Thousands of Central Texas students entered a theater for the first time on Friday with looks of awe on their faces. Bass Concert Hall hosted an event brought by the UT Performing Arts Center's Lifelong Learning rogram that allowed these children an opportunity to be exposed to the arts.
"Most of these kids haven't been in a theater. This could possibly be their first theater experience. It's good to teach the children what a theater means and to give them a background, let them have this certain comfort zone, so they behave correctly as an audience," said Pebbles Wadsworth, the Performing Arts Center director.
The program achieved success in extending the PAC's mission to educate, enlighten and entertain the community with the arrival of 2,500 children for the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Informance.
The dance company has always been deeply rooted in community outreach. Founded in 1977 by dancer and choreographer Lou Conte, the program began with dance performances booked at local Chicago community events. As time progressed, the company has gained national acclaim as an institution dedicated to performance, rigorous dance training and community education.
The dance company took the stage on Thursday, as it passed through Austin briefly to perform, as well as enlighten, the community and the youth. Leaving on Saturday evening for its first scheduled tour performance in Houston, it allowed groups of students were fortunate enough to capture a glimpse of a professional dance company.
Before the performance, Judith Rhedin, the Lifelong Learning Program assistant director, made sure the students attending were prepared for the show. The program invited nine schools from Central Texas and engaged each school individually to prepare and teach the classes on the cultural importance of performing arts.
Rows of children filled the seats of the Bass Concert Hall, as the company warmed up on stage.
Brette Lea, PAC spokeswoman, walked through the halls making sure the event ran smoothly.
"A lot of these kids have never experienced the arts before. The purpose for the teaching preparation before the performance was so the children can built an excitement for the event," said Lea.
The children were definitely excited as they entered the theater with their eyes wide open and a slew of heads looking upward towards the third floor balcony.
Regardless of the concert etiquette lectures taught to the kids weeks before, the hall reverberated with whispers of excitement for the warm-up of spinning and leaping dancers.
As the lights dimmed for the show, the students yelled in the dark with anticipation.
Jim Henson, artistic director for the Hubbard Street Dance Company, stepped out and introduced the excerpts "Lickety-Split," "Diphthong" and "Minus 16" from the company's official show.
"We dance to a lot of different styles. You've got to be open to different things," Henson said to the children "Dance is not about a spoken language, but expressing yourself through movement."
The last performance, M16, thrilled the children with its blasting techno beats, audience interaction and full pinstripe suits with fly fedoras. During the dance, the company pulled random students to the stage to join them in the dance.
Jordan Diaz, a seventh-grader from Ojeda Middle School, never experienced a live professional dance show.
"I thought it was going to be ballet and boring. I didn't think that it was this cool. I liked it when the dancers were wearing the tuxedos and when they brought the kids up and showed them how to dance," Diaz said.
The event captured the audience and left memorable experiences gained at UT.
"This will give the opportunity for the children to be comfortable to the university setting. It will inspire them to go to college.
We're opening the doors not only to the culture of performing arts, but to education as well," Wadsworth said.
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