A TAPESTRY OF DANCE AND MUSIC

13 out of 15 performers selected from Headstart School!

A TAPESTRY OF DANCE AND MUSIC

The audience went wild in ecstasy at the National Art Gallery Auditorium on Tuesday evening, as 50 Pakistani youth performed with professional performers of American Voices in a Hip Hop Broadway repertoire, spreading the message of youth empowerment through performing arts.

The show was organized by the US Embassy in collaboration with the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA), National College of Arts, Hunerkada College of Visual and Performing Arts and Empty Space Theatre. Though the performers were all amateurs, but the professional level of their musical and theatre performances was astonishingly high.

Minister Counselor Public Affairs at US Embassy Larry Schwartz inaugurated the show and described the event as a rich cultural tapestry of dance and music, building a new bridge of friendship and understanding among the people of America and Pakistan.

Welcoming the guests, PNCA Director General Tauqeer Nasir said this amazing cultural interaction of Pakistani youth with American Voices would prove to be the harbinger of peace and harmony between the people of both the countries and help show the world the true vibrant culture image of Pakistan. He said that the PNCA aims to build cultural bridges with the world to show the soft image of Pakistan and is proud to be part of this vibrant interaction, providing an opportunity to the Pakistani youth to carry on their message of peace to the world.

The team of American Voices Teaching and Performing Trio comprised pianist and Executive Director John Furguson; vocalist, dancer, choreographer and director Michael Parks Masterson; and director choreographer and writer Carole Hanna McCann. Since 1992, American Voices Association’s mission has been to further the appreciation and understanding of American music and culture, especially in developing countries that emerged from conflict or periods of isolation and those lacking opportunities for cultural exchange and dialogue with the United States.

The American Voices team is in Pakistan on three-week cultural interaction tour, working with theatre companies and university and high school students in a programme of excerpts from contemporary Broadway musicals. They have already held successful interactive sessions of theatre, drama, and music with the youth of Lahore and Karachi before coming to Islamabad.

Earlier, while speaking to ‘The News’, Leslie Philips, Assistant Cultural Attaché of US Embassy, said American Voices is here to give the exposure of American Broadway to Pakistani audiences and performers. She said the show brings together two cultures in a closer bond of friendship, adding that Pakistani youth has shown great talent and brilliance in their performances. “They learned how to be Broadway performer through the workshops and sessions held by the professional trainers of American Voices and were thrilled to have their first training in musical theatre”, Lesile said.