Slideshow: Starting Today, Extraordinary Talent at Pace Theater

The arts will come alive over the next four days as two distinct shows performed by students in the Performing Arts Curriculum Program (PACE) take over the stage at Mamaroneck High School's PACE theater.

Each show contains two plays and six dance performances and showcases the extraordinary talents of the students. The PACE program has been part of Mamaroneck High School for 36 years, and it fosters performing art classes with the curriculum.

"It's a dance and theatre workshop. Our objective in this program is to get the kids to behave like artists," said PACE dance teacher Martie Barylick. "We are showing basically over the course of this week 12 new dances choreographed by students and four one-act plays directed by students. We just pump it out here; we keep them off the streets."

The casts are mixed between students in grades 9-12, and juniors and seniors act as the choreographers and directors.

On Wednesday and Friday nights, "Show A" will run, while Thursday and Saturday night feature "Show B."

The latter will kick off with a play by playwright Jerome Hairston called "Three Dimensions," directed by seniors Megan Correia and Danielle Kogan.

The 10-minute play revolves around the characters of Art and Dale, who battle each other and themselves in midst of coping with the aftermath of a terrible incident involving a shared loved one. Meanwhile, Sheila, the loved one, struggles to make sense of her post-traumatic existence.

"It's a really interesting play," said Adam Bernstein, who plays Dale. "Everyone involved put a lot of work into this."

A second play, Jonathan Rand's comedy "Drugs are Bad," closes the night, as the parody of all those insufferable after-school specials is performed with juniors Eric Glauber and Jackie Sadofsky serving as co-directors.

"We are both really excited and nervous because we are the first juniors to have ever directed for Pace," said Sadofsky. "I think a lot of people will be able to respond to it, understand it well and connect to it on their own level."

In between the two plays are six dances that were conceived and choreographed by the students.

In the dance titled "Post-its, Chocolate-Chip Cookies and Pancakes," choreographer Veronica Guerrero uses a Radiohead tune to back her five dancers.

"My dance is about mistakes and how they aren't necessarily always bad things, and can turn out to be good things, like the post-it note or pancakes," she said.

Kaitlyn Mirabella, who is thinking about minoring in dance or choreography in college, used two performers in a modern dance that focuses on the natural relationship movements in couples.

Co-choreographers Brendan Gaffney and Janaye Stanford chose a dance that showcased the different styles of Spanish dance.

"It's a dance about Barcelona," Stanford said. "We took tango and merengue and all the Spanish dances we could think to tell the story of how the city comes alive when people meet. It's inspired by the architecture and buildings of the area."

For Matt Gray's dance, the senior decided to have two dancers act as shadows for two others.

"It's a dance about the passage of time and looking back and regretting not having done things when you had the chance," Gray said. 

"Show A" contains a mix of dances that range from modern to new-age to some interesting surprises, and the students involved all had a great time in getting both shows up and running.

"This show is really different than any other you have seen before," said dancer Natalie Guerrero. "It's a great show because there are so many varieties of dance and there are some great plays as well. It's an interesting combination and it's going to be fun for everyone."

Editor's note: Don't forget to click through the slideshow; it has 43 images!

Show A

Wednesday, May 19, 8 pm; Friday, May 21, 8 pm
"Sorry, Wrong Number" by Lucille Fletcher - directed by Jack Pace
"English Made Easy" by David Ives - directed by Eliot Cohen
Dances by Christina Angilletta, Wendy Becker and Becca Greenblatt, Danielle Joselson, Noah Rauschkolb, Danielle Rome, and Katie Stuntz
 
Show B

Thursday, May 20, 8 pm; Saturday, May 22, 8 pm
"Three Dimensions" by  Jerome Hairston - directed by Megan Correia and Dani Kogan
"Drugs are Bad" by Jonathan Rand - directed by Eric Glauber and Jackie Sadofsky
Dances by Brendan Gaffney and Janaye Stanford, Matt Gray, Veronica Guerrero,
Kaitlyn Mirabella, Rebecca Paganini and Ilana Zucker-Scharff, and Liza Strauss