Musical Theater Dance Debuts
Sunday, June 9 – Los Angeles Music and Art School’s young dancers, graced the Mainstage Theatre of Glendale Community College with an array of musical numbers, charming audiences with choreography from all forms of dance. Under the guidance of our four dance teaching artists, Carissa Songhorian, Tiana Alvarez, Christina O’ Brien, and Ariel Improta, 80 dancers put on a wonderful show that would make any onlooker proud. Spotlights beamed on LAMusArt’s seven dance groups: Parent and Me Ballet, Pre-Ballet, Ballet I, Ballet II, Jazz and Modern, Hip Hop, and our newest group Musical Theater.
Braving the stage first was Ballet I, dancing “Waltz of the Hours” from Coppelia by Arthur Saint-Leon. Turning heads with their sparkly sequined dresses, our musical theatre group, danced to some of our favorite musical numbers like “Little Shop of Horrors” from Little Shop of Horrors by Alan Menken, followed by “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from Hairspray (Movie Soundtrack). For many of our performers that evening, it was their first opportunity to perform. Our gifted dancers, some as young as four years old, were able to bask in the applause of the warm audience of over 250 guests.
Sharing the stage with the LAMusArt dancers were the guest performers from the Redondo Ballet Company, led by Artistic Director, Francesca Stern. LAMusArt featured two dancers from Ballet II as solo artists for the evening. Ariana Avellan, awed the audience with a variation from “Sleeping Beauty” (Aurora, Act II) to the music of Tchaikovsky, as did her fellow dancer Kimberly Pineda with a variation from Coppelia (Act III) to the music of Leo Delibes. Closing the show, the Hip Hop group performed a vibrant Street Dance, ending the program with a multitudinous flow of energy.
After, their performance, students from Pre Ballet, could not help but yell out as they ran back to their dressing room, “that was cool!!” As Zelzen Marzibani, member of the Hip Hop team, put simply, “Yup, that was quite fun”.
LAMusArt’s mission is to offer the Community of East Los Angeles, equitable and affordable access to multi-disciplinary arts education programs. Through events like these, we are able to develop a sense of creativity our students can use in every aspect of their lives. Through the arts, our students not only learn how to read music, paint, and learn various styles of dance but they also build confidence to express themselves, and create a sense of community among other people who share the same love for the arts- something you can’t necessarily learn in any math class or sports field.
LAMusArt thanks all those involved with the support our dancers are given on the daily in their growth as young artists, sharing their creative spirit with the world. Each class and performance gives students the opportunity to experience the joy of being on stage and the little moments of success that strengthen their character.
LAMusArt’s mission is to provide access to affordable, tuition-free and sequential arts education programs for the community of East Los Angeles to inspire creativity, foster artistic expression and create communal engagement in the arts. Since 1945, LAMusArt has been a place for youth in the community to engage in music learning irrespective of race, color, aptitude or ability to pay.
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Photos by CBGRAPHY