Broadway actor, composer and director Shaun Taylor-Corbett brought a vibrant lesson in culture and craft to Oceanside High School during a Nov. 24 workshop.
He led theater students through an immersive session in Native American song, dance and storytelling as part of the school’s Work-Based Learning program and Native American Heritage Month.
Taylor-Corbett, who grew up in Rockville Centre and is of Black, Blackfeet, Irish and Scandinavian descent, opened the workshop by sharing how a formative trip to the Blackfeet reservation in Montana at age 15 sparked a decades-long connection to his roots. He told students that understanding his identity continues to guide his artistic work, and that the Blackfeet worldview holds lessons that reach far beyond tribal culture.
Students took part in the creative process, learning the structure of a powwow song. In small groups, they matched drum rhythms with traditional movement as Taylor-Corbett kept time with a handheld drum. The session ended with all students gathering onstage to perform the full sequence they had learned.
For Oceanside High School senior Logan Bowe, an aspiring Broadway playwright, the day had a lasting impact.
“We quickly realized that everyone could relate to his story and the larger idea of culture,” Bowe said. “His work blends elements of pop and powwow, and it made me realize I’m missing out by not looking deeper into my own culture.”
Bowe said that the hands-on experience challenged him in the best way.
“Keeping rhythm and singing new music pushed me out of my comfort zone,” he said. “Seeing (Taylor-Corbett’s) passion was inspiring. You could really feel the importance of what he does.”
He added that meeting working artists at this stage in his life is a rare advantage.
“Having consistent Work-Based Learning opportunities like these helps make connections,” Bowe said, “and I know that in the future I will be able to tell Shaun that I remember his story and these connections and relationships will help me succeed in the work I want to do.”
Taylor-Corbett’s career spans stage and screen, including “In the Heights” on Broadway; “The Artist,” a new television series debuting Nov. 27 with Mandy Patinkin and Zachary Quinto; and “Distant Thunder,” the Off-Broadway musical he co-wrote with his mother, the late Tony-nominated choreographer Lynn Taylor-Corbett. The show follows a young man reconnecting with his Native culture after childhood separation, a narrative influenced by Taylor-Corbett’s own experiences.
As students filed out of the auditorium, the echoes of drumbeats and newly learned songs lingered — a reminder, several said, of how culture and craft can come together in unexpected ways.
