Mon Valley Performing Arts Academy offers cost-effective arts education
Courtesy of Dr. Michele Pagen
The students of the Mon Valley Performing Arts Academy
Courtesy of Dr. Michele Pagen
Students at Mon Valley Performing Arts Academy also receive instruction in the technical skills of the arts.
Courtesy of Dr. Michele Pagen
Showing off their performance abilities are some of the students of the Mon Valley Performing Arts Academy.
When Dr. Michele Pagen was a child in Dunbar, she would have loved to attend a performing arts school, but her parents could not afford the cost and the only such school in the area was in Pittsburgh.
She hoped to one day open a place a bit more affordable and logistically more accessible. Her efforts brought about the Mon Valley Performing Arts Academy, located in Steele Hall on the campus of PennWest California.
鈥淚 knew if I was able to come back to this area and if I had the opportunity, I would start a program like this,鈥 said Pagen, the academy鈥檚 artistic director. 鈥淚 wanted a place for students to come and study that would be very cost-efficient for parents.鈥
The academy offers performing art and technical theater classes to youth and adults at a very low cost.
鈥淪tudents come to us and they can study acting, voice, dance, musical theater and technical theater,鈥 Pagen said.
Scholarships are available to help parents who may have a financial need.
鈥淎s long as I can pay my instructors, that鈥檚 the max we pay,鈥 Pagen said. 鈥淭his is not a money-making venture.鈥
The academy offers two branches of study: the Summer Experience, with a program for those ages 4 to 7 and another for ages 8 to 17. There鈥檚 also an after-school program during the academic year, and Pagen said participants range from age 3 to adults.
鈥淲e grab students from all over,鈥 Pagen said. 鈥淲e get students all around the five-county area. Sometimes, we get students that I like to refer to as our study abroad (students).鈥 Those would be youth from other parts of the state or other states who stay with area relatives so they can attend the Mon Valley Performing Arts Academy.
Pagen said there currently are 34 students ranging in age from 3 to 16 taking part in 16 classes.
鈥淪tudents who are into theater are ostracized sometimes,鈥 Pagen explained. 鈥淭his is a place a lot of them come and feel like they belong.鈥
Pagen鈥檚 goal for the academy is expansion of services and to have a standalone location in California.
鈥淚 want to have a little bit of social services and arts education for local families,鈥 she said.
Pagen said dance shoes and dance clothing for youngsters are always needed since they grow out of the clothes so quickly, as well as finances to purchase more books and musical scores. Anyone who would like to donate or perhaps attend as a student can contact the academy by visiting its website mvpaa.com or on its Facebook page.
鈥淲e have a closet where it鈥檚 a give and take,鈥 she explained. 鈥淚f you give us a pair of shoes you鈥檝e grown out of and we have a pair you can fit into, you may use those shoes, so you don鈥檛 have to buy another pair of shoes.鈥