BENEFITS

Three benefits amongst many : Creativity, Ownership and Leadership

At Audacity, we know there are several ways to quantify the benefits of children having access to Performing Arts Education

Creativity

In the performing arts, the children learn to explore their character, their voice, and their talent. These children are also learning how to tell stories in unique and creative ways through physical participation in creating the story.

Who in our culture tells stories?

  • Teachers

  • Entrepreneurs

  • Doctors

  • Venture Capitalists

  • Inventors

  • Scientists

  • Economists

  • Journalists

  • Engineers

  • Lawyers

  • Judges

  • Presidents

Stories are how we communicate with each other. We share complex ideas through the communication of stories; we change the world with stories.

Ownership

Producing a play is always a chaotic process with many pieces coming together at the last minute.

When one watches one of our productions, it is hard to see the completed vision, but the children know because they own it.

When the night comes, when the house lights go off, when the room is filled with more than 100 people, when the stage lights up and the music plays, the children own the show. They own their parts, they own the story, they own the music – they own the show. And, they feel it.

Ownership is responsibility. Ownership is respected. Ownership is self-respect. Learning the skills involved with the feeling of ownership in real-world projects do not often happen in a structured classroom. It takes place in performing arts projects, in clubs, and in sports.

Leadership

Leadership is one of those elusive things that is hard to define, but in children, it's magical.

When given responsibility for a part in a production (acting, light crew, stage crew, etc.), children will rise to the occasion. When things go wrong or simply during the normal course of a production, children will naturally work together to solve problems, take initiative and get things done.

Whether a child is a lead in the play or a member of the third spear carrier in the back row, they are ALL involved in the project of participating in leadership. They never know it, but what they are learning is leadership. If there is a singular skill that is required for our future, it is creative leadership.