Arts and Culture United States Project #21152

Provide theater to 2,500 under-served children!

by Arts for All

Project Report | Dec 18, 2015
Thank you for supporting "Voice Power!"

By Jessie Kilguss | Development Director

Darian performing "Voice Power"

Thanks to your support, Voice Power! just concluded a successful run of ten performances for elementary school children in New York City public schools with little to no funding for arts education. Voice Power! also had one public performance at an event we hosted at the Barnes and Noble in Tribeca, to which we brought 75 children from one of our partnering schools.

This interactive piece of educational theater was a huge hit at every show! Darian incorporated elements of hip-hop, singing, whistling, acting and vocal techniques to encourage children to explore their own voices and embrace self-expression and self-confidence. Darian had the children up on their feet and participating along with him to explore the different aspects of their own voices.

A Program Coordinator at one of our partnering schools wrote to us immediately after the performance and said, “All the kids were super engaged. We all loved it.” A little boy in the audience of the show at Barnes and Noble was so moved he was dancing along to the music in the aisle. For many of our students, this was their first exposure to professional theater. We’re happy to report this show was incredibly engaging and was met with great enthusiasm.

Thanks to your donation, we reached our fundraising goal and were able to bring this inspiring piece of theater to approximately 2,500 under-served children in New York City. We are so grateful to you for your invaluable help in achieving our goal of providing accessible artistic opportunities for under-served children in the New York City area.

Darian Dauchan performing "Voice Power!"

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Oct 28, 2015
"Voice Power!" Update

By Jessie Kilguss | Development Director

Writer/Performer, Darian Dauchan

Arts for All is thrilled to present our 2015 Audience Project Tour, “Voice Power!” written and performed by Darian Dauchan and directed by Jennifer McGrath. We will bring this exciting production, free of charge, to over 2,500 under-served New York City children this fall, many of whom have never seen professional theater due to cost. In addition to the fiscal cost, the time necessary to engage deeply with art is often prohibitive. Poet and musician Darian guides young audiences on a vocal odyssey through rhymes, beat boxing, and acapella melodies in search of one of civilization’s most valued treasures- the power of the voice!

Writer and performer Darian Dauchan is an accomplished solo performer and actor who has appeared on both Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre. His solo shows have been produced, workshopped, and presented at the Roundabout Threatre Company, Classical Theatre of Harlem, NYC Fringe, Access Theatre, Kitchen Theatre Company (Ithaca, NY), Playhouse on the Square (Memphis, TN”, Whitefire Theatre (Los Angeles, CA), and Theatre Row. Additionally, his popular Obama poem during the historic 2008 election has received over 73,000 views on YouTube. Darian is the founder of the Spoken Word Almanac Project and has received a grant from the New York State Council of the Arts.

Working with Darian Dauchan is director Jennifer McGrath. Jen is a director, choreographer, stage manager, teacher, and event planner and producer. Some favorite directing credits include Citizen Girl, The Burning Cities Project, and a tri-state area arts education outreach tour of the South African play Woza Albert! Some of her guest work has been at NYU’s Playwrights Horizons Theater School and the La Guardia High School for the Performing Arts. She worked with the “Music Unites New York” Youth Choir as staging choreographer, and stage managed for Jazz at Lincoln Center both in New York and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Assisting the production is production manager Mélissa Smith. Mélissa has been a teaching artist with Arts for All since the fall of 2010. She has taught and facilitated workshops in improvisation, dance, creative writing and theatre techniques to a variety of ages. She is a professional actor (SAG/AFTRA, AEA candidate) with an eclectic resume including Educational Children’s Theatre, dance & musical theatre, improvisational comedies, Shakespeare, devised work and more.

Rehearsals for this high energy, storytelling show begin November 3^rd, 2015 at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center and will also run from the 10^th to the 13^th before the launch of the tour on the 17^th. We will hold 10 assemblies at 7 schools and outreach centers, as well as a performance at our Barnes and Noble TriBeca fundraiser.

We would love to hear your feedback on this program. Please feel free to contact Development Director, Jessie Kilguss at Jessie@arts-for-all.org with your thoughts on this or any other program at Arts For All. Thank you for you unwavering support and we look forward to updating you on this project in the near future.

Darian Dauchan teaching an AFA workshop

2014 Audience Project, "The Emperor's New Clothes"

Writer/Performer, Darian Dauchan teaching at AFA

Students in an AFA workshop

Students in an AFA drama workshop

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