Gallup Performing Arts Academy
 "Bottle Dream" transformation scene from Kicking Up Dust, 1998. |
|
Photo:
Guy Jacobs
|
Sponsored by the Gallup Area Arts Council, the Academy engages students in storytelling through dance and movement, acting, visual arts, and music. A year-round program, the Academy offers ongoing workshops, youth leadership initiatives, and touring productions and classes. Taught by a culturally diverse team of working professionals drawn from around the country, instructional content is organized around character development, identity formation, community building, and inter-cultural appreciation. The multidisciplinary arts training includes theater games and specific exercises. The program also includes a Consultation Circle, which is used for group debriefing, problem-solving, planning, values clarification, and exploration and resolution of issues that arise in the life of the ensemble. A touring group performs during the school year in all the area schools and conducts "talk-backs" before and after performances about issues raised in the productions. Since their first dramatic story, Timeweavers, the students have brought to life Navajo and Zuni stories of Creation, a Mexican folk tale, and in the recent musical Color Me Human, local issues and culture. In support of its schooling in the arts, the Academy offers free lunch and transportation assistance.
The key to the program's power lies in the Academy's commitment to the growth of the individual in the context of the group, family, and community, along with the cultivation of specific theatrical and social skills. As 16 year-old Jeremy Waldie said, "I was looking to improve my talent but I'm finding there are things more important than that, like working with other people."
| Gallup
Performing Arts Academy Gallup Area Arts Council 105 West Hill Avenue Gallup, NM 87301 Phone: 505-722-4209 Fax: 505-863-4923 Focus: Dance, Music, Storytelling, Theater, Videography, Visual Arts Number Participating: 100 Ages: 8-18 Annual Budget: $90,000 "The program has attracted a diverse collection of young people, many of whom must travel up to an hour on unpaved roads to attend. Where else do Anglo, Native American, Latino, African American and Asian kids mix, overcome prejudices and work together to express themselves, singly and together?" Amy Mueller Independent Theater Director & Educator |