FOR EDUCATORS
Our Mission
Hispanic Culture Arts, Inc. provides innovative programming in the classical arts from the Hispanic World for school-aged children in New York City and surrounding areas.
Committed to arts education and to the intellectual, personal, and social development of children, HCA programs serve as a vehicle for creativity, discovery, and expression while making connections between the classical Spanish arts and modern life in NYC.
Our essential question:
How am I citizen
of the world?
We live in an ever-increasing interdependent and interconnected world, which means there is a global dimension to who we are. We believe that through HCA programs, students see themselves as part of that emerging world community.
Students not only celebrate their more immediate communities, such as their neighborhoods or towns, but they also find ways to connect to the broader world community through arts and culture and the expression of the human spirit.
What are the classical
Spanish Arts?
Genres such as zarzuela; music by classical composers from Spain and Latin America (historical and contemporary); historic and folkloric Spanish and Latin American dance, as well as theater, painting, and poetry.
In our partnership with the Hispanic Society Museum & Library, our collaborative educational programs feature historical painting and storytelling, combined with dance and music.
Hispanic Culture Arts continues to innovate via new projects that combine popular genres with classical Hispanic arts, to create an interesting curriculum, thus fulfilling our mission to help students make connections between the classical Hispanic arts and everyday life in NYC.
What is Zarzuela?
Zarzuela is a musical theater genre from Spain that alternates between spoken and sung scenes. It incorporates operatic and popular songs as well as dance. It is analogous to American operetta and musical theater. The word Zarzuela may have derived from the name of a Royal hunting lodge known as the Palacio de la Zarzuela, near Madrid, where allegedly this type of entertainment was first presented at court.
There are two main types of Zarzuela:
- Baroque Zarzuela (1630-1750)
- Romantic Zarzuela (1850-1950)
The most important composers of the Zarzuela genre include Ruperto Chapí; Federico Barbieri. Federico Chueca, Pablo Sorozobal and Francisco Moreno-Torroba.
Traditions are what bind us to our past and are our connection to our present-day experiences.
Students gain a better understanding of themselves and their communities through the understanding of others.
HCA programs are interactive, both virtually and in person, allowing participants to learn and experience through the body and all of the senses.
Alignment of Common Core Capacities for English Language Arts
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They build strong content knowledge
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They respond to the varying demands of audience, task,
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purpose and discipline
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They comprehend as well as critique
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They value evidence
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They come to understand other perspectives and cultures
Alignment with Scope and Sequence Capacities for Social Studies
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They make sense of who they are their role within the community
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They experience the outside community within the classrooms
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They discover the unique features of their own communities and neighborhoods
Alignment of New York State Next Generation Learning Standards for English Language Arts
HCA programs encourage students to:
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Become independent learners, comprehending and evaluating information and using resources effectively.
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Make personal, cultural, and thematic connections
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Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats
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Respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose and discipline
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Comprehend as well as critique
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Come to understand other perspectives and cultures
Alignment of New York State Next Generation Learning Standards for the Arts
HCA programs encourage students to:
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Participate in the creation of artistic ideas and work
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Perform, present and produce artistic work
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Analyze and interpret intent and meaning in artistic work
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Connect artistic work to personal experiences and relate artistic ideas and work with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding
Alignment of New York State Passport to Social Studies Program
Residencies and assembly programs are shaped in part by the New York State Passport to Social Studies Program. HCA programs focus on the rich heritage of folkloric dance and music making found throughout the Hispanic World while working in collaboration with social studies teachers. Our curriculum searches for themes and connections that highlight culturally responsive topics, civic engagement and historical context.
Support for Multilingual Learners and Diverse Learners
HCA is proud to participate in programs such as the Office of Arts and Special Projects Arts for Diverse Learners Grant, connecting us with school communities to serve the needs of multilingual and diverse learners.
HCA residencies and performances are bi-lingual (English and Spanish) and accessible to many New York City public school multilingual learners. Our cultural programs from the Spanish-speaking world celebrate and connect students’ languages, experiences and histories.
Working in close collaboration with teachers and administrators, HCA tailors programs to serve the needs of all students, regardless of abilities. Programs are designed for accessibility and inclusivity with multiple points of entry into the curricula allowing students to find their best paths for engagement. Instruction in sung melodies, theatrical gesture, dance steps, use of props, traditional rhythms and percussion provide a variety of access points for knowledge and practice. Our programs give all students meaningful opportunities to develop their communication and collaboration abilities while fostering social-emotional learning, such as empathy, appreciation and respect for differences.
Partnerships with D75 and Deaf Education
HCA has enjoyed partnerships with District 75 schools as well as school communities that serve the deaf community. Sustained partnerships include:
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P9 Walter Reed School - HCA serves students at multiple locations with our signature program for D75 schools, Our Avenue of the Americas
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New York School for the Deaf - Multi-year partnership had HCA working closely with students who are deaf, hearing-impaired, and some who are also visually-impaired, on full-length theatrical productions of Spanish ballet.
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M347 The 47 American Sign Language and English Lower School - Serving students since 2023, HCA has delivered multiple programs to students with hearing impairment as well as CODA (Children of Deaf Adults).
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Shorter residencies and assemblies at D75 schools such as PS 596X where HCA provided Hispanic Heritage Month programming in 2021 and 2022.
