Shows

The Joan Harris Centre prides itself on having the most accelerated dance program in Pennsylvania. Our ambitious schedule includes five full school productions a year and countless professional and charitable performances at community events and theatrical shows.

Our studio’s year is broken up into eight-week sessions. All but one of these sessions conclude with a full school performance. These productions are set up in a progressive manner with each show increasing in the amount of preparation and staging. The shows are never meant to be a big expense for our parents. The students either wear the costumes that they own from previous June recitals or we color co-ordinate their bodysuits, so that they look good on stage and then have something to wear in the classroom after the show.

The "smaller" shows are either free or have a small admission fee and are held in more intimate theaters. The least involved of these performances is our Knoebel’s show, which is free of charge and concludes our summer session. From there we move on to our Halloween and Holiday productions, where the themes and sets become a little more elaborate. Again the children wear bodysuits or costumes they already have and we change some things around to better fit the dances they are performing. These "smaller" shows prepare the students for the two largest productions of the year, our annual Spring Ballet and Kirby shows. Add to these performances, a list of other theatrical and community events and you can see our dancers have plenty of opportunities to polish their skills. On average the Joan Harris Dancers take the stage in over thirty productions year.

The reason behind this astounding fact is really quite simple; "Dance is a PERFORMING art." If you are truly studying dance, you need to learn how to perform. Students at the Joan Harris Centre have no trouble in that department. Regional performing arts organizations and indeed national companies have all been known to use one word when describing the Joan Harris Dancers; that word is "Professional".

Arts critics from both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre area newspapers have called our dancers. "Superb", "Flawless", "Perfection" and "Thrilling". Students from the Harris Centre have appeared on every major stage in Wyoming Valley; from the largest venues, the 1,800 seat F.M. Kirby Centre, and the 1,300 seat Irem Temple Auditorium, to the smallest arenas such as the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center, 486 seats, and all "houses" in-between. The dancers are use to performing on presidium stages, "in the round" and out door amphitheaters. The Joan Harris Dancers have been contracted to appear in everything from professional productions at black tie events to informal cultural events to big budget theatrical musicals. At each show they have brought with them the same level of professionalism that has made them the most sought-after performers in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Joan Harris formulated this performance program as a motivational tool for the teachers to use in the classroom and frankly speaking, as a venue for the students to showcase what they have learned over an eight week session. The full school shows, scheduled for five productions annually, give our dancers needed training on a legitimate stage, with professional stage lighting, and elaborate sets and so that they truly understand what it takes to be a professional performer. All of this would be impossible without the visionary insight of our founder. Broadway veteran Joan Harris and the unbelievable effort given annually by our staff of instructors and office personnel.