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| navigate: home: magazine: fall 2002: article | |
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Center nurtures new population of performing arts-lovers By Amy Milgrub Marshall | ||||||
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Since the 1960s, the Center for the Performing Arts has provided hundreds of entertaining evenings, from Pulitzer Prize-winning drama to international dance ensembles to world-renowned musicians. As one of Pennsylvania’s leading performance venues, the center is able to attract some of the finest artists touring the country today, such as actor/singer/dancer Gregory Hines and jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut. But it is what the performers are doing after the curtain goes down—or sometimes before it goes up—that is bringing renewed recognition to the center, showing it is committed to nurturing an appreciation of the arts in central Pennsylvania. The Center for the Performing Arts has launched a new educational initiative aimed at young audiences: informances, short for “informative performances.” Informances are designed especially for school-aged children to enhance their understanding of diverse artists and art forms. The center, long a field trip site for many local schools, wanted to expand its educational offerings to provide a more inclusive environment for learning through the arts, explained Amy Dupain Vashaw, director of audience and program development for the Center for the Performing Arts. Working in partnership with Galaxy (the Arts in Education Program of Central Intermediate Unit 10), the center has organized a diverse selection of informances, in which the touring groups spend a morning giving a special performance for students, often accompanied by commentary or a question-and-answer session. According to Vashaw, a more intimate performance fosters greater understanding of the art form, leading to a more enjoyable and educational experience. “Through the informances, we’re making it easier for teachers to effectively incorporate the arts into their curricula,” Vashaw said. “We want to demystify the arts, so students don’t say, ‘I’m not going to get it.’” Demystifying the arts is an important goal of the center, said director Susan Stockton. Audience and program development is an integral part of the center’s mission, she added. Like Vashaw, she believes audiences have a much better experience when armed with some background on the art form being presented. “The artists bring so much, but often the audiences don’t understand the context for the performance,” she said. The informances, usually condensed versions or excerpts from the full-length show, are about 45 to 60 minutes long, to accommodate young audiences who have difficulty sitting for long periods. They are typically less formal than an evening show, with the performing group’s artistic director acting like an emcee, providing introductions and explanations throughout the performance. During the 2001–02 season, more than 5,200 school children participated in informances by eight companies. Vashaw sent brochures on the series to schools in Centre, Clearfield and Clinton counties, as well as to local retirement communities, inviting residents to attend the informances as a group activity. The brochure contains descriptions of the shows and recommended age guidelines. To further promote the series, the center has teamed up with the Pennsylvania School Study Council, an outreach effort of the College of Education that helps its members provide top-quality educational services to students. In addition to Galaxy, the informances series is supported by Cultural Learning Initiative with McQuaide Blasko. The ticket prices are kept well below those for the full-length evening performances, allowing schools to bring large groups for a nominal fee. Each class receives a study guide prior to the informance. Vashaw said the guide helps teachers adequately prepare their classes, so students are not intimidated by the experience. “It all comes back to setting the context for the piece—that’s what audience and program development is all about,” Vashaw said. According to Stockton, it is important for university performing arts centers to remember their institution’s educational mission. “Arts centers get so caught up in presenting a performance and all the logistics behind it,” Stockton said. “The Center for the Performing Arts is a unit of the College of Arts and Architecture, and not an auxiliary enterprise, for a reason. Focusing on our educational programming will support our overall goal of breeding a lifelong interest in supporting the arts.” For more information on the informances series, contact Amy Dupain Vashaw by phone at 814-863-8205 or by e-mail at adv1@psu.edu. An outreach program of the College of Arts and Architecture | |||||
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© 2002 Outreach Communications, Outreach & Cooperative Extension, The Pennsylvania State University phone: (814) 865-8108, fax: (814) 863-2765, e-mail: outreachnews@outreach.psu.edu |
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