SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS
We believe dance should be accessible to everyone.
Scholarship funds/financial aid explanation or description as to why we do it and how it helps. blah blah blah…. F0r more information about financial aid, please contact us.
“If you light a lantern for another, it will also brighten your own way.”
~ Nichiren
We offer 4 scholarship funds for various, ages, levels and needs. Please inquire with the Artistic Director, Nanci Hammond to learn more.
Michael Peters was born in Brooklyn, and performed with modern-dance choreographers and company directors in the 1960's and 70's, among them Talley Beatty, Alvin Ailey, Bernice Johnson and Fred Benjamin. He also created dances for the concert stage before his first major breakthrough in theater in 1979 in the Broadway musical ``Comin' Uptown,`` an all-black version of Dickens's ``Christmas Carol,`` which starred Gregory Hines. He directed his first Broadway musical, ``Leader of the Pack,`` in 1985.
Michael shared a Tony with Michael Bennett for their choreography for ``Dreamgirls,`` the 1981 Broadway musical based on the story of the Supremes, and won two Emmy Awards, for choreographing ``Liberty Weekend Closing Ceremonies`` and ``The Jacksons: An American Dream.``
He was also among the first to establish a name for the choreography of music videos, in the process helping to raise their production values and claims to being serious works of popular culture. His work with Michael Jackson on the ``Beat It`` and ``Thriller`` videos, in which Mr. Peters also danced, was a sophisticated blend of musical theater and pop values. He was also vocal in pressing publicly for more acknowledgement of choreographers in film and began a campaign to push for an Oscar for choreography.
Dedicated to the memory of this great and innovative choreographer, The Michael Peters Scholarship focuses on assisting dancers, especially at risk young men or women, in The Upper Division Program, who haven’t the necessary funds or resources to pursue their artistic studies.
The daughter of celebrated dancers Dennon and Sayhber Rawles, Jessica began her training here at The Performing Arts Center when she was 8 years old. She became a beautiful dancer equally proficient in ballet, jazz and tap. Jessica attended summer programs with such prestigious ballet schools as the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, The Joffrey Ballet Workshop in San Antonio, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, in which she was offered a scholarship. She was twice recognized as a semi-finalist in the Music Center's Annual Spotlight Awards Competition in 1996 and 1999.
While actively pursuing her Masters degree in dance as well as her own professional career, Jessica was taken unexpectedly by complications from Marfan Syndrome. She was just 28 years old and serving as our Ballet Mistress at the time.
This scholarship was created to honor our dear colleague, friend and teacher. We will never forget her gifts, which were many, that she so generously shared. This scholarship can be awarded to any dancer in The Upper Division Program needing financial support in order to pursue their dreams of performing.
This Scholarship Award is named for and honors the teaching legacy of one of our wonderful mentors, Sallie Whalen.
Sallie began her career debuting on-stage with the prestigious San Francisco Ballet at the tender age of 15 years old. She went on to perform for many years as a soloist with this prominent company. After her time with the ballet came to a close, she went on to dance in many of the Hollywood musicals of the 50’s and 60’s and was among the first dancers performing on the new media sensation of the time….. television.
Sallie went on to establish her own school, Los Angeles Dance Center in the 1970’s and eventually wound up back teaching with us in 2005. She has mentored and taught innumerous dancers through her illustrious career and taught almost everyday until just before her death.
This one time Scholarship Award serves any dancer in any of The Performing Art Center’s Programs.
From a very young age, Carlyn Muchmore (Duffy) always cherished a deep desire to be a ballet dancer. At 10 years old, when she was told it was too late for her to begin serious training, she decided that acting and singing would be the next best thing. She worked diligently on her craft and was cast in her first Broadway play at the tender age of 12 years old in a revival of Lillian Hellman’s “The Children’s Hour.” When her parents decided to abruptly move from New York to San Diego, Carlyn was devastated. However, as always, she was not to be detoured and continued to pursue her acting career at the Junior Theater- a part of San Diego’s famed Old Globe Theater.
With the dream of becoming a ballet dancer still deep in her heart, at 15 years old, Carlyn decided to give up her successful acting and singing career and announced to her parents that instead, despite the odds, she was going to become a ballet dancer… even if only in the corps de ballet. In that moment, in her own words, “she gave her whole heart to making her dream to dance in the ballet come true.”
While certainly an uphill battle, Carlyn’s deep passion, ceaseless efforts and uncompromising devotion for this art form proved her equal to the task. Against all probability, Carlyn’s resume boasts of her tremendous success; which included dancing leading roles as an original member of Harkness Ballet Company, as well as with First Chamber Dance Company, Les Grands Ballet Canadienne, Kovach and Rabovsky’s Bahri Dance Troupe, Emily Frankel Dance Drama Company and N.Y.C. Opera Ballet to name a few. She also had the privilege of working in original works with noted choreographers: Jerome Robbins, Anton Dolin, Jack Cole, Agnes de Mille and Alvin Ailey.
When once asked, “Why do you want to dance?” Carlyn responded with the question, “Why do you want to live?”
“I don’t know why but somehow I must.”
“That is my answer too!”