People in The Photo: YWCPA Students With Principal Dr. Tabitha Davis & Dance Teacher Aliyah Harris; GHWCC Members Valerie Behar, Theresa Einhorn, Kelly Frazier, Debra Hatter & Sandra Porter; and Shayla White, Executive Director Of GHWCC’s Women’s Business Center GHWCC
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GHWCC Hosts YWCPA Students at a Live Performance of the Nationally Acclaimed Dance Theatre of Harlem
GHWCC, through the efforts of the Women Supporting the Arts Committee and friends of the Committee, hosted a group of students from Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy (YWCPA) to see a Saturday matinee live performance of Dance Theatre of Harlem at Jones Hall on February 4. Many thanks to Performing Arts Houston CEO Meg Booth for arranging this special event for the students.
After a beautiful and moving three-act performance, the students had the unique opportunity to meet and chat with some of the dancers and the dance company’s artistic director. The girls were also treated with a visit to the Jones Hall Green Room for a VIP reception, where they were greeted by Performing Arts Houston staff and other patrons.
During this month, Black History Month, it is a fitting time to pay tribute to this talented and inspiring dance company and to its co-founder Arthur Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell was the first black ballet dancer to achieve international stardom. He broke barriers as an iconic dancer with the New York City Ballet and as co-founder of Dance Theatre of Harlem. In the words of the dance company’s Artistic Director, cultural icon Virginia Johnson, “Not even a world-wide pandemic could dim our commitment to Dance Theatre of Harlem co-founder Arthur Mitchell’s belief in the power of art to transform lives and open minds.”
Performing Arts Houston is a member of the GHWCC and is the largest performing arts presenting organization in the Southwest. Each year Performing Arts Houston (formerly named Society for the Performing Arts) presents internationally acclaimed artists from the entire performing arts spectrum for Houston audiences to enjoy. It is dedicated to community outreach and educational programs in order to make the performing arts accessible and welcoming to everyone.
Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy is the “adopted school” of GHWCC’s Women Supporting the Arts Committee. YWCPA, a Title I HISD school located in Houston’s Third Ward with grades 6-12, has received a number of awards for its academic successThe school has a 100% graduation rate. YWCPA’s 32 seniors in the graduating Class of 2021 earned more than $3.5 million in merit-based scholarships. Nearly a third of the 2021 graduates are the first in their families to graduate from high school, and when they graduate from college, 45% of them will be the first in their families to graduate from college.
An important aspect of the mission of the GHWCC Women Supporting the Arts Committee is to bring the performing and visual arts to underserved students in HISD schools. Membership in the Committee is open to all GHWCC members.