As a New York transplant who had season tickets to the ballet at Lincoln Center, I felt something was missing when I moved to Dallas. Now I can truly say that the AT&T Performing Arts Center in the Dallas Arts District has filled that void for me. Ten beautiful acres of living, breathing, art and culture brings a smile to my face.
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| Winspear Opera House |
The AT&T Performing Arts Center is one of the most accomplished in the country and has been said to be one of the most significant since New York's Lincoln Center. The Winspear Opera House, the Wyly Theater and Sammons Park are just a few of the many venues that unify the Center. Contemporary dance and music, local performance arts organizations like the Dallas Opera, the Dallas Black Dance Theater and Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico are just a few of the wonderful exhibitions you can experience. One of the biggest draws to the center are the community are touring performances: enter stage right, from Broadway: "HAIR"!
HAIR is a musical about love, peace, passion, freedom and self expression. The social content in the play reveals an interesting parallel as it takes the audience back to a time in our country, not unlike contemporary American society, when people cried out for hope and change. This great musical was at the Winspear Opera House and I had the pleasure of seeing it. The audience was filled with Baby Boomers reminiscing about their afros and long flowing hair (I'm talking about the men actually), bell bottoms, and rebelling against the system. Then, there were the Generation X and Yers looking around in amazement and laughing at how the boomers were all trying to recall their youth.
The actors were not just on the stage they were in the audience rustling our hair and making us get up and dance. We were a part of the play...snapping our fingers and clapping our hands and at the end...we even had a chance to get up on stage and dance with the cast...it was awesome.
I look forward to more great experiences in Dallas' Art District and the AT&T Performing Arts Center: Public Zumba and Yoga classes, Jamie Foxx at the Brinker International Forum and so much more! Hey maybe I'll see you at the Ballet...
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| As Don Cornelius would say: "Love, Peace, and Soul! |
