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Willow Springs NCCantamos con Ritmo
April 3 @ 9:10 am - 9:40 am
Wed. April 3
9:10 a.m.
@ Willow Springs Elementary
A bi-lingual artsploration / celebration exploring the Spanish Language and the Contagious Rhythms of Latin America, Spain, and the Caribbean!
with Beverly Botsford & Elise Witt
Join international vocalist Elise Witt & cross-cultural percussionist Beverly Botsford in an inspired collaboration that honors traditions in a contemporary spirit, Elise & Beverly are the guides on a journey using the two oldest forms of musical expression.
Students join in polyrhythms and vocal harmonies on everything from Cuban son and Chilean nueva canción to Spanish flamenco and a Nicaraguan food song! We will even create a “polyrhythmic sound painting” using Thank You’s from around the world. Music is a language used by people all over the world, a bridge that brings us together as one human family. When we learn songs from other countries, we learn to appreciate what makes each culture different, special, and unique.
BEVERLY BOTSFORD has performed in Africa, Asia, Europe, Cuba, and all over the Americas. For 13 years Beverly travelled with the Chuck Davis 
African American Dance Ensemble, is on the music faculty of the American Dance Festival, has studied Afro-Cuban culture and percussion in her travels to Cuba, and currently tours internationally with jazz singer Nnenna Freelon.
Together, Beverly and Elise have sung and played in schools around the Southeast, working with Kindergarten through High School age students including students studying Spanish, French, Chorus, Band, Theater, Dance,and core academics. Their collaborations have also included Teacher Workshops and polyrhythmic/multi-tonal Workshops for Adults. “Singing Hands,” their residency at Creekside High School in Atlanta, was featured in Pass It On, the national journal of the Children’s Music Network. In addition to being animated and entertaining performers, Beverly and Elise are known and loved as Educators who pass on their passion for singing, percussion, and world.
We think the key to better understanding and appreciating music and foreign language is to get children involved in fun, high energy, interactive music and language experimentation, and that is exactly what ‘Cantamos con Ritmo’ did for our students!
~ Joyner Elementary School, Raleigh NC
This terrific team of two captivated both elementary and middle school students. Phenomenal!
~ Corinth Holders School, Zebulon NC