Families who love show tunes invited to free ‘Let’s Dance’ workshop Sept. 8

The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State will partner with the University’s College of Health and Human Development and the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders to present “Let’s Dance,” a movement workshop for families. The event, free and open to the public, will be at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8, on the lawn of University Park’s Ford Building.

The For Good Troupe will kick off the workshop with performances of musical theater show tunes. After the event, participants will be invited to learn basic choreography under the direction of Penn State dance faculty, School of Theatre students and the Penn State Chapter of the National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

People of all ages are invited to attend the one-hour workshop at the corner of Park Avenue and Allen Road. Parents/guardians are expected to provide appropriate supervision of their children during this event. Participants do not need to register in advance and should wear comfortable clothing. No dancing or singing experience is required. The rain date is Sept. 15.

“We hold it on a Friday before a home football game for families, neighbors and friends looking for additional outdoor opportunities to attend as a community,” said Medora Ebersole, education and community programs manager at the Center for the Performing Arts. “We rehearse then perform musical theater show tunes. For Good’s love of performing inspires us.”

The For Good Troupe—founded six years ago by Krista Wilkinson, Penn State professor of communication sciences and disorders—is a musical theater group comprising children and young adults with Down syndrome and musical theater students in the community who perform alongside. The troupe creates opportunities to act, sing and dance in a musical theater experience.

Parking for the workshop is available at Nittany Parking Deck.

For information about the movement workshop, contact Ebersole at 814-863-6752 or mde13@psu.edu.