The Kentucky Center Blog

Learn some new moves at our HIP HOP DANCE CAMP July 16-20. [Revised post]

If you're looking for a summer camp that comes with air conditioning, Safiyyah Dance and The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts are offering something new this summer. Get ready to pump up your dance groove with some of the area's best hip-hop choreographers.

Safiyyah Rasool, one of the area's top instructors, is director of the HipHop Dance Camp 2012. "If you are a dance lover and you really want to pick up your hip hop dance game, this is the place to come," according to Safiyyah. "Even if you're a beginner and you don't know about dance but you think it's something you want to try and have fun, this camp is for you."

The camp runs July 16-20. Students can register for either full-day or half-day classes. Financial scholarships are available.

Details: http://www.hiphopdancecamp2012.com/

"Congratulations! Your life is about to change in a wonderful way!" Notification letters sent to The Kentucky Center Governor's School for the Arts Class of 2012

THE KENTUCKY CENTER GOVERNOR’S SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS

Class of 2012 has been notified!

The roster for The Kentucky Center Governor’s School for the Arts Class of 2012 has been finalized. GSA’s Summer Program – a three week residential arts conservatory for Gifted and Talented high school juniors and seniors - is the only one of its kind in the state. Students are chosen through a highly competitive audition and review process. Out of close to 1800 applicants, 225 have been chosen to attend the program based at Transylvania University (Lexington).

The 2012 Summer Program runs June 17 – July 7. Students receive in-depth instruction in one of nine artistic disciplines: architecture, creative writing, dance, drama, instrumental music, musical theatre, new media, visual art, and vocal music. The life-changing GSA  experience also includes:

• FREE tuition, room and board 
• Opportunities to learn in a supportive community of distinguished master-teachers.
• College preparation, career counseling, and the chance to meet college representatives during an exclusive GSA college fair.
• Arts-related community service opportunities.
• The excitement of performing/exhibiting at the Student Performance Festival at the conclusion of the program.
• Serious fun!

Students are immersed in a rigorous schedule of daily seminars, master classes, lectures, hands-on workshops and field trips. While each student specializes in one art form, all students participate in structured, interdisciplinary arts experiences designed to familiarize them with the joys and challenges of specialties other than their own. Upon completion of the summer program, students become part of the GSA alumni network, gaining entry to a variety of alumni opportunities, including specific GSA scholarships at regional colleges and universities. 

Please contact GSA Executive Director Carrie Nath, at cnath@kentuckycenter.org or 502-562-0718, if you would like to tour the campus during this year’s program.

ArtsReach: Renowned violinist Karen Briggs mentors students during residency & plays for clients at VA hospital

ARTSREACH

Renowned violinist Karen Briggs mentors students during residency

Earlier this month, ArtsReach welcomed renowned violinist Karen Briggs to Louisville for a week-long residency with the ArtsReach Violin Studio Program. Ms. Briggs and Violin Studio Instructor Keith Cook worked with the students on several pieces in preparation for the annual ArtsReach Showcase.  Karen also mentored students while visiting the strings classes at Western Middle Magnet School for the Visual and Performing Arts.

 You can see photos from  Karen’s work with the ArtsReach Violin Studio program students on Facebook. Follow this link, LIKE the page, and then you can view the photos.

Karen also stepped in to serve as a Kentucky Center Arts in Healing "guest artist," playing music at the entrance to the Robley Rex V.A. Medical Center in Louisville.  

Karen Briggs decribes herself as an instrumental Soul-o-ist.  Briggs made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1994, performing with pianist Dave Grusin. Known as the “lady in red,” Karen is featured in the PBS special “Yanni: Live at the Acropolis," broadcast in 65 countries and seen by millions of people around the world. She has performed with artists from various genres of music including Stanley Clarke, Yolanda Adams, Kirk Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, and Keb Mo. Karen also appears in the family movie classic "Music of the Heart" starring Merle Streep, Angela Bassett, and Gloria Estefan.  Her most recent recording – Soulchestral Groove – includes original compositions as well as clever cover arrangements.

Arts in Healing program helps clients with self-expression, improves attitudes toward other types of therapy

ARTS IN HEALING:

Visual and Performing Arts programs help people in recovery

Since January, Kentucky Center Arts in Healing visual and textile artist Pat Sturtzel has been working with men in recovery at Volunteers of America. Pat proudly displayed work by these residents at the Art in the Arbor festival on May 12. The men participating in this program report that making art really helps them approach their therapy with a better outlook.  In the last four months, they have created acrylic paintings, made dream catchers, experimented with drawing,  and created fabric collage pieces - all part of “The Road to Recovery--Past, Present and Future” project.   

