Dear Educator:

Class Acts performances are provided as a public service of the Sampson CenterStage Performing Arts Series, the Sampson County Exposition Center, and the County of Sampson. Class Acts performances are totally funded and underwritten through the financial contributions of many businesses, corporations, civic organizations, and individuals from across Sampson County and are provided FREE to students in Clinton City Schools and Sampson County Schools.

The study guides provided and information below are designed to aid in preparing students for a educational and exciting performance. We encourage you to make use of these valuable resources designed to not only enhance each student’s theater-going experience; but to also complement their total educational experience.

Educators Toolkit

In "SANKOFA: African American Music from Spirituals to Hip Hop" students will learn elements of Storytelling, Improvisation, and Call, and Response in American Music.

A brilliant mix of TedTalk-style interactive lecture with an exciting live band, SANKOFA educates and entertains. Students learn about the oral tradition through the West African storyteller/poet known as the Griot; explore coded language in Spirituals; join musicians on stage to discover improvisation in Jazz; learn call and response in Reggae, and party with their teachers to some classic Hip Hop. Developed by Pierce Freelon, a college professor, hip hop artist, and father of two, this performance is entertaining and informative for all ages, taking careful steps to use tone, vocabulary and interactions that specifically relate the corresponding age of students. Sankofa is consistently lauded as "the best assembly EVER" by students and faculty alike.

Beautifully rebellious and refreshingly original, The Beast is one of the most imaginative bands to emerge from North Carolina's burgeoning music scene. The Durham-based quartet fearlessly navigates worlds of hip hop and jazz with compelling lyrics, progressive compositions and a gripping live show. The Beast is dedicated to education and cultural outreach. The group has developed workshops on creativity, improvisation, and the history of African-American music based on the Blackademics Hip Hop curriculum founded by emcee Pierce Freelon. A professor of African American Studies at UNC Chapel Hill and NC Central University, Freelon's workshops have reached a multi-generational audiences from New York to New Delhi.

THE BEAST

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Grade Level                    Time
7th  Grade                        10:00 am
8th Grade                         1:00 pm

Curriculum Connections: Music, Dance, Geography, History, Listening & Commnication Skills and Visual & Performing Arts