By Mark Ambrogi
As The Center for the Performing Arts community engagement manager, Julia Shildmyer-Heighway was seeking a way to connect the public with the Palladium’s concert lineup.
She came up with the Dance Discovery Series.
“A lot of people don’t think they can dance, but my opinion is everybody can dance,” Shildmyer-Heighway said. “If you have a short session like this you’ll have more familiarity with it and when you come see the performance you’ll be better connected to it.”
The series starts with Flamenco instruction on Sept. 30, followed by Compania Flamenca Jose Porcel’s show on Oct. 9
“You don’t have to come to the performance to take the class but of course it’s encouraged,” Shildmyer-Heighway said. “When we got the season (schedule), we looked for which shows would lend themselves to doing a lesson. We started researching to find the instructors that would work well with each.”
The cost is $18 per participant. If a participant signs up for the series of six, one session is free.
“Each one is a little different but most of the classes are capped at 20 to 25 students,” Shildmyer-Heighway said. “We are getting interest from all different ages.”
The instructional sessions, which begin at 6:30 p.m., are held in various locations around The Center for the Performing Arts.
The other sessions are: Bollywood on Oct. 21, followed by Bollywood Masala Orchestra Nov. 1; Country Line Dancing Nov. 11, followed by Ronnie Milsap Farewell Tour Nov. 20; Ballet Mime with Alyona Yakovleva-Randall Jan. 6, followed by Moscow Festival Ballet Jan. 15-17; Irish Step Dance Feb. 8, followed by Celtic Nights: Spirit of Freedom Feb. 20 and Zydeco March 2, followed by MOJO & The Bayou Gypsies March 11. For more, visit thecenterfortheperformingarts.org/tickets.
