West Town's Chicago Academy students perform in Washington
By Ivette Sandoval
The Chicago
Academy for the Arts high school, located in West Town at 1010 W. Chicago
Ave., recently was named one of the nation’s five top arts schools by the
Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network. As part of winning the
Creative Ticket-National Schools of Distinction Award, several of the
academy’s students were invited to Washington, DC, to perform at the John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
This recognition followed on the heels of the school’s achieving statewide honors for arts education from the Illinois Alliance for Arts Education.
Pamela Jordan, principal of the Chicago Academy for the Arts, said 25 of the school's 150 students performed at the Kennedy Center. Jordan, who never misses a performance, handpicked the selections presented at the center on March 24.
“This is really a national recognition, and it says that professional arts education is happening here in the city of Chicago,” Jordan said in highlighting the school’s mission to train students professionally. Adding that the Kennedy Center Award recognizes the level at which the school is able to educate students, she added, “It really evokes what we really do.”
Many of the school’s teachers are professional artists. Some, such as Randy Duncan, who choreographed the Washington show, are world renowned.
The students performed a 45-minute program that included an original dance tribute to activist Ida B. Wells, music by composer John Williams, and a classical solo performance of Bach’s Suite No.1 in G Major. Also, students Tanya Myers and Kevin Beverly performed a ballet rendition of Sleeping Beauty.
“It was wonderful to be picked from across the country," Duncan said. "The entire school had the opportunity to go, which was so great because it shows the support of all the students and it was such a wonderful experience.”
Myers, a senior who is on the wait list for Julliard, said the experience "was great. It was a whole lot bigger than I had imagined. It was so unbelievable, and I never thought it would be such a big thing, but to actually be there was amazing.”
Her favorite part of performing at the Kennedy Center, she said, was getting stage experience and feeling the passion of the dance and of other dancers like her.
Francesca Giannis, a vocalist, agreed. Despite how tiring the 15-hour drive from Chicago to Washington was, not going would have been "one of the biggest mistakes" of her life, she noted.
One of the trip’s highlights for Giannis was
bonding with the other students the day of the show, before the performance.
“That day we were allowed to stay and hang out at the hotel, and we went
through our songs and we made good music, a good connection," she said. "It
made the night’s performance 1,000 times better when we performed.”
For many students, performing at the Kennedy Center on a large stage with hundreds of people was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that allowed them to demonstrate their work outside their city and school. “That night after seeing all the performers, it boosted my confidence," Giannis said. "I felt privileged. I didn’t have any insecurities, and I didn’t feel nervous.”
The Kennedy Center performance was the highlight of the trip and the group's motive for being there, but the whole trip was an educational experience. Kimberly Mayo, a vocalist, said it was "amazing" and "an honor" to perform at the Kennedy Center.
In addition to performing, students visited the American Museum of Art, the Air and Space Museum, and other museums, and had the opportunity to speak to Congressmen Danny Davis and Rahm Emanuel.
“Our students met with Congressman Rahm Emanuel since he is a trained dancer and actually went to school in Julliard as a dancer," Jordan said. "He talked to our students about his experience and how he eventually came into politics.”
The Chicago Academy for the Arts celebrated its 25th year as an independent high school in 2006. For additional information visit www.chicagoacademyforthearts.org or call (312) 421-0202.
