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metropolisnews
Center Performs its Artistic Duty
By Melissa MacTaggart
December 6, 2007
The brilliant 20th century playwright and novelist Thornton Wilder once said, "'I regard the theater as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being."
Theater is important, and Annie Sisson Rezac, the director of education at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, could not agree more.
Rezac has an MFA in acting and had been performing, teaching drama and directing for eight years before she took the position with Metropolis in June. Rezac is now living in Arlington Heights as her family made the move from Chicago's Lincoln Square district to be closer to her work.
"It is interesting how people from the city view the performing arts in suburban communities as different to that of those in metropolitan areas," she mused, "but here at Metropolis, we are breaking the myth that great theater only happens in Chicago."
The Metropolis' mission statement says much about its vision for the future: "It is our mission to provide people of all ages the opportunity to grow as individuals, artists and members of the community through the development of creativity, self-esteem and skills in the performing arts."
Metropolis' summer camp program is renowned in the area, and there are usually wait lists for students eager to learn performance skills and immerse themselves in the world of theater. Rezac is proud of this long-standing program, but is passionately encouraging the same student following for its other performing art classes. The drama school curriculum has been redeveloped and allows students to do a year-round program, develop as an ensemble and have more performance opportunities.
The Metropolis Performing Arts Music School has world-renowned instructors who teach students to master skills and truly realize the value of the art form.
Rezac knows how important it is to encourage youths to participate in any type of performing art. "We are developing future audience members and performers. They may become performing art appreciators, and that is invaluable to ensure the future of the cultural arts in any community."
Kristen Jacobson is the outreach coordinator at Metropolis and is excited about its pioneering program, Breaking Borders.
"This program is dedicated to finding the common ground between two opposite groups through the performing arts," Jacobson said.
Working with Free Street Theater, they are partnering with Hibbard Elementary in Albany Park and Westgate Elementary in Arlington Heights. Albany Park is on the Northwest Side of Chicago and is one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the United States; over 40 different languages are spoken in its public schools. Many students at Hibbard are Somali Bantu and have been in refugee camps. The needs of that community as opposed to the needs of those in Arlington Heights are vastly different, but using creativity as a common language, the students seek to find ways to connect and understand their similarities. Interestingly, many of the students needs are basically the same - to learn respect, body control, literacy and how to function well with others.
Arlington Heights is an art-friendly village, and we are lucky to live somewhere where the arts are celebrated. Yet any community needs to encourage its artists to push boundaries. We must applaud creative expression by patronizing the arts. As Rezac so poignantly stated, "The performing arts help us to understand ourselves and others. Therefore, we become a stronger community."
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