Second Graders Owen Lucas and Astasia Monahan trip the light fantastic
By Andrea Cohen
Providing arts education experiences for Orcas public school students is definitely a community effort. In the absence of school funding for dance, theatre and art faculty, the Orcas Center has, for the last four years, coordinated an arts education grant project with funds from the Washington State Arts Commission and the Orcas Island Education Foundation.
Two of the instructors whose efforts at Orcas Elementary and Middle Schools in dance and drama are supported by this program will be informally showcasing their students’ work on Wednesday, May 11 from 5 to 6 pm at the Orcas Center. The performance is free and open to all.
From 5 to 5:30 pm, Jean Henigson’s kindergarten through third grade dancers will perform. “The Showcase offers children a taste of what it means to be a performing artist, and to know what life is like in front of, and behind, the curtain. I am extremely proud of what my students have learned”, said Henigson. “In school, the focus is on learning to use the basic elements of dance—space, time, and force—as a creative art form, instead of focusing primarily on the technique of dancing.”
From 5:30 to 6 p.m., the Middle School’s Wednesday theatre group will share some of the skills and theatre techniques they have been working on under the direction of visiting dramatists Kati Nickerson and Emily Blackburn. This Showcase is a window into the process of theatre, not a final performance. Students will be sharing some theatre games, improvisation activities and a demonstration of how the choices an actor makes changes a performance.
