Dallas Black Dance Theatre Launches Arts Education Initiative During February 2022

Dallas Black Dance Theatre and Dallas Summer Musicals are launching a new initiative to advance arts education accessibility during the pandemic. Between February 1-18, 2022, Dallas Black Dance Theatre will make available a virtual matinee performance of the highly acclaimed work ODETTA to every student and grade level in the Dallas Independent School District during Black History Month 2022.

This arts education initiative is in keeping with the mission of the National Endowment for the Arts, to support arts learning, affirm and celebrate America's rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extend its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America.

Matthew Rushing, Associate Artistic Director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre choreographed the work ODETTA which DBDT performed on stage in 2019. The virtual matinee is made possible at no charge by Dallas Summer Musicals in partnership with Dallas Black Dance Theatre and Dallas Independent School District.

Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents a dramatic lesson on the emotional and spiritual struggle of the American Civil Rights Era through the virtual Cultural Awareness performance of ODETTA. Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement," was a singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and civil and human rights activist. In 1963, Odetta sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the historic March on Washington. In 1965, Odetta sang for Civil Rights marchers who walked from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama.

While DBDT has performed ODETTA on the concert stage, Dallas ISD students will view a reinvented version that takes the dance from the stage to unique locations across Dallas. DBDT filmed the dance in 2021 during the pandemic at White Rock Lake, the Meyerson Symphony Center, the Trinity Groves area, the Dallas Design District, Bishop Arts District, and Bonton Farms to make for a robust cinematic experience.

For information on how Dallas ISD teachers can access this virtual student matinee performance, please contact Allison Bret at abret@dallassummermusicals.org.

To learn more, visit www.dallasisd.org.

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