BETHLEHEM, PA— The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts (Charter Arts) will present its annual Dance Soup concert on November 19 & 20, 2021,  in the Charter Arts Theatre, located at 321 East 3rd Street in South Bethlehem.  There will be evening performances on both days at 7pm and a matinee performance on the 20th at 2pm.

Dance Soup has been an annual tradition at the school for the past nineteen years and features student-choreographed works. This year’s event is especially meaningful because it is the first time the students will be dancing live on the school’s stage after the past year of virtual concerts.

The concert is directed by Jennifer Weaver, a member of the school’s dance faculty who shares:  “The audience will enjoy more than 30 solo and group performances from various genres of dance including modern, jazz, hip-hop, Afro-contemporary dance, and ballet with wide-ranging music selections and themes that will keep them fully engaged. Students have spent a great deal of time developing the concepts for their pieces and exploring the process of creating dance.”

Dance Soup provides students with the opportunity to practice the skills they learn in Improvisation and Dance Composition classes.  Many students begin developing their concepts already in the summer prior to school starting in September.  Through a lengthy process involving faculty acceptance of a student proposal which is due at the start of the school year, the auditioning of fellow classmates, setting rehearsal schedules, creation of a work, and attending mentoring sessions with faculty members, the student sharpens their leadership and choreographic skills. “The students also learn what it’s like to have their work critiqued throughout this process, ” says Weaver.  “We give them a lot of freedom for this concert to really explore the whole world of dance, and they really get the chance to express their individual voice and specialties.”

When asked why the name, Dance Soup?, Weaver explains,  “Just like soup is made from many varied ingredients, so is this concert; and those ingredients come together beautifully to make a complete and diverse show.”

Tickets for the show are $5-$10. Tickets can be purchased online at www.CharterArts.org or at the door.  Online purchase is recommended as shows can sell out.

Charter Arts’ rigorous curriculum fosters both academic and artistic excellence for its students. The school’s impressive Future Ready PA Index ranking, Advanced Placement (AP) exam statistics, Keystone Exam statistics, SAT scores, prestigious artistic accolades, and graduation rate, are testaments to the outstanding education that Charter Arts provides.

Charter Arts is proud to celebrate its nineteenth year as one of the most respected high schools for the arts in the nation.  Charter Arts was named a 2018 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education.  The school has also earned the Title I Distinguished School designation for four years, placing it in the top 5 % of all Title I high schools in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  Recently, Charter Arts was ranked #1 Best Public High School Teachers in PA and #1 Best Charter High School in PA on Niche’s 2022 Best Schools in America Rankings.

Charter Arts is located at 321 East 3rd Street, Bethlehem PA 18015. For more information, visit www.CharterArts.org.

Information & Image Provided By:
Ann Gillette
Manager of Public Relations and Media
Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts
321 East 3rd Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015
www.CharterArts.org