Participants in the VOA women’s substance abuse treatment program have been busy writing songs and dramatic poems in workshops led by Arts in Healing artists Katherine Mapother and John Gage, preparing for their final performance on May 18.  The women often comment that this interaction helps them open up to each other and express themselves more freely.

The power of Arts in Healing is demonstrated by compelling patient histories and validated by remarkable evidence-based research. As defined by the National Endowment for the Arts, it is “an international movement that works to infuse the full spectrum of the arts into healthcare settings, including design, visual, performing and literary arts, resulting in programs and healthcare environments that are welcoming and uplifting for caregivers, patients, their families and visitors.”

To participate in or learn more about The Kentucky Center's Arts in Healing Program, call (502) 562-0198 or email artsinhealing@kentuckycenter.org.    

THUNDER at The Center includes full day of hands-on activities: Wire Art, Hip Hop dancing, drumming circle, etc.

Tickets are selling briskly for THUNDER at THE CENTER!

Make The Kentucky Center your clean, convenient, indoor hub and have your best THUNDER experience ever! Ticketing info.

Your THUNDER At The Center ticket includes a Pegasus Pin for entry to Derby Festival activities downtown as well as the opportunity to participate in a full day of hands-on all ages creative activities.

Family-friendly activities include storytelling, face painting, a hip-hop class, a hands-on visual art project and the opportunity to participate in a drumming circle. All ages are welcome!  First come, first served.  

Here's what we've got planned for you!  Doors open at 2pm.

3 p.m.-4 p.m. Storytelling with Cynthia Changaris

3 p.m.-5 p.m. Face painting with Wil Jones

4:30 p.m.-6 p.m. Wire Art with Karen Wyssbrod & Lauri Adkins 

5 p.m.-5:40 p.m. Hip-hop with Safiyyah Rasool

5:50 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Hip-hop with Safiyyah Rasool 

 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Drumming Circle with Joan Brannon

Expand your Thunder experience by participating in THUNDER At The Center - and have a memorable (and comfortable) time regardless of the weather.

 Looking forward to a great day to kick-off Kentucky Derby Festival!

Louisville goes blue with Project Blue Drum (see it at The Kentucky Center March 2)

As reported in the Voice-Tribune. Read full article here.

Louisville is about to go blue.

The critically acclaimed Blue Man Group is slated to play The Kentucky Center April 10-15, a show considered “funny, stunning and intellectually stimulating” by Stephen Klein, president of The Kentucky Center.

And Klein should know – he’s seen them three times already.

Blue Man Group is best recognized as three bald, blue performers that engage the audience with unforgettable tribal rhythms courtesy of large drums. In addition to hosting the electrifying performance, the Kentucky Center and PNC Broadway in Louisville have partnered with the Louisville Visual Art Association’s (LVAA) Open Doors Program to create a 3-D mural commemorating the event, aptly titled “Project Blue Drum.”

Open Doors provides opportunities to enhance artistic skills for communities with narrow access to the visual arts. By pairing a professional artist with various community groups, the intent is to create meaningful works of self-expression in a positive environment.

Artist Tara Remington was chosen to collaborate with Western Middle School, an experience she considered enriching and satisfying. Remington created the vision for “Project Blue Drum” and spent 12 weeks with the 6th and 7th grade students of Western Middle School, and art teacher, Amanda Thompson.

The teachers took a turn.

The youngsters are rewarded with not just the satisfaction of a job well done, but with tickets to see Blue Man Group perform. “The bigger the growth of our project, the bigger the growth of the kids. I’d say they’ve completely transformed,” Remington said.

And grow it has.

LVAA Open Doors Project Manager Aron Conaway considers this the most sophisticated, most involved project he’s administered to date. “There’s been such a positive response, and people are so excited for us. But truly, the excitement is for the kids. They’ve worked so hard.”

Conaway views “Project Blue Drum” as a literal extension of the visual arts into the surrounding communities here in Louisville, a goal he says that wouldn’t have happened without the collaboration of so many.

Art in progress.

