Chamberlain Performing Arts Community Outreach
Educational outreach has always been a top priority of Chamberlain Performing Arts; educating children and the community through classroom technique work, performances, and demonstrations. With the expansion of existing programs, Chamberlain seeks to impact the lives of area youth through many avenues.
Since 1998, Chamberlain Performing Arts has partnered with The Boys and Girls Club of Collin County and offered free dance technique classes to at-risk students at the Douglass Community Center in Plano, allowing these children the opportunity to access an education in the art of dance. During the 2006-2007 season the program was successfully expanded to the cities of Frisco and McKinney. The Boys and Girls Club branches are located in under-served areas of each city, where these students would not ordinarily have the opportunity to receive formal dance training. The program is presented in two semester cycles and is offered from August through May. Student's ages range from 6 to 12, and most are girls from ethnic minorities. They attend a weekly class with a well-rounded curriculum consisting of dance, nutrition, history, communication skills, mentoring, and self-esteem building. In addition to the physical benefits associated with dancing, it can be observed that attending a dance class increases a child's responsibility, allows them to learn how to work with others, and expands their learning through various dance-related enrichment materials offered by the teaching staff. Chamberlain Performing Arts proudly offers select After School Program students the opportunity to attend Chamberlain School of Performing Arts on scholarship to further develop their formal dance training.
Chamberlain Performing Arts continues to reach new and special culturally diverse audiences and groups through a variety of other outreach efforts as well. As a part of its community and educational outreach, Chamberlain Performing Arts offers complimentary admission to a Community Connections Performance of “The Nutcracker” each year, inviting clients of local non-profit and social services organizations from Dallas, Denton, and Collin Counties, as well as other surrounding North Texas communities. This performance reaches over fifteen hundred special needs children, adults, and seniors in the metroplex. Chamberlain Performing Arts' new venue at the Eisemann Center has made the performance more accessible for many, and reservations have exceeded the seat capacity of Hill Performance Hall each year.
The lecture demonstration series based on the disciplines of ballet and musical theatre, performed in area elementary schools, demonstrates Chamberlain Performing Arts' commitment to the education of all children in the community. This displays to the students the training the dancers and actors endure in daily classes to be able to perform to the highest level of expertise. The students also get a taste of experiencing a live performance at the end of the demonstration These performances in the independent school districts educate and expose student and teachers alike to the arts of dance and theatre.
In January 2005, Chamberlain Performing Arts founded the Shining Stars Program, a creative movement class for children with special needs. Offered once a week for forty-five minutes, this course gives these students the opportunity to explore their personal creativity in a studio setting. The student's ages range from 3 to 14 and they have various special needs with a range of severity. Chamberlain Performing Arts is very excited about this program and plans to continue developing and expanding The Shining Stars Program to meet the needs of other special needs children in the community.
During the 2005-2006 season, The Chamberlain Musical Theatre Company successfully implemented an outreach effort reaching out to groups and individuals at nursing homes, retirement homes, and children’s hospitals. By performing musical arrangements and short theatre acts, these company members are able to brighten the day and entertain those who may not be able to travel to see a live performance. Chamberlain Performing Arts plans to continue this avenue of outreach into future seasons incorporating more venues and a larger group of performers.
