Mission

It is the mission of the F. M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts to foster the development of an appreciation of the arts in the community by promoting, producing and causing to be produced , theatrical productions, exhibits and other entertainment as deemed to have a beneficial impact upon the community. We strive to achieve this through a focus on PEOPLE, PERFORMANCE and PRESERVATION.

Local dance students partake in auditions for The Moscow Ballet Great Russian Nutcracker conducted under the direction of Moscow Ballet soloist Yevgen Babachenko held at the F. M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts. Some of the 48 local children performing in The Moscow Ballet's Great Russian Nutcracker represent the following dance and performing arts studios, David Blight School of Dance, Joan Harris Centre for Gifted/Talented, Julie Ardito, Turi Studio of Dance, Wendy Peckins School of Dance, and Whipple Studio for Performing Arts. The audition and children's rehearsal is coordinated by Elisabeth Harris, Joan Harris Centre for Gifted/Talented.

A principal dancer with the world-renown, New York City-based, modern dance troupe, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, conducts a master class for 27 local dancers sponsored by the F. M. Kirby Center and held at the Dorothy Dickson Dart Center, Wilkes University. Students learned the technique of modern dance in the Paul Taylor style and were taught parts of some of the company's repertoire, which includes more than 120 dances. This class was held as a special addition to the Paul Taylor Dance Company’s performance at the Kirby Center, one of 20 venues selected as part of a special state-wide Pennsylvania tour supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts’ American Masterpieces program.