The art program of Kennedy Center includes dance, ballet, opera, drama, music (including national symphony orchestra, chamber music, jazz and other series), education, art festivals, youth and family programs, banquets and parties, art awards, Millennium stage, performances, other programs and programs of art partner institutions.
The dance section organizes about 12 dance companies (mainly modern dance) in each performance season, each performance lasts for 3 days to one week, and some dance art workshops are also held.
The Ballet Company organizes about 8 dance companies every season, and each dance company performs for 5-6 days, and arranges for the participating companies to hold public rehearsals and other activities.
The Drama Department invites about 15 troupes to perform musicals and plays every season. The performance time of each troupe varies from one day to three weeks, and corresponding art exchange activities will be held.
Fortis Chamber Music Concert Series holds about 12 concerts every season, with each group 1 concert.
Jazz section organizes about 10 band performances every season, and each team performs 1 performance.
The art festival includes the Opening Art Festival, the Prelude Art Festival, the Kennedy Center Art Festival, and the special art festival to commemorate and celebrate artists (holding an art festival with the theme of "Shakespeare in Washington"). The Kennedy Center's art award activities include the Kennedy Center Honor Award, the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Award and the marian anderson Award.
Art education is an extremely important part of the Kennedy Center's art plan, which includes many activities for educational institutions, adults, students, families and art managers. Carry out activities in institutions, other institutions and other regions through modern scientific and technological means such as the Internet.
The Youth and Family Program Group organizes about 20 performances every season, focusing on the interests of the audience, with different forms, including drama, concert, dance, puppet and so on. Some programs will last only one day, while others will last for three weeks.
In addition to performances, about 30 events are organized and arranged every quarter. The main contents include public rehearsal, backstage visit, art discussion, master class, expert lecture, dialogue with artists, lunch and so on.
Banquets and parties are mainly combined with the Kennedy Center honor award ceremony, holding large-scale fund-raising parties, annual spring fund-raising parties, fund-raising dances in support of the National Symphony Orchestra, etc. In recent years, the Kennedy Center has also held fundraising activities in the form of barbecues and fireworks viewing on the top floor platform of the center building every year.
There are various forms and contents of performances on the Millennium Stage, and the main feature is free performances from 6 to 7 o'clock every night. This plan aims to popularize art to more ethnic groups and improve the affinity of the center. Up to now, more than 26,000 artists from 50 States in the United States and more than 40 countries around the world have performed on the Millennium stage, and more than 2 million viewers have watched the performance. In order to let more audiences around the world know about the Kennedy Center and get in touch with the performing arts, the center also broadcasts programs on the Millennium stage through the Internet every day. Since April 2002, the Millennium Stage and the American Center for Folk Life have jointly held an open-air concert in the square outside the Library of Congress from April to 165438+ 10 every year to introduce the distinctive performing arts in various regions.
Other program sections are mainly international elegant, farthest and most avant-garde exploratory performances that can be imagined by artistic imagination, which are different from the organization and arrangement of ordinary performing arts such as music, dance and drama.
The performance of the National Symphony Orchestra is an important part of the Kennedy Center. Since 1987, the National Symphony Orchestra has become an art institution under the Kennedy Center. It has its own board of directors and arranges its own art plan on the basis of close cooperation with the Kennedy Center, but its marketing, fund-raising and other management work are mostly undertaken and guided by the Kennedy Center. The National Symphony Orchestra not only performs more than 100 concerts in the Central Concert Hall every art season, but also entrusts the creation of musical works, some of which won Pulitzer Prize. The orchestra also gives a lot of performances in other states every year, and holds art education activities in the form of symphonies, chamber music, solo concerts and master classes.
The Kennedy Center has cooperative relations with nine art institutions. They are Washington Opera House, Washington Performing Arts Association, Washington Ballet, Washington Chorus Art Association, Washington Masters Choir, Washington Chorus, Greater Washington Executives Association, Vocal Music Art Association and Youth Concert Artists Association. These institutions have different degrees of cooperation with the Kennedy Center, where they carry out projects. Among them, the Washington Opera House is the resident art troupe of the Kennedy Center, and placido domingo is the director. Every art season, the Kennedy Center Opera House will stage 7 to 8 operas and more than 50 performances. Washington Performing Arts Association is a multi-cultural art promotion organization, which holds about 100 performances in Kennedy Center and other places in Washington every year. Washington Ballet presents three ballet programs at Kennedy Center every year.
