Arts Academy making Some Noise

By Jennifer L. Warren

(Newburgh) - It’s a late Saturday afternoon in the City of Newburgh, and inside the walls of 64 Grand Street, it’s loud...very loud. Twelve first-grade students are tapping away to Rhiannon’s “S.O.S.”

Meanwhile, over in a neighboring studio, seven teenaged girls are fine tuning their jazz dance skills, as they rhythmically float around the room to Christina Aguilera’s “Back in the Day.”

One of the instructors, Kim Turner-White, leading over the first year seven-nine year old class, is dancing in snyc with her young charges, shouting out reminders, “Come on.” “You can do it.” “Nice job,” encourages Turner-White.
Her students respond, smiling, laughing and eagerly stepping up their tapping game.

Ever since September, 2004, this same energy can be felt at the Newburgh Performing Arts Academy. A non-profit organization providing quality, formal training in the creative arts to youth ages three-eighteen, the Academy was the brainchild of Turner-White, a former dancer who trained at Howard University and the Dance Theater of Harlem. Both she and her husband, Kevin White, who serves as Executive Director for the Academy, shared a vision of making the arts available to all, regardless of financial barriers.

“I wanted to open a place like this where kids could come and learn how to dance without astronomical fees; it’s been my dream to make professional dancing available to all,” says Turner-White, clad in dance gear and tap shoes. “When we first opened the doors here, we were expecting 60 students to sign up; we got 180 and now have waiting lists.”

That number has now ballooned to over 500. Each week 400 kids pass through the doors of NPAA while another 100 plus are involved in the community program. Pre-professional Friday and Saturday classes, along with home schooling offerings are available on-site; while the arts and education program reaches out to the community, bringing classes into the schools.
Very reasonable rates, scholarships, instruction by highly qualified professionals, and expanded curriculum have all contributed to the population hike. Whereas dance was the sole curriculum two years ago, visual arts, theater and music classes have all been added. Now, students can choose from such titles as; ballet, sculpture, set design, Suzuki violin, and voice. Other options, such as the new keyboards and recording studio engineering courses, are attracting boys to the once virtually all-female clientele. The numbers keep climbing, but funding remains hard-pressed to keep pace.

“Everyone chips in here as much as they can,” says White as he glances over at one of the dance students vacuuming the front lobby rug. “People see the high numbers we are attracting and think we are making tons of money; the truth is we are barely getting by and have to rely a great deal on fund raisers and grants.”

Those monies are especially vital come spring time when the NPAA struts their stuff in full costume at the end of the year recital. Here, all of the hard work comes together. It’s a time for many to witness just how much the Academy has affected these young lives.

“Coming here has allowed me to learn more about dance than ever before,” says Amanda Baker, a junior at Newburgh Free Academy who aspires to a career in dance choreography. “When I first came here, I only took the two dance classes; now, I take four...and in things I wouldn’t normally have considered, like tap and ballet, allowing me to really open my horizons.” Heading back to get in some final jazz dance practice, rounding out her three plus hours for the day, she adds, “I’ve taken all the dance classes here, but honestly, if they had any more, I would take them too.”

Pictured Above: 7-9 year-old tap students along with their teacher & Academy co-owner Kim Turner-White.