Yakir Ben-Hur
Yakir Ben-Hur (Associate Music Director) Pianist/Percussionist, Composer, Arranger and Educator. A native of Israel, Ben-Hur came to New York to study with Jazz legend Barry Harris in 1999. He holds a BFA and M.A. in composition from the City College of New York. In 2004, he recorded the album, “A Sonny Day,” featuring Avishai Cohen and Eli Degibri. Ben-Hur has performed in many of the major venues in New York City and has traveled the world performing and teaching. In 2006-10, he served as musical director and pianist for the Grammy nominated artist Amel Larriuex, with whom he recorded and arranged the album, “Lovely Standards.” Ben-Hur was an adjunct professor at the New School University for Jazz and Contemporary Music and has been a part of the NDI family since 2003.
Presentations from Facing Race 2020
Equitable & Culturally-Relevant Dance Education
How do we create art with our students that is culturally relevant, joyful, celebrates their identities, and encourages rigorous learning through an equity lens? Through an interactive, inquiry-based format, participants will engage in an exploration of what culturally responsive and equitable pedagogy can look like for arts organizations. We’ll share some of our practices at National Dance Institute (NDI) around building an equitable classroom culture while creating evocative dance narratives in ways that both honor those whose stories we're telling and ensure cultural relevance for our students. NDI runs programs in elementary schools across NYC, programs for children with disabilities and international programs in China and Lebanon. We will share some of our learnings from working with these diverse communities and how we set up our classrooms so that students of all races, genders, abilities, and other identities feel seen and celebrated. After leading you in a sample NDI dance class for all bodies and abilities, we will discuss how we connect the dance narratives we tell to our students’ lives. Through small group work we will have an opportunity to design mini lessons around a theme, bringing in some of the tools practiced in this workshop and brainstorming ways to create culturally relevant and responsible connections for our students.
Speakers: Calia Marshall, Kay Gayner, Yakir Ben-Hur