Residency Outreach Programs

Annual Dance Residency and Outreach

Doug Varone & Dancers will be in residence March 19-24, 2012.  Their residency is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Since 1994, the Center has conducted more than sixteen extended dance outreach projects to provide arts education for more than 23,000 students at schools primarily in the City of Buffalo and Niagara Falls.  Western New York public school students have experienced live professional dance performances in their schools, free of charge, by some of the world's finest companies. 

University at Buffalo dance majors benefit from master classes with members from some of the best professional dance groups in the country when groups are in residence for several weeks each spring. 

The residency activities have also expanded to our partner hospitals in the Arts in Healthcare Initiative - Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo. 

Click here for more information.

Special Residency Projects

Occasionally, the Center has the opportunity to host a unique touring group or tech of a touring production for a longer, more intimate engagement.  These projects involve university students and faculty, as well as outreach to the Western New York community.

Jesus Christ Superstar Residency
Most recently, the national tour of Jesus Christ Superstar utilized our resources to tech and premiere its 2006 run, starring Ted Neeley and Corey Glover.  Department of Theatre & Dance students had the opportunity to work with the professional crew and meet the directors and producers in classes. 

The Mystical Arts of Tibet
The Center for the Arts hosted the monks of the Drepung Loseling monastery in September 2006 while they constructed a sand mandala in the University Art Gallery.  The monks performed The Mystical Arts of Tibet: Sacred Music, Sacred Dance for World Healing in the Mainstage Theatre.  The residency coincided with the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet. 

Fosse Residency - September 8-21, 2003
Fosse began its 47-week international tour at the Center for the Arts, with a two week residency leading up to the two public performances. Residency activities included classes in scenic and lighting design, dance, and musical theatre for UB Theatre & Dance students. Company members also rehearsed at the Center in preparation for the tour.

Eager Artists Residency - October 27-December 1, 2002
Due to the success of The Living Room Project, the Center was able to offer a second residency to the company. Eager Artists also worked with the Irish Classical Theatre Company and Arts in Education Institute of Western New York.  The residency consisted of dance and acting outreach activities for schools in the WNY area as well as master classes for UB's Department of Theatre & Dance.  The residency culminated in the performance of MINE GHOSTS, written and directed by Jerry Pooe, telling the story of an old man haunted by his memories of the life he lived working in the mines of South Africa.

The Living Room Project - September 10 - October 7, 2001
The Living Room Project was a special performing arts collaboration between the Center and Eager Artists Theater Company of Durban, South Africa. It was based on intimate community engagements in Buffalo during which Eager Artists and its audiences shared a performance and informal meal together in the home of each community "host." The purpose of the project was to facilitate a greater understanding of the performing artists and their work through high quality, intimate experiences for participants.

Eager Artists provided Living Room engagements in homes, churches and community centers in Western New York (primarily Buffalo). Community hosts and partners included: Juneteenth Festival, Ujima Theatre Company, Arts Council of Buffalo and Erie County, African American Cultural Center, 1490 Senior Center, Mrs. Erma Robinson, Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, Judge Timothy Franczyk, Mrs. Enid Wright, North Jefferson's Public Library, UB President William R. Greiner, YMCA of Greater Buffalo, Langston Hughes Institute, Moot Senior Center and Assemblyman Paul Tokasz.

The Project culminated with a public performance on the Center's Mainstage of Ekhaya Poppie, musical about the involvement of black South Africans in an Anglo-Boer War. It tells the story of Poppie and others that were tortured, killed, raped and imprisoned in concentration camps.  A documentary was produced by Full Circle Studios, an established Buffalo media house.

The Living Room Project was made possible in part by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Arts Partners Program which is underwritten by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.