Our new, free after school program, LUMBERYARD Young Performers, is in full swing. The performing arts classes – comprised of twenty students and growing every week – have met three times so far at the Catskill Community Center. These fast learners are getting down to the business of performance making. LUMBERYARD’s Melanie George is working with the students on fun choreographic games and tools and leading movement sessions, including one on Michael Jackson’s Thriller dance! The kids have also worked with hip hop artist Ernest F. Baker to explore the relationship between social dance and hip hop choreography. This month, actor Oliver Wadsworth and Afro-Brazilian Capoeira experts Michael Goldstein and Zach Leo will lead special sessions.
George went on air on WGXC last week to talk about the power of an arts education in helping kids develop focus, motivation and confidence in their creative potential. “The arts are infectious,” she told WGXC’s Robert Tomlinson. “They’re healing and inspiring.” We’re committed to serving the Greene County community by creating accessible opportunities for kids to learn about performance and grow as artists. It’s rare to find opportunities for kids of this age group to learn how to make in the performing arts — how to choreograph, compose, collaborate, improvise and try out their own ideas. We believe making performance is not only incredibly fun, but also teaches kids to see themselves as capable thinkers and creators and to express their awesome ideas.
There’s still room for more performers age 9-16 in our LUMBERYARD Young Performers classes — click here for more info!
