Miami-Dade Arts Education Collective
Four Miami-Dade Arts Organizations Partner to Form the Miami-Dade Arts Education Collective
The Collective will focus on providing arts education to Miami-Dade K-12 students. For more information please email us at education@arshtcenter.org.
In 2020, due to school closures and performance cancellations caused by the global pandemic, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, Miami Theater Center, and the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs’ Culture Shock Miami Program, and South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center (SMDCAC) joined forces to create the Miami-Dade Arts Education Collective. The goal was to pool resources to provide high-quality and diverse virtual programming to students and teachers whether at home or in the classroom. This ground-breaking collaboration earned national attention and that year was featured in the Creative Education and WolfBrown arts education journals and featured at the Theater for Young Audiences/USA virtual conference. In the 2020/21 season, the collective reached over 75,000 Miami-Dade students presenting internationally renowned artists such as Black Violin and Ballet Hispánico.
The collective remains dedicated to providing virtual arts programming to teachers and students at no charge. Study guides and/or workshops are also available to teachers to enhance the learning experience. The collective has curated a digital season highlighting a diverse range of artists across multiple disciplines – music, theatre, dance, and visual arts. The collective will continue to collaborate with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ (MDCPS) Cultural Passport Program, as well as private, charter and homeschools in order to deliver ground-breaking virtual content to students.
The season includes the following performances throughout the 2022-2023 school year:
Any questions please contact education@arshtcenter.org for more information.
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom tells the inspiring, true story of Lynda Blackmon, who celebrated her 15th birthday on the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965. Jailed nine times before the march and badly beaten on Bloody Sunday, Lynda and her neighbors fought alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to secure the right to vote for African Americans. She believed that “a voteless people is a hopeless people,” and put her life on the line, non-violently, to prove that anyone can change history no matter how young or powerless they seem. The show features an ensemble of African American actor-singers who bring the 1960s to life on the stage through the soul-stirring music of the Civil Rights Movement.
Grade Level: 6-12
Dates: October 31, 2022-November 7, 2022 and April 3, 2023-April 17, 2023
Trailer: https://youtu.be/LK-zYyEcElo
Education/Study Guide download: https://www.turning15ontheroad.com/teaching-guide
Hip Hop Nutcracker
Directed and choreographed by Jennifer Weber, The Hip Hop Nutcracker is a contemporary dance spectacle set to Tchaikovsky’s timeless music. A unique and joyful event, this evening-length production is performed by a supercharged cast of a dozen all-star dancers, a DJ, a violinist, and MC Kurtis Blow, one of hip hop’s founding fathers, who opens the show with a short set.
Just like the original, in The Hip Hop Nutcracker, Maria-Clara and the Nutcracker Prince go on a dream adventure battling a gang of mice, visiting the land of sweets and learning the lessons of the holiday season. Innovative digital graffiti and visuals transform the landscape of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s beloved story from traditional 19th Century Germany to the vibrant, diverse sights and sounds of contemporary New York City.
Through this re-mixed and re-imagined version of the classic, the dynamic performers of The Hip Hop Nutcracker take us on a journey that celebrates love, community, and the magic of the holiday season.
Grade Level: 3-12
Dates: December 5, 2022-December 23, 2022
Diary of a Wombat
Meet Mothball, the naughtiest wombat in Australia. Bored with her daily routine, Mothball goes in search of shelter and food, creating chaos in the lives of the humans around her. Doormats, trash bins and washing lines are no match for this mischievous marsupial. Between a packed schedule of scratching, sleeping and eating, Mothball discovers that with a bit of persistence, humans are quite easily trained!
This delightful non-verbal adaptation features puppetry, movement, and live cello music- from a team of revered artists including Puppetry and Movement Director, Alice Osborne (War Horse), Designer Imogen Ross (Monkey Baa's 2013 production Hitler’s Daughter) and accomplished composer/cellist, Oonagh Sherrard.
Grade Level: K-3
Dates: May 15, 2023-May 26, 2023