“Our music and parties are better when we gather, if we have great food and we have dancing, that goes with the music and fuels it.”
Joe Seamons
Music Dance and Food
I think of heritage as being something that’s handed down to you from your family.
– Liana GreenIn the following video Liana Green describe a view of heritage as being “something that’s handed down to you from your family. Family is a tricky word because we have friend families. but heritage is a particular kind of lineage…culture can be more than just your family or your particular lineage. It can be any of the things that make up who you are.”
A Definition for Heritage and Culture
We are focused on music, but we recognize that especially dance and food, are parts of culture that are that are additive.
– Joe Seamons Joe states that he feels that The Rhapsody Project is definitely focused on music:
“… we recognize that especially dance and food, are parts of culture that are that are additive. Our music and our parties are better when we gather, if we have great food and we have dancing, that goes with the music and fuels it.”
The Rhapsody Project performs at The Seattle Folklife Festival, 2023
There is a growing body of research discussing the use of music to explore intersectionality, culture, and racial ethnicity. This includes a recent thesis project by Anne Case titled Exploring Music, Image, and Racial-Ethnic-Cultural Identify with Youth in a Community Music Program: A Community Engagement Project. Case describes a setting with some similarities to The Rhapsody Project, “Adolescents participated in workshops, which included music and imagery activities related to racial- ethnic-cultural identity, food, lifestyle, culture, music, and language. ”
The workshops organized by Anne Case occurred in 2021 during the COVID-19 school shut downs and their meetings took place over Zoom virtual sessions,. Participants used technology solutions such as word maps and other image creation tools. The next sections of this resource demonstrates multiple ways that technology, and specifically XR tools, are used to enhance teaching about culture and music.
Reflection Activity
This reflection activity is written for teachers in mind, and it is adapted from the online resource, Considering Intersectionality: Implications for the Future of Music Education by Mara E. Cup and Karen Salvador.
- Practice Cultural Understanding and Humility
- Questions for Reflection: What (musical) practices or customs do I find “strange?” Why do I feel this way? How might someone view my practices or preferences as “strange?”
- Suggestion for Practice 1: Select one musical style or genre to learn more about. Discover its history, notable figures, and identify an aspect that resonates with you. Share what you discover with another person.
- Suggestion for Practice 2: Create a “Jam Jar.” Ask students to fill out a slip with a favorite song and put it in the jar. Ask students to include their name on the slip if they are comfortable with you sharing their name with the class if you play “their song.” Regularly use songs from the Jam Jar for a variety of musical goals.
