Global Voices
Imani González
Pathway: Music
Experience the power of music as a bridge between cultures in this transformative workshop led by artist and educator Imani González. Rooted in three principles, developing artistic skills, empowering personal voice, and fostering community, this session invites participants to explore world music traditions through authentic engagement.
Participants will learn global rhythms, then move into the cultural context behind the music. Participants will explore artifacts, salutations, and stories from three different cultures. Through hands-on practice, you’ll uncover similarities between these traditions and your own, creating meaningful connections to the music.
After lunch, the focus shifts to performance, emphasizing authenticity and collaboration. By the end of the day, you’ll gain new musical skills and experience how cultural understanding and creative expression unite communities.
About the Artist
Imani is a world and jazz vocalist, National Kennedy Center teaching artist, and children’s author whose voice is featured on National Geographic’s Emmy-nominated Explorer Series, including Jane Goodall: My Life with Chimpanzees. She has taught in DC public and private schools, performed
and recorded with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for eight years, and is the first and only American woman to tour and record with the traditional Ghanaian ensemble ODADAA. A recipient of the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities grant since 2016, she has authored two acclaimed children’s world music books, Dhimiki and Iyipo Aye, with sing-along CDs. The Washington Post has called her “one of the most important vocalists of all time.
Unlocking Confidence and Creativity Through Body Percussion
Jason Nious
Pathway: Body Percussion
Discover rhythm, movement, and creativity in this high-energy workshop led by Jason Nious. Through three progressive sections, participants will explore how body percussion can calm chaos, build confidence, and unlock creativity.
The day begins with rhythmic games that break the ice, foster trust, and transform the body into an instrument. Next, participants dive into movement and stepping culture, gaining confidence and exploring leadership roles as they create their own ensemble. Finally, the focus shifts to creativity sharing ideas, rehearsing, and collaborating to build a performance that showcases precision, connection, and artistry.
By the end of the session, you’ll experience how rhythm and movement can inspire confidence, collaboration, and self-expression.
About the Artist
Jason is a performing artist, choreographer, and creative director whose early experience with high school step teams and NCAA gymnastics sparked his lifelong passion for the arts. He has performed and toured extensively with Cirque du Soleil, Step Afrika, Stomp, and the International Body Music Festival, and has served as a cultural ambassador with the U.S. Embassy across Africa, South America, and Central America.
Jason has choreographed award-winning work, performed in regional theatre and film including Stomp The Yard: Homecoming and appeared at venues such as Radio City Music Hall, The Kennedy Center, Kremlin Palace, and Azerbaijan’s Olympic Stadium.
As founder and director of Molodi, a Las Vegas–based body percussion ensemble, he creates new productions and oversees an arts education program reaching over 20,000 students annually.
Collective Consciousness Wall Relief Sculpture
Bernadette Vielbig
Pathway: Visual Art
In this workshop participants will work collaboratively as they tap into their collective consciousness while merging elements of design and personal stories in a wall relief style triptych sculpture. We will be using found and altered objects that carry memories, histories and experiences.
When joined together these individual thoughts meld into a larger community conversation that all of us can see our stories in.The final design will receive a monochromatic finish and be able to be displayed on a wall as a finished large piece. While materials and supplies will be provided you are encouraged to bring small collections and items that carry personal meaning that may be included in the final composition.
There will also be an opportunity to make a small piece to keep/wear as a reminder of your time in this workshop experience.
About the Artist
Bernadette Vielbig is a Northern California–based sculptor, designer, and educator whose work is rooted in resourcefulness, making, and meaning. Raised on a self-sufficient farm, her practice reflects a deep respect for materials and process. She holds a BA in Studio Art from Humboldt State University and an MFA in Sculpture and Design from Louisiana State University, and has taught and led creative programs at institutions across the country. Bernadette’s work has been exhibited nationally and locally, and her workshops invite participants to explore hands-on, experiential artmaking that transforms found objects into powerful visual stories.
Devised Theatre
Tony Fuemmeler
Pathway: Theatre Arts
Explore elements of play, ensemble creation and physical theater with artist Tony Fuemmeler. Theater is an art form often thought to begin with playwrights– but actors can also make their own original work. There is a wealth of tools and information in the body alone. Using movement, bodies and text, we will explore the play of character, relationships and story around a theme.
About the Artist
Tony is a theater and visual artist exploring transformation, expression, and storytelling through masks and puppetry. He creates masks and puppets for theater, dance, music, and visual arts, collaborating with design teams and companies across the U.S. and internationally. His work in performance includes acting, directing and movement coaching and spans physical and text theater, mask performance, puppetry, and shadow theater.
Trained in theater design, physical theater, mask performance, commedia dell’arte, clown, and traditional mask making in the U.S., Bali, and Italy, Tony brings over two decades of teaching experience in public schools, camps, residencies, and higher education. His teaching emphasizes engagement, co-creation, social-emotional learning, and arts integration, reaching diverse students across rural and urban communities nationwide.