Visionary Dance Theater and School for the Performing Arts,
San Diego
Article by Cathy
Breslaw
 |
| Spencer Powell, Founder, Visionary Dance Theater |
The Visionary Dance
Theater and School for the Performing Arts celebrates it’s fifth anniversary. Spencer Powell, Artistic Director, Producer
and founder of the theater programs, explained the many joys and challenges of heading
up some of the best performing arts in San Diego. His perspective is varied and
enriched by twenty-five years experience as actor, dancer, artistic director, choreographer
and producer. In fact, he has won many
awards along the way for choreography, acting and dance. Aside from the School
for the Performing Arts and Visionary Dance Theater, in 2012, Powell created a
professional Visionary Musical Theater Company. He has also joined forces with Mickey Mounarath
to create Mounarath-Powell Production Company which focuses on producing
up-and-coming performing artists in all forms.
The selections of shows,
concerts and programs performed at these theaters and the way the ‘business
side’ of things are handled are in part, influenced by Spencer Powell’s own
background. Powell explained that he came from a poor, single parent family
where his mother cleaned houses as a way
of providing for her family. When
Spencer was only 8 years old he was exposed to dance and he states that it opened
up a new world of possibilities for him, giving him self esteem and confidence,
leading to his future success. Today, he
seeks to educate his students about history, literature and math through the
performing arts. He also exposes the
children to all aspects of the theater including having them work and
participate in selling tickets, cleaning the theater, working the lighting and
choreography. Powell points out that only 1% of performing artists succeed at
making a living and he believes that by including all aspects of the
‘business’ in student training will help provide them with useful skills that
may open doors for them. Powell tackles challenging topics like racial
relations and traditional societal roles in his choice of content for performances.
He cites using songs like ‘Black and Blue’ from ‘Ain’t Mis’Behaven’ and ‘You Have to Be Carefully Taught’ from
South Pacific, as ways to open dialogues with children about history and
culture.
To enhance the
‘community ‘ connections, the school encourages parents of students to act
In the performances,
building family activities as well as community engagement and Powell says
these shows always sell out. The Visionary School received its non-profit
status in January 2014 so that the school will be applying for grants and
scholarships. Other community outreach programs are extended in dance and
theater programs through a teen intern program working with Helix High School
and Point Loma High School. A musical review called “Visions of Broadway” and the
production of Powell’s unique version of “Gypsy” are shows to look forward to
in the coming months. To learn more, go to www.visionarydancetheater.org
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