Astronomy and Dance are highlights of this week’s activities at El Progreso Memorial Library

by El Progreso Memorial Library Director Mendell Morgan

Wednesday 9/21
Kevin Manning
We will have a wonderful Children’s Astronomy program as our special Story Hour Wednesday with Kevin Manning, an “award-winning astronomer and consultant to NASA, Kevin Manning, a man on no ordinary mission.  Kevin founded Look Up to the Stars with a mission to generate interest and foster scientific literacy in people nationwide through the delivery of awe-inspiring, educational and entertaining astronomy programs.  Truly breathtaking images, video clips and fun hands-on activities make for an unforgettable cosmic journey. He has PDF handouts we will print out both for the children’s session as well as the adult:
We will join Kevin Manning on Story Hour Wednesday, 9/21 for an exciting Zoom session to learn about different colored stars in the sky this fall. Come one, come all!
Thursday 9/22 It’s a virtual journey throughout the cosmos describing celestial objects and how they were formed as well as their relative sizes compared with each other. From the sun, earth, space exploration to the moon and Mars, star color and brightness including patterns in asterisms and constellations, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies, black holes, galactic collisions, looking at matter from subatomic particles to superclusters of galaxies, and the entire universe.  Please come to the library for a Zoom meeting with Kevin Manning, as “award-winning astronomer and consultant to NASA, Kevin Manning, a man on no ordinary mission.  Kevin founded Look Up to the Stars with a mission to generate interest and foster scientific literacy in people nationwide through the delivery of awe-inspiring, educational and entertaining astronomy programs.  Truly breathtaking images, video clips and fun hands-on activities make for an unforgettable cosmic journey.  People of all ages can be inspired to think big, dream big, and to foster curiosity about an enormous universe in which the boundaries appear unlimited.  With the understanding of some simple terminology and concepts, the general public is better informed about space and the celestial objects that reside overhead.  The spark of interest often ignites in young minds where the ABC’s of the universe are brought to light.
His program will be offered on Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89327339590 and can be seen at the library El Progreso where printed PDF handouts will be available for distribution to participants.
and on Friday, the Children’s Division of Joffrey.  Toni Kay Hull will be piano accompanist.  

Jo Matos from Joffrey NY, DanceOn Chicago, local not for profit, and Donate2Dance Partner to Bring Dance and Theater Apparel to Uvalde, Texas.

Dancers are uniting are uniting with one mission: to bring the love of dance and the arts back to Uvalde, Texas.

During the weekend of Sept 22nd , dancers from 4 different studios across three states brought together by DanceOn Chicago,  a not for profit that has supplied nearly 100 scholarships to at need artists, are joining forces with Jo Matos, Artistic Director for the Joffrey Ballet NYC .  It was Ms Matos’s concept to use dance as a way to connect with the Uvalde community.

Their goal is to  bring a multi-genre artistic program to the schools and community of Uvalde.  The weekend’s activities  will feature storytelling, live music, movement and, of course, dance. The choreographer, Katie Truex, hails from the Chicago suburbs and has been a dance teacher fir over a decade.

In addition, www.Donate2Dance.org a charity based in NYC run by sisters and dancers, Ava and Sophia Paley, will be supplying hundreds of dance and theater  donations — costumes, dance apparel and dance shoes to three local Uvalde Afterschools Centers of Education ( ACES) programs.

DanceOn Chicago, Inc. is a Naperville based NFP that has supplied nearly 100 scholarships to dancers and artists to help support young dancers and special needs organizations since its inception in 1999.

@DanceOnChicago  www.DanceOnChicago.com

Jo Matos is Artistic Director for the Joffrey Ballet NYC Youth Program @heyjo56

Donate2Dance – Mission is to supply dancewear and costumes to dancers in need around the world, with the belief that every dancer deserves the chance to dance

www.Donate2Dance.org  @Donate2Dance

Jo Matos from Joffrey NY, DanceOn Chicago, local not for profit, and Donate2Dance Partner to Bring Dance and Theater Apparel to Uvalde, Texas.

Jo Matos

Dancers are uniting are uniting with one mission: to bring the love of dance and the arts back to Uvalde, Texas.

  During the weekend of Sept 22nd , dancers from 4 different studios across three states brought together by DanceOn Chicago,  a not for profit that has supplied nearly 100 scholarships to at need artists, are joining forces with Jo Matos, Artistic Director for the Joffrey Ballet NYC .  It was Ms. Matos’s concept to use dance as a way to connect with the Uvalde community.

Their goal is to  bring a multi-genre artistic program to the schools and community of Uvalde.  The weekend’s activities  will feature storytelling, live music, movement and, of course, dance. The choreographer, Katie Truex, hails from the Chicago suburbs and has been a dance teacher fir over a decade.

  In addition, www.Donate2Dance.org a charity based in NYC run by sisters and dancers, Ava and Sophia Paley, will be supplying hundreds of dance and theater  donations — costumes, dance apparel and dance shoes to three local Uvalde Afterschools Centers of Education ( ACES) programs.

  DanceOn Chicago, Inc. is a Naperville based NFP that has supplied nearly 100 scholarships to dancers and artists to help support young dancers and special needs organizations since its inception in 1999.

  @DanceOnChicago  www.DanceOnChicago.com

 

Jo Matos is Artistic Director for the Joffrey Ballet NYC Youth Program @heyjo56

Donate2Dance – Mission is to supply dancewear and costumes to dancers in need around the world, with the belief that every dancer deserves the chance to dance

www.Donate2Dance.org  @Donate2Dance

Bio from https://www.joffreyballetschool.com/jo-matos/

Jo Matos is the Artistic Director for the Joffrey Ballet School’s Children’s and Youth Ballet Programs and Summer Intensives in New York and Miami. She joined the Joffrey Ballet School, as a Director in 2008. Jo devised a curriculum and acts as liaison for a partnership between the Joffrey Ballet School and Fort Hamilton High School’s, “Joffrey Dance Academy” in Brooklyn. Jo teaches in the Children’s & Youth Ballet and Ballet Trainee Programs. She has over 35 years experience as a dancer, teacher, choreographer, and arts administrator at many prestigious institutions, including Ballet Hispanico, The Hartford Ballet, and the University of Hartford. She is also the co-founder of “Dancing Day,” a school that brings dance to disabled children and adults. Jo’s work with autism and dance was featured in PBS documentaries in 1999 and 2004. Ms. Matos teaches as a Master Teacher around the country.  Jo trained at the School of the Hartford Ballet and performed with The Connecticut Children’s Ballet, the School of the Hartford Ballet and as a guest artist with Dance Now! Miami. Jo is the Artistic Advisor to Alison Cook Beaty Dance in New York City. She holds a BFA in Dance from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford.

Paula Alvarez, Dance Master, DanceOn Chicago

DanceOn Chicago: Children in the company: