SHUFFLE ALONG's Savion Glover to Lead NJ Students in BRING TIME BACK

Savion Glover's BRiNG TiME BaCK @ NJPAC, an original song-and-dance piece featuring a cast of 45 talented New Jersey youngsters ages 6-18, will premiere at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's Victoria Theater on Sunday, September 18 at 6 p.m.

Newark's own Savion Glover, the Tony Award-winning choreographer and tap dance legend, has created this new piece for NJPAC's Arts Education Department. Glover, who is NJPAC's Dance Advisor, also serves on the Board of Directors

Set in a jazz club, BRiNG TiME BaCK @ NJPAC is a nightlife fantasia built around the stories of the club's patrons, evoking the best of yesterday with a modern, contemporary spin. The score spans classic standards, such as "Summertime" and "Stormy Weather," to spirituals ("Jesus on the Mainline"), to more contemporary hits, including "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman." An onstage house band includes students of NJPAC's Wells Fargo Jazz for Teens program. Glover and his cast have been rehearsing throughout the summer.

"It's an old-school club with a new-school environment," says Glover. "We're using these young voices to remind one generation of how a jazz club once was, and at the same time inform a new generation of what that club could have been."

Savion Glover is celebrating his 32nd year in show business. His Broadway credits include The Tap Dance Kid, Black and Blue, Jelly's Last Jam, and Bring in `da Noise, Bring in `da Funk. Movie-goers have seen him in Tap with Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr., Spike Lee's Bamboozled, and the Academy Award-winning Happy Feet and Happy Feet 2, both of which he choreographed. Most recently, Glover was recognized with a Tony Award nomination for his choreography in the Broadway musical Shuffle Along.

All tickets: $12. Visit njpac.org or call 1.888.GO.NJPAC (466-5722).

Glover makes no secret of the fact that many of the pioneers of tap pushed him forward by mentoring or inspiring him from the age of 7: names like Gregory Hines, "Buster" Brown, Jimmy Slyde and Dianne Walker. He pays tribute to their talents in an original presentation, Savion Glover's Chronology of a HooFer, coming to NJPAC on Saturday, Oct. 8.

NJPAC's Arts Education offerings reach more than 75,000 students and families through live performances, in-school residency programs and arts training classes. These programs bring the joy of dance, music, theater, and poetry directly to the classroom. Through innovative residencies, Teaching Artists create stimulating performing arts experiences that engage students' imaginations and build self-confidence through positive self-expression. Our residencies help students learn to work together and develop their creative independence.

In addition to NJPAC's innovative In-School Programs, the Arts Center's comprehensive Arts Education Department offers an Arts Training Program that helps students at every level learn the artistic and technical skills they need to study acting, dance, instrumental music, vocal music, and musical theater. NJPAC also presents a SchoolTime performance series, which introduces students and their families to a world of entertainment and culture. NJPAC's Arts Education programs feature professional artists from a wide variety of traditions and performances of music, dance, storytelling, puppetry, and more. To learn more about Arts Education at NJPAC, visit njpac.org/arts-education.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), located in downtown Newark, New Jersey, is among the largest performing arts centers in the United States and is the artistic, cultural, educational and civic center of New Jersey - where great performances and events enhance and transform lives every day. NJPAC brings diverse communities together, providing access to all and showcasing the state's and the world's best artists while acting as a leading catalyst in the revitalization of its home city. Through its extensive Arts Education programs, NJPAC is shaping the next generation of artists and arts enthusiasts. NJPAC has attracted more than 10 million visitors (including over 1.5 million children) since opening its doors in 1997, and nurtures meaningful and lasting relationships with each of its constituents. NJPAC is a proud partner of Newark Celebration 350.

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