40 Local Students to Join Savion Glover for 'A COLTRANE STORY'

For the second consecutive summer, Newark's own Savion Glover, the Tony Award-winning dancer and choreographer, assembled a cast of 40 talented New Jersey students for an original musical production based on the life of John ("Trane") Coltrane, the famed jazz saxophonist and composer.

Savion Glover will be teaching and directing these students an original song-and-dance piece that salutes the genius jazz icon John Coltrane. These young New Jersey students have been given the opportunity to explore their authentic voices while being coached by a Broadway legend.

Savion, who is a tap master and NJPAC's dance advisor, will personally work with these NJPAC Arts Education students the week of September 12th culminating to the performance of A Coltrane Story 'or Something Along Those Lines @NJPAC in the Victoria Theater.

A Coltrane Story 'or Something Along Those Lines is an extraordinary example of how tens of thousands of students embrace the performing arts at NJPAC each year. The piece was created specifically for NJPAC's Arts Education Department.

Be sure to see A Coltrane Story 'or Something Along Those Lines @NJPAC on Saturday, September 18th at 2pm or 7pm. All tickets are $16.00 and can be purchased at njpac.org or call 1.888.GO.NJPAC (466-5722) or by visiting Box Office at 1 Center Street, Newark, New Jersey.

Legendary hoofer 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. Moviegoers 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.

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, N.J., has the most diverse programming and audience of any performing arts center in the country, 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 8 million visitors (including over 1.6 million children) since opening its doors in 1997, and nurtures meaningful and lasting relationships with each of its constituents.

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