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CITADEL DANCE & MUSIC CENTER |
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The Citadel Dance & Music Center now offers comprehensive instrumental and vocal music instruction. Click on the link below for information on the kinds of classes available. Additional information can be obtained by emailing Susan Dietrich-Reed, Music Director, at dietrichreed@yahoo.com Get information on Music Lessons »
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Hinkley Street ecropley@citadeldancecenter.org Our Mission: to develop the skills and character of individuals of every age and ethnicity through dance education and performance
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The Citadel Dance Center was founded in 2000 by Eileen Cropley and is located in the renovated historic Salvation Army building in the Benton Harbor Arts District. The mission of the Citadel, a nonprofit organization, is to develop the skills and character of individuals through dance education and performance, and to offer high quality dance instruction to people of all ages and ethnicity for a reasonable fee. All instructors are professionally trained dancers bringing years of experience to the program. Eileen Cropley was a Martha Graham scholarship student before dancing professionally with the Paul Taylor Dance Company in New York for eleven years. She went on to become Associate Professor of dance at Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois, retired and relocated to Benton Harbor with the vision of establishing a school offering professional dance instruction for all ages regardless of financial circumstances. The student enrollment has expanded quickly and steadily. The dancers' ages range from three years old through adult creating a diverse body of participants. The Citadel provides an opportunity to participate in the arts after school and on weekends in a friendly and caring atmosphere.
In addition to the students, parents and members of the wider community benefit from seeing the progress and potential of their children in the two annual performances given each year in December and early June. In these performances the dancers are exposed to an eclectic range of music from Bach, Handel, Stravinsky, and Glazunov to traditional Irish and Turkish to contemporary popular music. Originally composed music is offered by Larry Schanker, a highly talented, award-winning composer from our community. The dances choreographed by the Citadel's talented faculty, all of whom have professional training and qualification, include ballet, modern, tap, jazz, Irish step and hard shoe, tango, ballroom and hip hop. By including dance from other cultures the Citadel widens the understanding of and respect for people and cultures from other parts of the world. Along with weekly classes the Citadel has two performance companies, the Citadel Dancers and the Junior Citadel Dancers. Students in these companies must audition and maintain high standards as well as a rigorous practice schedule. Each year they have been asked to perform at such venues as the Benton Harbor Children's Art Fair, Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff, the St. Joseph Municipal Band, the Venetian Festival and Chalk the Block. With the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra they have performed in Rodeo, Carnival of the Animals and in the opera Hansel and Gretel. The
Citadel Dance Center
has become a symbol of success of multi-cultural
and multi-ethnic cooperation. Dance, quite simply, brings people together
regardless of racial, ethnic or financial background. The Citadel leads
and reflects the positive change that is taking place in Benton Harbor. |
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View and order photos from past performances!
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