PACE opening dance studio

Having just celebrated its fifth anniversary, Performing Arts in Children’s Education, a theatre group for children better known as PACE, is staging a challenging production at the University of Missouri’s Jesse Hall this month and opening a dance studio in northwest Columbia on Feb. 9.

Angela Howard, PACE’s artistic director, said the new studio is just another extension of the not-for-profit organization.

“We are very serious about educating students in all forms of theatre, and want to offer children as many opportunities as possible to appreciate the performance arts, whether it is acting, dancing or singing,” Howard said. “Last year we had a lot of things happening, with our partnership with the university and moving to our professional home. I look toward this year and I just see great things for the kids. The dance studio is just the beginning.”

Since its formation in December 2003, PACE has worked with hundreds of children, ages 4 to 18, to stage more than 30 productions and provide numerous classes such as theatre lighting, stage makeup and acting. PACE youth also engaged in community outreach projects involving University of Missouri Health Care.

“As a partner in Art in Healthcare, we provide monthly performances for patients in the Pediatric and Adolescent wards,” Howard said. “We’ve also committed to one production at year, staged in Jesse Hall, to educate people about children health issues.”

The second stage performance in the series, The Jellybean Conspiracy, runs Jan. 15-18 at Jesse. It deals with the difficulties of special-needs children and includes several students with special needs in the cast.

PACE has used facilities at Benton Elementary for rehearsals and classes, and Smithton Middle School and Hickman High School for performances, along with the pre-renovated historic Missouri Theatre. When the renovation of the Missouri Theatre was completed last year, PACE was once again able to expose youth to a professional theatre setting.

“Our ideal location at the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts is a dream come true,” Howard said. “Just think-our young people get to perform on a stage that was graced by vaudeville acts almost 100 years ago!”

The non-competitive dance studio will be located in a 6,000-square-foot building off the Midway exit that PACE acquired last year. The building is used for storage space and recently was renovated to include a costume shop and a place to build stage sets for productions.

Howard said that 1,500 square feet of the Midway building is being converted into the dance studio, which will be marketed especially to the west side of Columbia. PACE hopes to also reach clients in Boonville, Midway, Fayette and Rocheport.

Howard says the studio is a response to several needs she saw in the community.

“I realized there were no studios in northwest Columbia, and after talking to a lot of the kids I found out most of the studios that were here were geared toward competitive dance,” Howard said.

The new studio will offer beginning ballet, jazz, modern dance and musical theatre. At some point, PACE hopes to expand it’s curriculum with classes  in tap, hip-hop and funk.

Howard stressed that the emphasis is not to have students involved in a show, but rather on personal growth for each student.  Classes are open to everyone and there is no requirement to be involved in PACE productions.

The studio teacher will be Jacqueline Rash, who worked with PACE as the choreographer for CATS! during the 2007 season.  She has a bachelor’s degree in dance from Stephens College and has worked for a professional company in Chicago doing modern dance.

Rash anticipates each class having about 10 students. “That way, I can give specific feedback one-on-one,” she said. “I don’t want the kids to feel pressure from other students. I don’t want to try to fit the students into a box and say this is what I want. I want to draw the artistry out of the child at whatever level they are.”

Howard recently took a role in a musical. “I had to call on everything I’ve ever learned to do this part,” she said. “But the thing is, I remembered. That’s what I want for the kids, an opportunity to learn everything they can about performing and have it stay with them the rest of their lives.”

For more information about the new dance studio, located at 7430 Hwy 40 West, contact Jacqueline Rash at 573-289-5851 or register for courses at kidsintheact.org