The Kentucky Center has extended a hand in promoting “Project Blue Drum” by publicly unveiling the sculpture on The Kentucky Center front steps on Friday, March 2nd, from 6-8 p.m. Additionally, the creation will be available for viewing throughout the run of the Blue Man Group. The Kentucky Center will also host a "BluLu To NuLu" reception the day tickets go on sale for guests to enjoy blue martinis and Blue Moon beer, and revel in the performance of local band, The Blue Umbrellas.

Being blue never felt so good.

Blue Man Group will play The Kentucky Center April 10-15. Tickets go on sale at The Kentucky Center box office on Friday, March 2nd with prices starting at $22.75. Call 502.584.7777 or go online at www.KentuckyCenter.org

 

Photo Gallery: Keepers of the Dream celebration a huge success!

Mayor Greg Fischer at the 2012 "Keepers of the Dream" celebration, hosted by The Kentucky Center.

We’d like to thank everyone who participated in – or attended – the Louisville Metro “Keepers of the Dream” community arts celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s vision and and presentation of the 2012 Louisville Mayor’s Freedom Award to state representative Darryl T. Owens. You can watch the awards presentation as well as the inspiring arts performances on Metro TV. Visit The Kentucky Center on Flickr to view more photos from the program and reception. Photo credits: Julia Youngblood, George Williams.

 

 

Artist Conversation with Bill McNulty

 Please join us at the MeX for our 3^rd installment of the new Artist Conversation series!

 

After over a decade of producing Dracula yearly, Actors Theatre was ready to pull the plug on the outdated script, one which had been tinkered with and rearranged, but never really suited its long time director Bill McNulty. Though he had never written a full length play before, McNulty undertook the task of drafting a new adaptation of the classic story in just 10 days, drawing on the former script and the novel, as well as his own interpretation of the horror genre in which it fits.

Join us Monday January 30^th to talk about what it’s like to tell this story year after year, how his production has changed, scaring busloads of Kentuckiana children, and why Van Helsing talks so much.

 

Adaptation: Developing Dracula

with Bill McNulty

Prominent Louisville actor and member of the Resident Company at Actors Theatre Bill McNulty has played many roles in the evolution of its seasonal spectacle Dracula. As an actor, director, and ultimately adapter of the classic Bram Stoker novel, Mr. McNulty will shed light on the creative process that has led to the much loved thrill ride’s current incarnation.

Barrett Cooper of the Savage Rose Classical Theater Company recently understudied Mr. McNulty’s role in the show and will be interviewing him.

 

Monday, January 30^th @ 7:30 PM in the MeX Theater

Tickets go onsale Monday, Jan 16th

$8, $5 for students w/ ID

Available at the door and from the Kentucky Center Box Office, or by calling (502) 584-7777 or 1-800-775-7777.

Click here for more information about events like this in the Mex Initiative series.

 

Jan. 15: "Keepers of the Dream", free community arts celebration of Dr. King's vision

The Kentucky Center ArtsReach program, along with Louisville Central Community Centers, River City Drum Corp and Louisville Metro government, invites you to this free community arts celebration of Dr. King’s legacy and vision.

KEEPERS OF THE DREAM
Sunday, January 15
The Kentucky Center, Whitney Hall

4 p.m. - Jubilee Singers (main lobby)
5 p.m. - Live Performances & Awards Presentation
Reception immediately following the event

This inspiring and popular annual event includes live performances - choral and instrumental music, dance, spoken word, etc. - as well as the presentation of Mayor Greg Fischer’s Freedom Award.

We recommend arriving at 4 p.m. for pre-show entertainment in our lobby by the Jubilee Singers.

Seating is "first come, first served." Doors to Whitney Hall open at 4:40 p.m.

We invite you to continue your celebration at our reception immediately following the presentation, featuring entertainment by the Louisville Leopard Percussionists.

Image above: "My Last Will & Testament," wood carving created by LaVon Van Williams, Jr. specifically for the Keepers of the Dream celebration.

Inspiring! Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble residency video

  

On November 16, The Kentucky Center brought the Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble to Lincoln Elementary for a residency that included young dancers from Lincoln Elementary, Western Middle, YPAS, PRP, and ArtsReach.  With the support of the Gheens Foundation, The Kentucky Center provided these aspiring young performers with a top-notch educational experience in collaboration with a world-famous dance ensemble, and helped inaugurate the black box theatre at Lincoln’s new performing arts wing. Several JCPS Board members and high level administrators also witnessed the event. The Kentucky Center continues to earn the absolutely highest reputation for our partnership with JCPS and its arts magnet schools!

Photo credits: Julia Youngblood and Stephen Cohen, all rights reserved.