By Suzanne Schmidt
Staff Writer
PASCO — Through the new Arts In Motion educational workshops, school-aged children will be able to learn skills that will carry over for the rest of their lives.
The topics for the new workshops include puppet making, drawing with the grid, stage management, creative movement, from the page to the stage, and stage combat.
Cindy Ross, board member of AIM, said the workshops are a great way to provide additional educational opportunities for the children in Pasco. AIM also puts on plays with children ages k-12 in the area.
“We want to give as many kids as many opportunities as we can,” Ross said. “There can only be so many kids in the production because we can’t have 100 kids on stage. It is good experience for them. They will be able to take the lessons they learn here with them for the rest of their lives.”
Connie LaMarca-Frankel is the new education director for AIM.
“In the past we have had occasional workshops,” LaMarca-Frankel said. “We wanted to shift the focus back to the educational aspect of AIM. Many schools don’t get art programs. Art is important because it feeds creativity and the children can learn to work well with each other.”
Originally the organization started putting on plays 15 years ago because there were not many theater programs in Pasco County.
“It is our mission to fill the void of arts education that is lacking in the county,” Ross said. “Children can learn about being on stage and can even work behind the scenes on things like props, costumes and set design. We want to give them the opportunity to learn and hone the craft.”
In the stage management class, children will have the chance to learn what it is like to produce a play from beginning to end.
“They will be taking a one-act play and looking at how to produce it,” LaMarca-Frankel said. “They will break into groups and research the cost, the set design and the prop design. In the end the kids will have kids do a poster board display and they will do a performance.”
LaMarca-Frankel will bring her experience as a humanities and theater instructor at Pasco-Hernando Community College to teach the play to stage workshop.
“If kids are really interested in the theater, this class will help them to understand all the different aspects of producing,” LaMarca-Frankel said. “The kids will have a chance to get a little taste of everything.”
The puppet-making workshop gives children the opportunity not only to create puppets but also to make up scenes.
“It promotes healthy social skills,” LaMarca-Frankel said. “In addition to learning about the arts, they learn about themselves.”
For those who like a little more action, the stage combat class will teach children how to play fight.
“In the stage combat class they will learn how to fall, slap and do hand-to-hand combat on stage,” Ross said.
The next Arts In Motion performances will be “Honk Jr.” at 7 p.m. May 7 and 2 a.m. May 8 and “A Night at the Wax Museum” at 7 p.m. May 8 and 2 p.m. May 9. The performances will be at the Eleanor Dempsey Performing Arts Center at Bishop McLaughlin High School, 13651 Hays Road in Hudson.
The information for the workshops and the forms to sign up are on the site, www.artsinmotionpasco.org or call (352) 834-1246.
