Culture Chronicle
To Showcase Nation's Arts, First Lady Isn't Afraid To Spotlight the Unexpected
The Washington Post - July 21, 2010
By Robin Givhan
In a White House where first lady Michelle Obama's relationship to the arts strives to be both rarefied and common, cerebral and pragmatic, the cultural program is dictated by tradition, personal life story . . . and an unabashed desire to shake things up. Information does not always come through the tried-and-true institutional channels. And many of the honored guests invited to gilded East Room soirees are not even old enough to vote.
On Monday evening, the president and first lady hosted the sixth installment in the White House Music Series: Broadway. As usual, there was an afternoon youth workshop. Dozens of students from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts gathered for a dance lesson from Jerry Mitchell, the award-winning choreographer of "Hairspray." They had only about six hours of rehearsal at the Joy of Motion Dance Center in Northeast Washington before they took the stage at the White House. Their dress rehearsal, in the East Room, was in front of a daunting audience: the first lady, dressed in a chartreuse pantsuit, as well as parents and teachers.
"I didn't make the steps easier for them. They're doing the exact same steps they're doing on Broadway," said Mitchell, tall and lean and wearing a pair of low-tech sneakers. "Why else am I here if not to challenge them and let them know what it might take to do this" professionally? For the full article, click here
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