Monday, June 9, 2008

Fort Worth dance studio offering summer classes

By Pegasus News wire

Arts Fifth Avenue and Mondo Drummers will again this summer provide inspiration and creativity to the Greater Fort Worth community through a full spectrum of classes, performances, and workshops for youth and adults.

A5A’s Gracey Tune and Mondo Drummers director Eddie Dunlap will offer over 30 classes and events designed for all levels of creativity and arts enjoyment, including the new additions of “India Bazaar” and “Poetry and the Spoken Word”.

Beginning next week, Arts Fifth Avenue is offering one-week Art Camps for youth ages seven through 18, including drawing, painting, sculpture, cooking, and dance, as well as opening doors to the cultures of different areas of the world. Additional classes are offered for youth ages four and up in Creative Movement and Yoga.

In her A5A teaching debut, Chicana poet, performance artist, producer, and activist Tammy Gomez, will host six classes on “Poetry and the Spoken Word” to teach the art of language to youth, encouraging them to explore putting their own thoughts onto paper in poetic form. Ms. Gomez has spent over two decades producing, directing, and hosting literary performance events for the stage and live audiences.

Also newly added is author Amrita Chatterjee Schlachter, who will share her theatrical stories and skills during two “India Bazaar” workshops June 9-13 and June 16-20. Ms. Schlachter will take youth through a journey of story telling, having the children make costumes, music, and artifacts traditional to the Indian subcontinent and other Asian cultures, including Sri Lanka and Tibet. The class will put on a performance at the end of the week. Ms. Schlachter has reported on family and children’s issues for the Star-Telegram and other publications, and also wrote a book for UNICEF, India: The Forgotten Children. In 1998, she was filmed by a Discovery Channel crew for a documentary on India’s spiritual wealth.

Classes offered by A5A include: Art: Clay/Sculpture; Art: Drawing, Painting, Collage; Art: Multi Media; Art: Painting Found Objects; Art: Sculpture; Ballet; Ballet: Beginning; Creative Movement; Dance: Intro to Ballet, Salsa; Folktales, Costumes, Masks & Crafts from around the world; Guitar; Hand Drums; Hand Drums and Percussion; Hip Hop; Hip Hop: Beginning; Lunch & Cooking Class; Painting: All Mediums; Performance Ensemble; Poetry/Spoken Word; Tap: Time Steps; Tap, & Tango; Theatre: India Bazaar; Two Week Tap Intensive Workshop; Tap Technique; Works of Louis DePron; Yoga; and Zumba. A5A teachers are prestigious artists in the Fort Worth community, including Dena Brinkley Phillips, Glenna Janda, Chris White, Dale Luna, and Eli Holly.

Class tuition begins at $7.50 per class, and tuition for a series of classes begins around $40 depending on the length of the class, duration of time it is offered, and frequency of attendance. Class enrollment is based on personal qualifications without regard to race, national origin, gender, or religion. Partial support provided by grants from the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, The Texas Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Information on events, class schedules, and times are available on www.artsfifthavenue.com.

On the music entertainment side, the Fifth Avenue Jazz Collective is scheduled to play two concerts this summer, Saturday, June 28 and Saturday, July 19. Also headlining A5A’s stage schedule are James Hinkle, The Juke Jumpers, and Lost Country on Saturday, July 12. In addition, Fort Worth’s mobile theatre, Sceneshop, will perform August 8 and 9.

Gracey Tune founded Arts Fifth Avenue in 1992. A5A’s mission is to stimulate, develop and preserve interest in tap dance and other complementary art forms, to educate the general public, particularly youth, about this uniquely American dance form, and to provide a forum of expression for dancers, choreographers, musicians, composers, and visual and performing artists. Located at 1628 Fifth Avenue in the Fairmount Southside Historic District of Fort Worth, we also invite you to enjoy a variety of classes in the performing and visual arts, while providing a venue for performing artists. We provide meeting, rehearsal, and event space for gatherings large and small. Also under the umbrella of Arts Fifth Avenue is the Jazz Collective and LaFeet Tap Ensemble, a company in progress exploring the art of tap dancing to a variety of musical styles including jazz, blues and the World rhythms of the Mondo Drummers. Call us today for more information 817-923-9500, or drop us an e-mail toartsfifthavenue@aol.com. Peek into the corners of our website www.artsfifthavenue.com, then come take a look at all we have to offer!

Source: Arts Fifth Avenue

See more stories in:

• Arts > Fine Arts > Dance
• Arts > Fine Arts > Theater
• Arts > Popular Music > Jazz