In addition to the above basic forms, the art programs and activities of the Kennedy Center have the following characteristics, which are worth understanding.
Kennedy Center 197 1 was completed and opened to the public on September 8th. Since then, the Open Door Art Festival has been held every September to celebrate birthdays, and it has been held for 22 times so far. On the opening day of the art season in September every year, from noon 12 to 7: 00 p.m., related news is first released in the square outside the center, fireworks are set off, and all venues are open to tourists free of charge, providing more than 30 performances, exhibitions and various entertainment activities, including concerts by the National Symphony Orchestra, performances by various drama groups in Washington, jazz performances, traditional puppet shows, performances by famous drama performers and so on.
Since 2002, the Kennedy Center has added activities to the original "Opening Art Festival" and held five "Overture Art Festival". The activities include: a free open-air concert held by the National Symphony Orchestra on the Shanxi Lawn of the National Assembly, and outstanding works performed in the concert hall; Various award-winning music and drama performances, including Grammy-winning musicians; Four famous dance accompaniment bands held free dances with the citizens of Washington on the Potomac River on weekends, and held various dances performed by the Washington Award-winning Dance Company at the Step Theatre. The famous fat man Waller Billy Taylor's trio at the Kennedy Center Jazz Club; In order to encourage and support the creation of new dramas and musicals, 35 drama groups in Washington area were invited to hold recitals, special events and seminars.
Every year, the center organizes many famous performing artists from all over the United States and around the world to perform in Washington. Such as: Kinov/Malinschi Ballet and Opera House, American Ballet Theatre, Cuban National Ballet, Alvin Airy Dance Company, Harlem Modern Dance Company, Moscow Grand Theatre, Lyon Opera Ballet, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Danish Ballet, etc.
The center also shoulders the responsibility of the national art education leading institution, vigorously supports the creation of new artistic works and attaches importance to cultivating young artists. In order to ensure the long-term vitality of American drama creation, 1985, the then chairman of the president's art advisory board proposed the establishment of this fund to Andrew Heskell and the chairman of the Kennedy Center Board of Directors Stevens. Stevens accepted the proposal and called a group of board members to raise funds. It is promoted by American Express, Time Mirror Foundation, Evelyn Sharp Foundation and Brown Foundation. First, it donated and established the Kennedy Center Fund for American New Drama, which was first distributed on 1987. At present, the center selects 20 suitable applications from hundreds of applications submitted by the whole country every year and submits them to the art evaluation Committee composed of outstanding artists and the chairman of the center for approval. Finally, it decided to allocate funds to a local troupe to fund the creation of a drama. After the creation of the work, the Kennedy Center also invited the work to perform in the center for a week. On this basis, the center also established the Roger Stevens Award and the Charlotte Ourad Award to reward playwrights who have shown outstanding prospects in drama creation. These awards and fund awards have greatly promoted artistic creation, raised the enthusiasm of the audience and stimulated the support of other institutions for drama. Up to now, US$ 3.8 million has been distributed to 65,438+065,438+04 playwrights of 55 non-profit organizations in China, which contributed to the premiere of 80 new works, among which 3 works won Pulitzer Prize. The Kennedy Center also actively supports the creation of dance, music and children's programs through contract creation and co-production. Through the "New Vision/New Voice" program, the Kennedy Center also invites related art groups to perform in the center for one week every April, and holds art festivals and discussions with experts on weekends, aiming at encouraging and supporting the musical creation of young audiences and families. By 2006, the program had helped 44 troupes and two international art troupes in 27 states to complete 66 new works, and 56 playwrights, 30 composers and 60 directors received financial support. In order to encourage, appreciate and praise the best drama programs in the university, the Kennedy Center held the Kennedy Center American Drama Festival from 65438 to 0969, which was initiated by the first chairman of the board of directors, Stevens. The number of college students in China reaches18,000 every year, and it has become a network for art lovers in more than 600 colleges and universities in China to perform their works and receive external evaluation.
