Center for the Arts to Present Family Arts Fest 2017
The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University[BROKEN LINK] will host its second-ever Family Arts Fest, a community event featuring arts activities
and performances for children and adults, as well as museum tours and some of Los
Angeles’ most popular food trucks, on Saturday, March 4, from 11 AM to 3 PM.
Music and theatre performances will be presented on an outdoor main stage adjacent to the Gregg G. Juarez Palm Courtyard. Performances and participatory arts activities will take place at Smothers Theatre, Lindhurst Theatre, and Raitt Recital Hall on the Malibu campus. Food will be available for purchase from food trucks in the main parking lot.
Guided tours will be available for the exhibit of Larry Bell: Pacific Red in the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art. Tours will also be available of the Center for the Arts backstage areas, including the scene shop, where construction is underway for the Fine Arts Division production of The Interference.
“We consider Family Arts Fest to be our open house for the community. We're excited to share interactive, participatory performances and arts experiences with children and families of all ages. This is a great opportunity to come to the Center for the Arts and learn more about the many ways we can all be touched, be moved, be inspired, and be transformed by the arts,” said Rebecca Carson, managing director of the Center for the Arts.
The main event of the afternoon will be a performance by Los Angeles-based Versa-Style Dance Company, as well as an interactive dance party led by the group. Versa-Style Dance Company has some of the most committed and conscientious young artists in town, representing the diversity and beautiful complexity of Los Angeles. Their work fuses hip-hop styles such as 90s hip-hop, house, popping, locking, whacking, and boogaloo, as well as Afro-Latin styles such as salsa, merengue, cumbia, and Afro-Cuban moves.
As a reaction to the widespread media misrepresentation of these dance forms, Versa-Style specifically performs for the youth of Los Angeles to instill the roots, history, and social and political issues surrounding the art of their generation. The group aims to break down barriers of race and socioeconomic backgrounds using dance to promote the freedom of expression, freedom of individuality, hard work, and self-discipline.
The upbeat and danceable Masanga Marimba will also perform at the event.
All Family Arts Fest performances and activities are free and open to the public.