I get goosebumps when I consider some of the magnificent performances of history. Scenes pop up in my mind like I watched them yesterday. I reflect on my life and how I believe about certain things, and can almost always trace my early introduction to various topics to the arts.
In the immortal words of Leo Tolstoy: “[Art] is a means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings, and indispensable for the life and progress toward well-being of individuals and of humanity.” Now, there is an effort in Ontario to bring professional performing artists to schools, to allow children of every socioeconomic level an introduction to a different form of artistic expression. "There's a growing awareness of how the arts can support even things like literacy and numeracy and topics like social justice and even environmental awareness," Tim Whalley, executive director of Prologue to the Performing Arts, told CBC's Our Toronto. Prologue to the Performing Arts is a nonprofit organization on a mission to expose as many students as possible across Ontario to the performing arts – “no matter what community or neighbourhood they come from.” The organization was launched in the 1960s and has been bringing equal access to the performing arts ever since. In keeping with that goal, actress Leslie McCurdy recently performed a one-woman play for students at Dr Marion Hilliard Senior Public School in the Malvern neighbourhood. Called Things my Fore-Sisters Saw, the play introduces audiences to the stories of four notable black Canadian women who affected social change. McCurdy explained to students that, as a visible minority, she did not often feel like she fit in while growing up in Canada. Through education about her history, her people’s history and history in general, she began to “feel more rooted and grounded and like I was part of the Canadian mosaic.” There is unifying power in stories and in the way that performing arts can share those stories. McCurdy said she hopes that by sharing her background and performances in schools across Canada she can help students who feel alienated understand that they are not alone. It is a more personalized mode of learning that impacts students on an emotional level, of which textbooks could not even come close. Prologue to the Performing Arts reaches over half a million young Canadians from over 2,000 performances per year. Comments are closed.
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AuthorDr. Angela Carol MD,CCFP,FCFP is a family physician focused on treating chronic illnesses. Archives
May 2022
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