The Summer Arts Intensive
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The Roxbury Community College Summer Arts Intensive was created to give middle and first year high school students the skills needed to develop their artistic talents and to prepare them for their next steps in the real world. Through the creative arts, we want to give them a foundation that will transfer into all life sciences. We don't expect all of the kids to be artists, but we do expect them to do well in any path they choose.
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Co founder and Artistic Director Robbie McCauley has a passion for turning individuals into critical thinkers. "We insist the students leave with more curiosity, confidence and willingness to explore. That means dictionaries instead of T-shirts and a dose of reality. Acting is not a coat you put on, but a world you run to play in and see what you discover. We're looking for that honesty in the actor and dancer."
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Simply put, the Summer Arts Intensive is a continuation of a huge volume of work through theater and education for Robbie. She is a director, actor, teacher and writer. Directorial credits include Roxbury Community College and Emerson College’s Twelve Angry Jurors, the African American Theatre Festival’s Ascension by Cynthia Robinson and the Roxbury Community College and Emerson College’s collaborative production of A Streetcar Named Desire.
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In the upcoming season she will appear Mainstage in The Heart of Happy Hollow Stories by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Robbie is recognized as an innovator in theatre practice in teaching, and is widely anthologized including Moon Marked and Touched by Sun by Synde Mahone, Extreme Exposure by Jo Bonney, and Performance and Cultural Politics by Elin Diamond.
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She is a recipient of OBIE Award, a Bessie for Performance Art and an AUDELCO Award for acting in Ed Bullins, The Taking of Miss Janie. She is currently on the Performing Arts faculty at Emerson College.
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Gina Hancher, artistic director of dance for the Intensive, began her dance training of ballet, tap, and jazz in New Jersey over 30 years ago. At age 13 she began choreographing for local theatre troupes and dance competitions. She received her BS in Human Geography from The Pennsylvania State University where she joined the Penn State International Dance Ensemble (PSIDE). Throughout college, Gina taught dance in local dance studios and performed throughout the U.S. and Europe. After graduation, Gina became acting Director of PSIDE and a faculty member of the Penn State Exercise Sports Science Department, where she taught dance education, ballroom, and folk & international dance. Since coming to Boston, Gina has performed and choreographed for many dance ensembles and theater productions. She is a certified group fitness instructor and the former Director of Client Experience at Forrester Research, Inc. Gina is also a faculty member at the Boston Architectural Center. In September 2004, Gina brought her creative and leadership skills to the Topf Center for Dance Education as the Artistic Director.
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Abigail Kazlousky, Dance Studio Manager, has been dancing for eighteen years. She is trained in Jazz, Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Tap, Creative Movement, and Hip Hop. She attended Emerson College in Boston, MA where she earned a BFA in Dance/ Theatre and also earned a minor in Theatre Education. While at Emerson, Abigail studied under local choreographers, Janet Taisey Craft and Nicole Pierce and also worked with Sean Curran. She has taught at numerous schools and studios in the Boston area including Brookline High School, Emerson College and The Duval Dance Studio. Abigail is also currently dancing for The Red Umbrella Dance Collaborative in Cambridge, MA. Abigail splits her time teaching in our outreach program and was recently Artist In Residence at Emmanuel College.
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Pamela Green, Executive Coordinator, brings a wealth of creative insight and administrative skills to the Intensive. She has an undying desire to see kids succeed. As an administrator for Mainstage Theater, she has developed, organized and upated a system that is moving the theater forward. She has the unique ability to see a situation, acknowledge it and develop a solution for the problem without being overbearing. She has passed this on to students in the program, and has become an excellent role model for the kids. A recent graduate of Roxbury Community College as a computer information systems and liberal arts major, she plans to pursue a business degree at University of Massachusetts - Boston.
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