The Literary Life of BFS, Part Two

Delighted to follow up last week's post about the BFS Literary Magazine Collection by adding the years 1961 to 1974. Literary magazines of this period evidence an enormous change in BFS history: the late 1960s to early 1970s, when BFS shifted from a traditional college preparatory model to an incredibly progressive school. While many things led to this institutional shift at BFS, a few of the most pertinent were direction from the New York Monthly Meeting Schools Committee, Middle States Association's accreditations of BFS and general interest in cutting-edge progressive education.

This collection also contains a lesser-known student publication. Surviving in the BFS Archives are four editions of the 1974 BFS Upper School underground publication Friends Anonymous and its successor Friends Uncensored in which contributors revealed their identities. The Life (newspaper) was being published in 1974 and some might say it had a counter-culture feel, but Friends Anonymous/Uncensored took things to a very different level. Print has faded in sections, but issues remain readable overall. One Lower School Junior Level Magazine from 1973-1974 also survives in the Literary Magazine Collection in the BFS Archives.

BFS literary magazines have gone through many titles since at least 1971. Today our literary magazines are annual publications which include Wordflirt for the Upper School, Scribe for the Middle School, and Write Now for the Lower School and Preschool. Hopefully looking forward to publishing the rest of the BFS literary magazine collection next year. 

Please remember that the BFS Archives are incomplete: if you have copies of any BFS publications or class photos, please share them with the school here or by directly contacting me, Susan Price '86, BFS historian. 

The Literary Life of BFS, Part One (1926-1960)

All good things are worth waiting for, and our literary magazines are no exception. At this time, the surviving BFS literary magazines from 1926 to 1960 are available in the Literary Magazine Collection of the BFS Digital Archives, along with the 2003 edition of Wordflirt, the present Upper School literary magazine. 1961 to 1974 literary magazines will be added next week, but still later BFS literary magazines will become available as they are digitized. Quite a few BFS alumni have gone on to notable careers in the arts and publishing, worlds they often first entered at BFS, as shown in many BFS alumni profiles.

The literary magazines in this earliest part of the collection are titled Friends School Life. Originally published from 1919 to 1931, Friends School Life contained school news and literary submissions and was published quarterly in magazine format, with the final edition for Commencement (the BFS yearbook of the time). In October, 1931, Friends School Life became a traditional newspaper titled The Life, published 10 times per year and included occasional literary submissions. There was no dedicated literary magazine until the Fall of 1935 when student interest resulted in the biannual literary publication also titled The Life, a magazine similar to the earlier one, yet devoted to entirely to literary endeavors, and it replaced two editions of its newspaper sibling. 

A lesser known student publication, Junior Life, is also part of our literary magazine collection. Only the second edition of the Junior Life, from May, 1930 is known to survive: published biannually from 1930 to at least 1942, Junior Life gives insight into Lower School curriculum and activities of the time and was published by our our oldest Lower Schoolers, the 6th grade (the BFS Middle School was born with the 1968-1969 school year). The Class of 1936, as 6th graders, saw the possibility of a publication for the younger students of BFS and made it happen and they are the very same class that wanted and published our first true literary magazine as mentioned above, The Life in 1935 - only the second edition from its first year of publication survives.

Please remember that the BFS Archives are incomplete: if you have copies of any BFS publications or class photos, please share them with the school here or by directly contacting Susan Price '86, BFS historian. 

30 Years of BFS's Eeriest Tradition

In the distance... 

It can only be the Lower School Halloween Dance! In 1984, Marna Herrity was our dance teacher and she conceived of the Halloween Dance for the entirety of the Lower School's oldest grade. It immediately became a BFS tradition, a rite of passage of Lower School learning. The Halloween Dance has been directed by Margaret Bary for the last ten years. Margaret reports that this year will be our largest Halloween Dance, with a record number of 55 4th grade student performers.

Many aspects of the Halloween Dance are unchanged, most importantly that students still choreograph the work each year, guided by their director. It is an important early opportunity for BFS students to learn general aspects of theater such as listening and waiting for their cues, entrances and exits. Our students continue to design their own fabulous skeletal costumes using fluorescent tape on black clothing. The music, of course, remains selections from the "scary" album first excerpted in 1984, though those selections vary with the years. 

the sound of bones...

