In collaboration with our partners in the EMU Music Department, nearly 1,200 5th and 6th grade students from Rockingham County and Harrisonburg City Public Schools experienced Mexilachian y Appalachiano music, a new style of traditional music inspired the sounds and songs of Mexico and Appalachia. In their words, Lua Project is "a cultural pollinator, bridging together musical styles from different continents and cultures." Writing about contemporary themes, families and communities, work and loss, Lua Project has created a repertoire inspired by the musical traditions of their varied cultural past and narrative storytelling approaches. They performed original music and included students in call and response song and rhythm at EMU Lehman Auditorium. 

Many thanks to Tall and Small Photography for the images below. 

Cahoots NI, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, aims to "inspire a sense of wonder, unlock imagination and nurture a love of the arts in children." Last week, 3rd graders from Harrisonburg City Public Schools experienced this sense of wonder through storytelling and dazzling illusions at The Forbes Center for the Performing Arts. 

Inspired by true events,  The Vanishing Elephant, an incredible story of resilience and friendship, comes to life through large-scale puppetry, illusion, and theatrical magic. Jenny, a young elephant in India, is full of curiosity and wonder. Sadly, one day, her life changes when she is captured, separated from her family, and eventually taken to America to join a circus. She must learn the ways of humans who can be cruel, but she befriends a young boy named Opu. Her special bond with Opu is the first step on an adventure so huge, it spans decades and continents, but despite the time and distance, Jenny never forgets her forever friend. Years later when Opu is an old man, their paths cross once again in an unexpected encounter with the world-famous magician Harry Houdini in New York City. Their life-long friendship is rekindled in a magical way when Jenny makes history as The Vanishing Elephant.

Many thanks to our Premiere Performance Partner,  The Forbes Center for the Performing Arts at JMU for making the arts come alive for our students. Photos by the incredible Tall and Small Photography.