After an abrupt pause due to the COVID pandemic, The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL) has launched a new After School Program in partnership with five Dallas ISD schools: Harold W. Lang, T.W. Browne, Ronald E. McNair, Adelle Turner and Mark Twain. Billed as “PERFORMING ARTS MATTERS,” the program will use Music, Theatre and Dance as a vehicle for helping students to improve their literacy and language, (including culture), vocabulary. Additionally, the program is designed to help students develop and cultivate their creativity, expand their critical thinking skills, and expose them to alternative avenues for problem solving. “I am extremely excited about this program because of the fifteen Dallas based professional artists/teachers who accepted to be a part of this new venture,” said Curtis King, the Program Director and the Founder and President of TBAAL. “Their broad and varied levels of professional experiences will be an inspiration to many of the students who rarely get an opportunity to work one-on-one with these calibers of artists.”

The twelve-week program runs from 3:30pm to 6:00pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and will culminate with a grand finale presentation on Friday, April 29, 2022 – 7:30pm at TBAAL, 1309 Canton Street, Dallas, TX. 75201.

“We are glad to work with TBAAL on this exciting partnership,” said Merrill Devenshire, Director of Extended Learning Opportunities. “The arts do matter because our students matter.”