New Music/Dance Program Welcomes Students Hermon, ME Some of the 130 young people from the greater Bangor area who took part in a sold-out performance at Morgan Hill Event Center last September are already signing up for a series of classes in music theater arts being offered through Morita’s School of Dance. The program is the brainchild of the school’s founder Morita Tapley, Ira Kramer, and Grace Livingston, and is called Stage Light Studio. Anyone interested in registering should contact the studio by calling 207.848.5083 or email msdance@juno.net. For several years, Ira and Grace have been part of The Young Americans (YA), based in Corona, CA. The organization’s Music Outreach Tours travel around the U.S. and abroad bringing the joy of singing and dancing to young people from eight to eighteen, in schools, studios, and even youth prisons. The group has also performed in a dinner theater in Michigan every summer for 30 years, and opened a European Dinner Theater in 2011. They even got an invitation to be in Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in 2010. “The best part about this is seeing the introvert or self-doubter become empowered and shine. This is about team building and self worth. Song and dance are powerful tools that make this possible,” says Kramer. The Canadian born singer-songwriter has been studying guitar since age five (his father teaches classical guitar). His experience in YA includes one national and three international tours, and YA Dinner Theater (Europe). Livingston, who grew up in Veazie and graduated from Bangor H.S. in 2004, has been on two national and 10 international YA tours, and YA Dinner Theater (Europe). One or both of the teacher-performers have been to Russia, Germany, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Gibraltar, Ireland, England, and Japan. In the fall of 2011, they were part of a small group of seasoned YAs who traveled to northeastern Japan to work with the children of families devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. Seeing a nation of people push through such devastation and heartbreak, with light shining through their eyes, is life changing. The ability to uplift by showing love and support proves yet again to be a powerful tool,” Livingston says. “We are so glad to be back home now, to work with these young people! I fell in love with the performing arts here, and I can’t wait to help others do the same.” Morita Tapley brought the Music Outreach Workshop to Maine in 1999, when Livingston was an eighth-grader at Veazie Community School. Tapley discovered the Young Americans in 1989, when Morita’s School of Dance was invited to represent Maine at a YA Dance Festival in Los Angeles. A decade later, the first Maine Outreach Workshops were held. Every three years, the YA Outreach program returns to Maine, offering workshops to young people from third through twelfth grades. They come from all over to a host school for three days of educational exercises, performance tips, and rehearsal for a final two-hour show that generally rocks the rafters. Nancy Burgoyne, a teacher at Penobscot Valley High School, took an active part in the Howland Workshop, along with Music Director Amanda Cushman. “The value of the program is, in a word, self-esteem,” she says. “We’re a small, rural school and our students do not have many opportunities like this. Some want to have careers [in performing arts] and others just want to have fun.” She also notes, “We have tremendous support from the community, which is one reason that in 2011, twenty-five percent of our student body took part in a workshop!” Monique Hashey, Hermon Arts Boosters Co-Chair, has been an active supporter of the YA Outreach program at Hermon High School. “The workshops have been very popular with our students and in our community,” she says, adding, “There are many young people who would like to continue their learning; bringing more of that YA-style performing arts magic to the area will be a welcomed addition.” Orono High School Assistant Principal Bob Sinclair echoes the two women’s sentiments. “No matter whether a student is a football player or someone with a music background, the program makes them feel better about themselves,” he says. “They’re pushed beyond what they think they can do, and they discover the self-confidence to try new things. At Orono, we feel that if there is anyone who wants to be in a YA workshop, we will make sure that happens.” Now, these same teaching methods that have engaged and inspired thousands of young people around the world for 20 years will be available to anyone in the region in grades 3-12. For more information, contact: stagelightstudio@gmail.com or call Morita’s School of Dance at 207.848.5083.

New Music/Dance Program Welcomes Students

Hermon, ME Some of the 130 young people from the greater Bangor area who took part in a sold-out performance at Morgan Hill Event Center last September are already signing up for a series of classes in music theater arts being offered through Morita’s School of Dance.

The program is the brainchild of the school’s founder Morita Tapley, Ira Kramer, and Grace Livingston, and is called Stage Light Studio. Anyone interested in registering should contact the studio by calling 207.848.5083 or email msdance@juno.net.

For several years, Ira and Grace have been part of The Young Americans (YA), based in Corona, CA. The organization’s Music Outreach Tours travel around the U.S. and abroad bringing the joy of singing and dancing to young people from eight to eighteen, in schools, studios, and even youth prisons.

The group has also performed in a dinner theater in Michigan every summer for 30 years, and opened a European Dinner Theater in 2011. They even got an invitation to be in Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade in 2010.

“The best part about this is seeing the introvert or self-doubter become empowered and shine. This is about team building and self worth. Song and dance are powerful tools that make this possible,” says Kramer.

The Canadian born singer-songwriter has been studying guitar since age five (his father teaches classical guitar). His experience in YA includes one national and three international tours, and YA Dinner Theater (Europe).

Livingston, who grew up in Veazie and graduated from Bangor H.S. in 2004, has been on two national and 10 international YA tours, and YA Dinner Theater (Europe). One or both of the teacher-performers have been to Russia, Germany, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Gibraltar, Ireland, England, and Japan.

In the fall of 2011, they were part of a small group of seasoned YAs who traveled to northeastern Japan to work with the children of families devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. Seeing a nation of people push through such devastation and heartbreak, with light

shining through their eyes, is life changing. The ability to uplift by showing love and support proves yet again to be a powerful tool,” Livingston says. “We are so glad to be back home now, to work with these young people! I fell in love with the performing arts here, and I can’t wait to help others do the same.”

Morita Tapley brought the Music Outreach Workshop to Maine in 1999, when Livingston was an eighth-grader at Veazie Community School. Tapley discovered the Young Americans in 1989, when Morita’s School of Dance was invited to represent Maine at a YA Dance Festival in Los Angeles. A decade later, the first Maine Outreach Workshops were held.

Every three years, the YA Outreach program returns to Maine, offering workshops to young people from third through twelfth grades. They come from all over to a host school for three days of educational exercises, performance tips, and rehearsal for a final two-hour show that generally rocks the rafters.

Nancy Burgoyne, a teacher at Penobscot Valley High School, took an active part in the Howland Workshop, along with Music Director Amanda Cushman. “The value of the program is, in a word, self-esteem,” she says.

“We’re a small, rural school and our students do not have many opportunities like this. Some want to have careers [in performing arts] and others just want to have fun.” She also notes, “We have tremendous support from the community, which is one reason that in 2011, twenty-five percent of our student body took part in a workshop!”

Monique Hashey, Hermon Arts Boosters Co-Chair, has been an active supporter of the YA Outreach program at Hermon High School. “The workshops have been very popular with our students and in our community,” she says, adding, “There are many young people who would like to continue their learning; bringing more of that YA-style performing arts magic to the area will be a welcomed addition.”

Orono High School Assistant Principal Bob Sinclair echoes the two women’s sentiments. “No matter whether a student is a football player or someone with a music background, the program makes them feel better about themselves,” he says.

“They’re pushed beyond what they think they can do, and they discover the self-confidence to try new things. At Orono, we feel that if there is anyone who wants to be in a YA workshop, we will make sure that happens.”

Now, these same teaching methods that have engaged and inspired thousands of young people around the world for 20 years will be available to anyone in the region in grades 3-12.

For more information, contact: stagelightstudio@gmail.com or call Morita’s School of Dance at 207.848.5083.