Mon Valley Performing Arts Academy offers cost-effective arts education
Courtesy of Dr. Michele Pagen
The students of the Mon Valley Performing Arts Academy
Courtesy of Dr. Michele Pagen
Students at Mon Valley Performing Arts Academy also receive instruction in the technical skills of the arts.
Courtesy of Dr. Michele Pagen
Showing off their performance abilities are some of the students of the Mon Valley Performing Arts Academy.
When Dr. Michele Pagen was a child in Dunbar, she would have loved to attend a performing arts school, but her parents could not afford the cost and the only such school in the area was in Pittsburgh.
She hoped to one day open a place a bit more affordable and logistically more accessible. Her efforts brought about the Mon Valley Performing Arts Academy, located in Steele Hall on the campus of PennWest California.
无毛视频淚 knew if I was able to come back to this area and if I had the opportunity, I would start a program like this,无毛视频� said Pagen, the academy无毛视频檚 artistic director. 无毛视频淚 wanted a place for students to come and study that would be very cost-efficient for parents.无毛视频�
The academy offers performing art and technical theater classes to youth and adults at a very low cost.
无毛视频淪tudents come to us and they can study acting, voice, dance, musical theater and technical theater,无毛视频� Pagen said.
Scholarships are available to help parents who may have a financial need.
无毛视频淎s long as I can pay my instructors, that无毛视频檚 the max we pay,无毛视频� Pagen said. 无毛视频淭his is not a money-making venture.无毛视频�
The academy offers two branches of study: the Summer Experience, with a program for those ages 4 to 7 and another for ages 8 to 17. There无毛视频檚 also an after-school program during the academic year, and Pagen said participants range from age 3 to adults.
无毛视频淲e grab students from all over,无毛视频� Pagen said. 无毛视频淲e get students all around the five-county area. Sometimes, we get students that I like to refer to as our study abroad (students).无毛视频� Those would be youth from other parts of the state or other states who stay with area relatives so they can attend the Mon Valley Performing Arts Academy.
Pagen said there currently are 34 students ranging in age from 3 to 16 taking part in 16 classes.
无毛视频淪tudents who are into theater are ostracized sometimes,无毛视频� Pagen explained. 无毛视频淭his is a place a lot of them come and feel like they belong.无毛视频�
Pagen无毛视频檚 goal for the academy is expansion of services and to have a standalone location in California.
无毛视频淚 want to have a little bit of social services and arts education for local families,无毛视频� she said.
Pagen said dance shoes and dance clothing for youngsters are always needed since they grow out of the clothes so quickly, as well as finances to purchase more books and musical scores. Anyone who would like to donate or perhaps attend as a student can contact the academy by visiting its website mvpaa.com or on its Facebook page.
无毛视频淲e have a closet where it无毛视频檚 a give and take,无毛视频� she explained. 无毛视频淚f you give us a pair of shoes you无毛视频檝e grown out of and we have a pair you can fit into, you may use those shoes, so you don无毛视频檛 have to buy another pair of shoes.无毛视频