms. LaRue teaches at Steps on Broadway and is on the faculty of the professional division at the Ailey School working with Fordham University/B.F.A. students and New School/M.F.A. students from The Actors Studio. Kim LaRue is the owner/director of the Bridge for Dance Studios on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The Bridge offers a wide variety of dance classes for both children and adults. She also produces the Uptown Performance Series, a venue for choreographers and dancers. Her company, Contemporary Rhythms/Jazz-Tap Ensemble has performed at many events in the New York City Area. Bridge for Dance (http://www.bridgefordance.com).
Rona Leventhal (Storytelling) is a Storyteller, Certified Teacher, Environmental Educator, and Specialist of Improvisational Theatre and Movement, Integrating-the-Arts-into-the-Curriculum, and Team Building Games is an exuberant artist who has gained repute as a cornucopia of voices, characters, and cultural accents. She infuses a dramatic touch into tales from many cultures, giving us insights on how to live more clearly with ourselves, others, and the earth. Her performances are far more than just stories, beautifully weaving together drama, movement, songs, and humor, encouraging audience participation, and creating a joyful sense of community! Whether in the schools or in a public forum, Rona has the ability to communicate with the audience in a way that effectively imparts a message in a captivating and entertaining fashion. Rona is applauded for her warm and enthusiastic spirit, supportive nature, and inspiring talent. An ecclectic educator, Rona is deeply committed to working with teachers and their curricula goals in using storytelling, story creating, improvisational theatre and movement, and other art forms as media to develop the imagination… an essential component, she believes, to inquiring and creative minds. She is also passionate about bringing literacy to students an an exciting, motivational, and accessible way. She tours internationally, telling stories and presenting workshops and school residencies, to children and adults, and keynote addresses at professional conferences. She teaches Storytelling to teachers as an Adjunct Faculty with Lesley University (Cambridge, MA) and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and is recognized for her artistry by the Massachusetts, Alaskan, Utah, and NY (BOCES) Arts Councils and the New England Touring Roster (funding available). Rona is Co-Editor of the book Spinning tales, Weaving Hope: Stories of Peace, Justice, and the Environment (New Society Publishers). It’s a wonderful collection of stories with follow-up activities, and is age and subject indexed. The new edition is now available and contains a new chapter on the benefits of storytelling in education, co-wrote by Rona Leventhal and Katie Green. Special programs include a commissioned piece, "Degas and the Little Dancer: A story-theater Show” about Degas and the creation of his famous statue The Little Dancer of Fourteen Years. Up-coming projects include a tape of environmental stories and songs, a living history program on 1800's abolitionism, and a book entitled, The Power of Imagination: Teaching to Creative Minds.
Mr. César Rodríguez is an accomplished videographer and award winning multimedia artist currently residing in New York City. His work reflects a profound belief in the power of artistic collaboration. Mr. Rodríguez's extensive teaching experience expands accross several continents and age groups.
To learn more about one of Mr. Rodríguez's installations, please visit: http://www.lasdosmentiras.8m.com.