The Kennedy Center also makes plans for media coverage, travel and outings. These activities have influenced millions of audiences in the United States and around the world through art. In order to popularize art, hundreds of free performances are arranged every year. In addition to the above-mentioned "Open Door Art Festival" which provides free programs, the center presents various free performances on the Millennium stage every night and broadcasts them through its own website. In addition, in combination with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, the "Kennedy Center Festival" is held every year from 165438+ 10 to 65438+February, as part of the activities, every day.
The Kennedy Center also plans to invite top American choreographers paul taylor, La Lubwich and Moss Cunningham to create ballet and dance works for famous American dance companies such as American Ballet Theatre, Western Ballet, Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.
The center also holds two dance performances for young people every year, "Exploring Ballet with Susan Farrow" and "Resident Performance of Harlem Dance Theatre". The Kennedy Center also cooperated with other institutions to produce operas, such as john adams's Nixon in China. The center also invited the world-famous opera house Scala Opera House of Italy to tour the United States for the first time, and invited the Berlin Opera House of Germany to perform the whole play "The Ring". At present, the center is inviting Kinov Opera House and Ballet to perform for ten years in a row.
The Kennedy Center also holds arts festivals in different places, countries and regions every year, such as San Francisco and Texas Arts Festival, French Dance Festival, Australian Art Festival, Japanese Art Festival, Irish Art Festival, British Art Festival, Chinese Art Festival, African Exploration Festival and Latin American Art Festival. The center also holds art festivals to commemorate and celebrate artists, such as Tchaikovsky Art Festival, Ms. Mary Lou Williams Art Festival of Kennedy Center, Shakespeare's exploration in Washington, Tennessee Williams and so on. In addition, the Kennedy Center held 65,438+00 multicultural children's books and periodicals festivals.
Since its opening, the Kennedy Center has cooperated with other art institutions to produce more than 150 plays, many of which won Tony Awards, such as The King and I, Titanic, Golden Pond and Absolutely Modern Millie.
The Kennedy Center delivers works of art to millions of viewers through TV programs every year. These programs include Emmy and Peabody Award-winning programs such as "Kennedy Center Honor Award" and "Kennedy Center Mark Twain Award", which are broadcast by public television stations.
Since the establishment of 1978, the Kennedy Center Honor Award has played a role in redefining American art heritage and changing the way the state rewards artists. The honor award is similar to the British knight or the French legion of honor medal, which praises the essence of life-long efforts. At the same time, as the list of winners increases year by year, it also sets standards for American artists about outstanding art and depicts the aesthetic inspiration of famous artists from other countries.
As part of the prize-winning activities, a grand party is held every year, which is broadcast by TV stations between Christmas and New Year. The broadcast of this program has long been an Emmy nomination program. The party is also the most important fund-raising activity of the Kennedy Center to support its art performance, art education and outing activities. Winners and sponsors will be invited to a reception at the White House (attended by the President) and a banquet in the State Council. Winners over the years include bill cosby, placido domingo, luciano pavarotti, Julie Andrews, Elizabeth Taylor, Itzhak Perlman and Elton John (Elton John). The latest winners in 2005 are: singer Tony Bennett, dancer and teacher Susanna Farrell, actress Julie Harris, actor, director and producer robert redford and singer tina turner.
Since 1998, the Mark Twain Award at Kennedy Center is mainly to celebrate the humorous wisdom that promotes the vitality of American culture and makes people laugh at it. Celebrations include literature, seminars and master classes. The first winner was Richard Pryor, and the latest winner was neil simon.
The Kennedy Center has greatly expanded its art education programs for young people, teachers and families. Every year, more than 7 million viewers in the United States participate in performances, lectures, exhibitions, public rehearsals, permanent performances of music and dance, master classes, competitions for young actors and musicians, backstage visits and teachers' art workshops sponsored by the center. These activities have become models of American communities, prompting people to realize that while providing pleasant experiences, art has improved young people's learning ability, cultivated creativity, taught self-discipline and self-love, and stimulated innovative thinking ability.
In order to serve the widest audience, the Kennedy Center also provides preferential fares for students, the elderly, the disabled, the military and other low-income people. The concert hall and opera house rebuilt by the center have become a model of public activity places for the disabled in China.