There have been few changes. The performance space has gone from the Lower Gym to the Meeting House Theater and then back to the Lower Gym, where it remains today so that all performers may appear on stage simultaneously. When the Halloween Dance was directed by Dori Dietz, our LS dance teacher for many years, 9th grade "buddies" helped 4th graders create their individual papier mâché masks, while today our 4th graders's smiling faces are covered in make-up also of their own design, applied by parent volunteers. The largest change is that the Halloween Dance was first performed by the 5th grade, yet it's been a 4th grade tradition since the Fall of 1986, when the 5th grade joined the Middle School. And one change is also a first: lighting will be used this year in the Gym! 

As photos from recent years show, the Halloween Dance is an exciting learning experience treasured by BFS students. 

skeletons rising... 

slowly from their graves...

night falls...

the forest holds its breath...

everything is still...

suddenly, the wind blows.

A truly phenomenal woman

A Truly Phenomenal Woman
BFS Dance Concert 1989

With Maya Angelou's passing last week, let's go back 25 years to 1989, the year which saw the creation and first performance of "A Truly Phenomenal Woman" at the BFS Dance Concert. This short dance was set to Maya Angelou's poem "Phenomenal Woman." Choreographed by Monique N. Brown '89 and first performed by Ming Lou Rosado '90, "A Truly Phenomenal Woman" has since been performed by other BFS students at later BFS Dance Concerts over the years as it became an important dance for the BFS Dance Concert repertoire. Maya Angelou's words continue to positively impact our world, and this dance has also positively impacted generations at BFS. Maya Angelou remains in our grateful thoughts for many reasons, and one is the empowerment her words gave our students which inspired them to create and perform this dance.

A Truly Phenomenal Woman - 1989 from Brooklyn Friends School on Vimeo.

Let Your Films Speak: The Bridge Film Festival,15 Years Young

"Know your history, ask questions and follow your heart." 

Garrett Bradley, BFS '03, Bridge Film Festival alumna

It's Spring Break, but it's also time to reserve your tickets for the 15th annual Bridge Film Festival on Thursday, April 10 at BFS. The festival was established in 1999 at BFS by Andy Cohen, BFS director of media services, and it celebrates Quaker ideals in action via short films created by students in grades 5 through 12 from Friends schools and Friends meetings around the world. Judges are members of the film industry and related fields, and selecting finalists is always difficult. Festival director Andy Cohen was interviewed in 2009 on the origins of the Bridge Film Festival. In its short history, the Bridge Film Festival has become an important way for young artists to connect and collaborate while creating purposeful, values-based films which spring from their common background in Quakerism. The founder of Quakerism George Fox once famously stated "Let your life speak," so the Bridge Film Festival encourages young filmmakers to "Let your films speak."

Mysteries from the Video Archives

Dance Concert Rehearsal, probably 1998

Digitizing much of the BFS dance department's video collection for the BFS Archives video collection yielded unidentified rehearsal videos and one music concert video. Most of these videos seem to have been created after 2000. One dance concert rehearsal video seems to be from 1992 or 1998: that video was dated "Monday, March 2" and the only years with that day and date, which also add up for this video, are 1992 and 1998, but I'm pretty sure it's 1998 since I know some of the dancers in the clip personally. This archivist would greatly appreciate your assistance in identifying the years in which these five videos were created. Please lend a hand and comment below.

A shy princess from BFS's Once Upon A Mattress, 1988

1988 Once Upon A Mattress - Shy

From the 1988 BFS musical production of Once Upon A Mattress comes the song "Shy" in which Princess Winnifred the Woebegone expresses her true nature as she tries to find Prince Dauntless the Drab for the very first time. And this after she swam the moat to get to the castle, much to everyone's dismay. I think Carol Burnett would be proud.

Feeling your Blue Pride? Make that Indigo

It's a throwback this fine Thursday to the "Mood Indigo" scene from the 1989 BFS original musical A Small Cabaret. A Small Cabaret was a departure from the traditional BFS musical: this ensemble production featured standards like Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo" and "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," yet it also included more contemporary songs like "Miss Celie's Blues" from the film The Color Purple.

A bolt from the blue, it's true, it's you...

1987 Dames At Sea

Take two minutes to enjoy a charming duet in the BFS Middle School's 1987 production of Dames at Sea, capturing the moment when our romantic leads Dick and Ruby first meet, she swoons into his arms and they both know it's true love.

Canned Heat, with a brief history of Ceramics at BFS

Again, my colleague, director of media services Andy Cohen, comes through with a nice find as he transfers his own VHS collection. BFS has a long history in ceramics education and this short film by BFS students is about the Japanese pottery technique, Raku, as taught by BFS ceramics teacher Ellen Kahan during the Minimester of Winter, 1999.