FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  Pat Verner Program Director

    2006-2007 Students Take pART in the ARTs Features Drama, Music and Storytelling

     Once again students in grades K-12 in local schools will be able to see a professional performing arts program without leaving Cabarrus County, thanks to the arts council’s Students Take pART in the ARTs program. 
Students will experience drama, music and storytelling, and teachers will receive study guides to make the performances an integral part of the curriculum.
Four old favorites will return by popular demand:  musicians Roger Day and Charles Pettee, Theatre IV and North Carolina Shakespeare Festival.  They will be joined by the Open Dream Ensemble, a new multidisciplinary performing arts group from the North Carolina School of the Arts.

     Grades K-1 will be treated to Roger Day’s energetic and interactive performance of original songs such as It’s a No-No to Kiss a Rhino, Helicopter Harry and Mosquito Burrito.  The winner of the prestigious Parents Choice Award, Day will have students and teachers moving, dancing, singing along and having a good time.

     Grades 2-3 will experience a musical theatre adaptation of the beloved children’s classic Stuart Little.  Theatre IV, which performed for over 2 million children in 33 states last year, mixes gorgeous puppets and live actors to work theatrical magic.

     Grades 4-5 will watch a performance by artists trained in drama, dance, music, design and filmmaking at the North Carolina School of the Arts.  In The Amazing Adventure of Anna Marie, the Open Dream Ensemble will tell the story of a little girl who resolves to find out how Benjamin Franklin made the connection between lightening and electricity.

     Grades 6 and 7 will see Donna Washington take storytelling to a new level.  Sixth graders will hear stories about self-esteem and new experiences, while seventh graders will enjoy performances emphasizing African folk tales that  tie to their social studies curriculum.

     Grade 8 will see and hear United States history come alive when Charles Pettee plays music and tells stories from the 1800s and Civil War era.  Bluegrass musician Pettee will play several instruments and interweave history in Hear the Sound.

     High school students will experience  Shakespeare’s plays in the way the Bard intended, in a live interactive performance environment.  Globe Works will feature three actors performing scenes from some of Shakespeare’s most famous plays.

     Students Take pART in the ARTs is sponsored by CT Communications, First Charter, The Independent Tribune and the North Carolina Arts Council.