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Washington's voice boomed through the room as counted: "5, 6, 7, 8! Left! Right!"
The children's feet moved in a choreographed dance as their hands stayed motionless and folded behind their backs. Washington, founder and artistic director of the famous Lula Washington Dance Theatre, kept count as the thuds from the children's feet echoed.
"That's it!" Washington said.
The dance lessons, which are part of a 12-week artist-in-residence program with Washington, is just one aspect of the 2-year-old K-12 Arts Education Outreach Program, initiated by the Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center at College of the Canyons.
Recently, the Performing Arts Center was selected to participate in the Partners in Education Institute at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The local team, made up of educators from Newhall, Saugus Union and Sulphur Springs school districts and the Performing Arts Center, is one of 16 across the nation selected for the May institute.
The unique opportunity gives art organizations across the country a chance to expand partnerships with school districts and promote an arts education in public schools. The institute is led by professionals from the Kennedy Center.
The three-year commitment will allow school districts leaders to come up with a plan so teachers can include arts in a student's everyday education.
"We're trying to find a shared vision for the arts so it's not the first thing on the chopping block in difficult times," said Adam Philipson, managing director of the Performing Arts Center.
Until May, the established outreach program has been bridging school districts with the Performing Arts Center. The program is made up of bus-ins where local students visit the Performing Arts Center to watch high-profile performances.
Performers also visit local schools as part of an artist-in-residence to teach students about the arts. Rio Vista and Cedarcreek elementary schools of the Saugus Union School District are in the middle of a 12-week program where student learn a dance routine. They will showcase their dance skills on April 30 in front of hundreds of their students peers at the Performing Arts Center.
So far, Cedarcreek Principal Rudy Ramirez has watched his students gain more confidence through the hands-on opportunity.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance," he said.
