Culture Monks is very happy to present an innovative music learning program for children from age 5-12 years, developed and delivered by Cherry Tree.
This program which will run its course of 6 months starting from August 19, 2018, will be held every Sunday morning at Culture Monks, Lake Gardens.
In course of the program, children will be trained in the rigors of musical practice in an innovative manner using visual and graphical aids. In the process the participants would be able to make songs which reflect their relationship with the family, society, schools, etc, which in turn helps them voice their opinion, desires and crisis.
At the end of the 6 months we will be producing a studio album created out of this process and also a book encapsulating the journey, including their art works and writings. We hope that the participants will not only help the children to learn valuable skills but also leave behind an indelible memory for them to cherish in times to come.
The program fee is Rs. 1000 per month and the admission charges are Rs. 500.
In order to register kindly contact the following phone numbers :
Smritiparna : 9830869480
Sudipta : 8697919308
You may also email sudipta@culturemonks.in
More about the program
What are we trying to do ?
Nurturing children with songs and music
What is this about ?
·0 Let your child be a child
·1 We will help them not to immitate but to learn
·2 Children will learn to draw a song and sing a painting
·3 Engaging narratives will make the Rewaz (practice) interesting
·4 Each class will be an individual workshop
·5 You may call it an alternative singing class
What is involved :
·Weekly class
·Music Yoga
·Interesting Games
·Use of Projection
·Illustrative Application
·Workshops
Statement of Intent
There are mere children but miniature adults. Yes, modern time children are ambitious. They do not even get the chance to cherish the flavour of childhood. They only imitate elders, set carrier goals and live life like a machine. They watch mainstream cinemas, sing adult songs, they dance in adult songs. And the scary part of the story is that there is nothing called childlike in their expressions, choreography, singing style or in anything. We are afraid that these little lambs will end up with nothing to miss once they will grow up. And this fear led us initiate Cherry Tree.
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Our Cherry Tree offers children to taste the fruit of childhood with the knowledge of practicing art, more precisely art of singing. We do not believe in institutionalising art. We won’t teach them conventionally. We offer them art lessons through interesting games, graphic designs, characterisations, rhymes, stories, cinemas and so on. It will be our honest effort to make them learn a few important ethics through this practice. We wish them to love people, trees and animals irrespective of gender, caste, class, race, colour, size and shape. The idea of alternative schooling is not really new even in India. Rabindranath Tegore’s Visva-Bharati University can be the ideal example of it. Cherry Tree is trying to radically unschool the method of learning. We are encouraging students to learn in an alternative process.
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Moreover, we do not want to treat the teacher-student relationship with a hierarchical approach. We believe, the teacher also learns with and from the student. In a third world country like ours the children are more often being treated badly. They do not ‘dare’ to ask questions to their parents or teachers as they know they can be the subject to violence at any point of time. Majority of the people do not feel the urge to explain things to children and accept their views or opinions. The adults think that the children can not and should not have their own opinion or desire. Therefore, most of the parents force their children to fulfill their dream. However, children are not the investment plan. They have the right to dream for themselves. We, the adults can help them, support them and guide them in their journey. Cherry Tree will try to bridge the understanding between the parents and students in every parents’ meet. Yes, we will try to meet the guardians of the little Cherry Trees once in a month in order to discuss. All we want is to let the little scholars to grow naturally. We wish they will be able to share a friendly bond with their parents and teachers.
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Yes, Our Cherry Tree will offer the lesson of love to the children. We have borrowed the ”Cherry Tree” from Ruskin Bond as his Cherry Tree also is a metaphor of childhood and the intense love between a teenager and a tree.
About the facilitator
This is Smritiparna Sengupta. I started my career as a journalist but left my job to pursue my creative calling. I learned music and dance since my infant days. I and my performance partner Abhijit Ray have imitated a collective named Pandemonium Art Collective Collaborative. We practice performance art, visual art and performing art (singing, dancing, movement, theatre and Cinetheatre). Being an art practitioner I always feel the urge to help the next generation people to grow creative. I do not claim that every child in an artist but creative. Therefore, I believe if the child can be nurtured properly they will be able to do something new and original in future. Cherry Tree is an initiative to shape the mind of children with the alternative singing training. I will offer them vocal training with the help of interesting applied methods. However, this is not only my initiative. Abhijit is one of the strongest pillar of Cherry Tree. He is doing the illustrations, photography, videography, editing and so on. This is our pleasure to collaborate with Culture Monks in this journey.
Culture Monks 