About the Dunbar Program
The Dunbar Youth Theatre Arts Program is dedicated to training children in the performance styles and traditions of their ancestors and providing them with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge through public performance.
The Dunbar Program helps build and strengthen these connections in young people by providing workshops in the following areas:
Acting and scene work – focusing on the strengths of the individual and the historical connections between the performer and the character.
Dance – African, African American, and culturally specific dances with a focus on the meaning of the dance and how it reflects the social and spiritual needs of the community that created it.
Music – taught with an emphasis on its purpose and its dramatic content.
Creation and performance – storytelling and creating performance pieces that reflect the experiences and values of the students and their people.
Technical theater – training in the fundamentals of light and sound design and operation.
Interdisciplinary training in acting, music, dance and technical theater is provided by professional artists with significant performance and teaching experience. Previously focused on African American traditions, Dunbar has been re-formed after many years’ hiatus, and has expanded to incorporate the diverse, and commonly underrepresented, cultures of Buffalo’s West Side. Moving forward, we will continue incorporating performing arts from a wide range of cultures. These may include Burmese, Somali, Iraqi, Congolese, and Puerto Rican. We are developing relationships with various cultural groups, identifying appropriate teaching artists and art forms to fill out our existing curriculum. All of these groups once enjoyed a rich oral tradition, tracking their roots through centuries of life both outside of and in America and maintaining a sense of “connectedness” with the past.
To be “connected” is to be engaged, to belong, to be known and affirmed, to have certain permanence in relationships, to be valued, and to be empowered to contribute.
Past Dunbar Seasons
Past Dunbar Seasons
