Synopsis "Into the SmartArts: Student Tales and Trails Through Cultural Arts (in English)"
Cultural arts provide a universal language as well as a plethora of perception-changing experiences. Art is one area in life where there is a thread unifying people to share and explore existence in a profound manner. SmartArts at Westchester Community College provides a dynamic theatre going experience that exposes students to a variety of performing arts productions including Russian ballet, exotic music concerts of Mongolian throat singing, flamenco dancing from Spain, and even Sufi Whirling Dervishes of Turkey. Many of these exotic, globe-trotting performances are accompanied by a master class or an outreach activity where the students can learn about the company, practice new techniques or watch rehearsals with the luxury of asking questions to the choreographers, performers, and directors. Some of the students who may be disenfranchised or simply unaware of such performances are invited and awakened to a kaleidoscope of new sensorial phenomena. The mind, body, and spirit may all be moved, shaped, and shifted after seeing live theatre. It is paramount to broaden one's horizons and phenomenological purview vis-à-vis the arts. After experiencing what SmartArts and the global stage have to offer, twelve students, two of whom are alumni and practitioners professionals in the arts field, have candidly shared their stories on how the cultural arts changed their lives. Their personal vignettes are poignant, memory rich and insightful. Through introspection and artistic exploration, discovering the arts has opened, cleansed, and widened doors of perception. Though the students live distinctly disparate lives and come from a multitude of different backgrounds, there is an awe-inspiring sense of unification when we are all connected by the universal language of sharing reflections of the cultural arts.
