Center’s Virtual Stages Arts Education Programs Highlight Diversity

As the AT&T Performing Arts Center’s arts education programs shifted to virtual offerings, our education team engaged educators about what they needed most. And we heard over and over, programs that helped address social equity issues and diversity through the arts.

“The arts have always been a powerful instrument for confronting the challenges facing us, and prompting change and healing,” said Debbie Storey, president and CEO of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. “We are proud to have the opportunity to help our teachers address these issues through the arts.”

In line with the Center’s commitment to social justice, this year’s Virtual Stages selections highlight artists of color and provide opportunities for students to engage in meaningful conversations about racial equity. Thanks to the generous support of our donors, all programs are offered at no cost to public schools and are appropriate for 9th grade and up.

Virtual Stages – Through collaborations with performing arts centers across the country and TITAS/DANCE UNBOUND, the Center is offering four high-quality online video presentations of performances featuring some of America’s most-celebrated touring artists. Representing the best in music, dance and theatre, the performances are tailored for use in virtual classrooms and accompanied by supplemental education materials.

• Rhapsody in Black – Written and performed by LeLand Gantt and developed at NYC’s Actors Studio by Estelle Parsons, Rhapsody in Black is a one man show that explores LeLand’s personal journey to understand and eventually transcend racism in America.
• Black Violin – Virtuoso violinists Kev Marcus and Will B are Black Violin —a dynamic duo of high-energy, classically trained musicians renowned for their ability to meld highbrow and pop culture into a single genre-busting act.
• Step Afrika! – Step Afrika! is the world’s first professional company dedicated to the tradition of stepping—a polyrhythmic, percussive dance form that uses the body as an instrument.
• Ballet Hispánico – Stunning dancers and Latino choreographers with luscious choreography, the company fuses Latin dance with classical and contemporary techniques creating a new style of concert dance where theatricality and passion are at the core.

Virtual Stages is currently serving 15 school districts throughout North Texas, and it’s not too late to sign up! If you are a North Texas high school teacher and would like free access to these programs, please email education@attpac.org for more info.

Virtual Stages is generously supported by the Harry W. Bass, Jr. Foundation.