News: The YardArts! Festival's Fifth Year
This year, the YardArts! Festival at Martha’s Vineyard celebrates its fifth-anniversary season with residencies and performances in dance, theater, music and opera from May 28 to September 26. Also at the Yard is the Kids’ Creative Theater Program, now in its third year, which offers classes in theater, music and creative movement for children ages 5–10. Rachael Jacobs, a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, has recently taken over as director of the program. She correlates each week’s lessons to the artist in residence who is currently at the Yard, encouraging open-mindedness and improvisation. “These kids experience something that they never would sitting at a desk in a classroom,” Jacobs says. “The skills that they learn in a theater class, even if they don’t pursue a career in the arts, are priceless.”
Wendy Taucher, YardArts! artistic director, introduced the summer festival in 2006, to provide a supportive environment for performing both classical choreography and new works. Notable events in this year’s program include Paula Hunter’s Providence, Rhode Island–based youth company, JUMP!, performing Sarahbot, a piece based on Sarah Palin; Moving Images, featuring Bridgman/Packer Dance and Lois Greenfield Photography; Dancing Across Borders, a documentary film by Anne Bass; and performances by London’s Balletboyz and Urban Bush Women.
Info: www.dancetheyard.org
Photo: Paula Hunter's Youth Company, JUMP! (courtesy of Paula Hunter)
