Heidelberg festival shines
spotlight on young artists
By Eric B. Pilgrim
Stars and Stripes
Eric B. Pilgrim / Stars and Stripes
People attending the Heidelberg Festival of the Arts could enjoy more than 1,000 pieces of
art done by students from elementary school through high school. The two-day festival at
the Patrick Henry Village Pavilion also featured bands and choruses. |
HEIDELBERG, Germany — A singer-dancer trips over a musician and
lies sprawled on the stage as the teen group finishes a lunchtime rehearsal.
“Ouch!” yelps the teen-age girl, as she hops around the
stage.
The group of teens shuffles offstage, trying not to be embarrassed.
One hour later, when members of the Patch High School Harmony Express
walks back onstage, they don’t miss a beat.
The troupe from Stuttgart, Germany, is part of the Heidelberg
District Festival of the Arts held in the Village Pavilion on Patrick Henry Village
Wednesday and Thursday.
More than 750 musicians from 11 district schools are sharing the
spotlight with 1,000 pieces of art.
One work of art features a strange, surreal background from a dream
movie and a guy screaming. Apparently, something new has recently been added: A
cool-looking pair of shorts.
“Look at that. That wasn’t there before,” a teen-age
girl comments to a friend. “I can’t believe he put shorts on the guy.”
All in all, the festival is a big event filled with superb talent,
according to Sebastian Michelena, arts liaison for the district and coordinator for the
celebration.
“This is equivalent to 70 basketball teams competing out
here,” said Michelena about the excitement.
Michelena said the festival started three years ago when educators
took a renewed interest in the importance of music and art in schools.
As a result, more money was pumped into the system for increased
staffing and programs.
“That increase is starting to show now,” Michelena said.
“It gets better and better, and the exchange of ideas here goes
to improving things every year.”
One of those new ideas is a Youth Services art program where
interested teens learn to create geometrical artwork called “Tensegrity” out of
recycled substances. Beautiful, unusually strong, zigzagging symmetrical shapes hang from
the ceiling or sit on a table, appearing to defy gravity.
The art form gets its name from renowned inventor/creator Buckminster
Fuller, who wove tension and integrity together.
Artist Kenneth Snelson made the word synonomous with geometric
shapes, some bigger than buildings.
“These teens really grasp the concepts and have worked some
wonderful pieces out of recycled paper, dowels and dental floss,” said Pax Wallace, a
jazz pianist and Tensegrity instructor at youth services.
He works closely with Sandra Kennedy at Heidelberg High School to
develop the school’s art programs.
Besides artwork, there are several bands and choruses entertaining
audiences, including some of the smallest musicians in Europe: the members of the Patch
Elementary School band.
“You have some artists and musicians who are just starting out,
but you also have some real professional stuff, too. It’s all exciting,”
Michelena said.
Wallace and Kennedy’s young Tensegrity artists will get their
chance at a real art review when their creations go on display at the Gallery Graf in
downtown Heidelberg soon.
And the Harmony Express singers just wrapped up a tour in Scotland.
Michelena said rehearsal is good, but performing is the game.
“It’s just like basketball,” Michelena said.
“The performance. That’s where it’s at.”
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