By STORY and PHOTOS by Tam Nguyen, Nguoi Viet
COSTA MESA, Calif. – In one part of the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall: the Bully Dudes, who use humor to provide education on how to stop bullying and how to avoid conflicts.
In another part: the Aman Dance Educators, who teach both Indian dancing and teamwork.
And yet in another: Ellen Schulze and her puppets, who through their geometric shapes, help students learn about geometry.
Diverse artistry with a common mission: using the arts to teach children not only about dance, music, theater and the visual arts, but also about things such as history, math and getting along with others.
The artists came together at the annual Arts Teach Showcase, sponsored by the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, which is designed to promote a variety of educational programs. Teachers, PTA members, school administrators and others interested in presenting world-class artists at assemblies or bringing art workshops to their schools filled the center on Tuesday, eager to learn what was available.
The Danza Azteca Xochipilli troupe teaches the history of the Aztec culture through stories, music and dance.
The annual Arts Teach Showcase promotes the programs and shows schools just what is available. The artists display their work through live performances on stage and information booths.
Talena Mara, the Segerstrom Center’s vice president of education, said the art programs have been going on for 16 years in 55 school districts in six counties: Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Kern.
At the center, those in attendance were able to watch live performances on three stages, talk to the artists and take part in workshops that highlighted how art programs could be customized for student groups.
Members of the Ten West program try to stop bullying before it starts.
Programs are available for students in kindergarten through 12th grade through Art Teach, which reaches nearly 400,000 young people each year with programs both at the center and in schools and at community events, according to center officials. The participating artists were selected after auditions showed their “ability to enrich arts-in-education programs that meet Common Core standards and impact the community through performance and interaction with students,” according to a center news release.
For more information or to learn how to schedule an arts program for your school, visit https://www.scfta.org/artsteach/ or call the Segerstrom Center at (714) 556-2121.
