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Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State

Center for the Performing Arts, College of Health and Human Development, For Good troupes and Penn State dance professor invite families to ‘Let’s Dance!’ workshop Sept. 16

The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State; College of Health and Human Development at Penn State; members of The For Good Performance Troupes directed by Krista Wilkinson, Penn State professor of communication sciences and disorders; Michele Dunleavy, an associate professor of dance at Penn State; and Alliance of Heroic Hearts will present “Let’s Dance!” movement workshop for families. The event, free and open to the public, will be at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, on the lawn of the University Park’s Ford Building.

People of all ages are invited to attend the one-hour event at the corner of Park Avenue and Allen Road. Parents/guardians are expected to provide appropriate supervision for their children during this event. Participants, who do not need to register in advance, should wear comfortable clothing. No dancing or singing experience is required. The rain date is Sept. 30.

With the assistance of students from the Penn State School of Theatre and Dunleavy, families will create basic choreography to perform to the music of The For Good Performance Troupes.

“‘Let’s Dance!’ provides multiple opportunities for families to participate through movement to the For Good Performance Troupe,” said Medora Ebersole, education and community programs manager at the Center for the Performing Arts. “The workshop’s inclusiveness celebrates the shared performing arts experience.”

The For Good Performance Troupes—founded five years ago by Wilkinson and co-sponsored by the Centre Region Down Syndrome Society and Penn State’s Omega Phi Alpha sorority—are musical theater groups comprising children and young adults with Down syndrome and musical theater students in the community who perform alongside. The troupes create opportunities to act, sing and dance in a musical theater experience.

“The For Good performers are always thrilled to have the chance to perform and share their talents with the local community,” Wilkinson said.

Dunleavy joined the musical theater faculty in 2004 and teaches tap, jazz and modern dance styles. She also has choreographed many musical productions at Penn State, including “The Wiz,” “Rent,” “Bat Boy the Musical” and “Parade.” This is her first family movement workshop with the Center for the Performing Arts.

“I hope that the participants receive the benefits of the physical movement, the joy of self-expression through movement and the experience of being connected to others through movement,” Dunleavy said.

Wilkinson said For Good plans to perform the “Glee: The Music Presents Glease” version of “Greased Lightning,” plus its own numbers, and will invite the audience to join in.

Parking for the workshop is available at Nittany Parking Deck.

For information about the movement workshop, contact Ebersole at 814-863-6752.

The Center for the Performing Arts schedule of family-friendly presentations this season at Eisenhower Auditorium includes:

• Cirque Éloize in “Saloon, A Musical Acrobatic Adventure,” Sept. 21

• “Odd Squad Live!” Oct. 25

• “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live!” Jan. 15  

• Circus Oz in “Straight Up,” Feb. 7

• “A Year with Frog and Toad,” March 19

• “Annie,” April 18  

For information about the presentations, go to family events.