Free Performances, Events, Music and Family-Friendly Activities
Marked Day-Long Celebration
Segerstrom Center for the Arts opened its new Julianne and George Argyros Plaza and Center for Dance and Innovation on Saturday, October 28 with music, dancing, performances, family activities, bands and more from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m.
More than 10,000 people and families from around the neighborhood and throughout Orange County explored the 56,100-square-foot plaza designed by Michael Maltzan, with its spectacular fountain entry, the grand spiral staircase that wraps around the new Center 360 outdoor café, leading from the Segerstrom Hall terrace to the plaza, shaded seating and dining areas, groves of trees for picnicking and permanent stages for year-round entertainment.
The new plaza is named for Julianne and George Argyros, who provided funding for the transformation to the Center’s campus.
The Center for Dance and Innovation and Judy Morr Theater are now reached through a garden-like entrance at street level or from the Segerstrom Hall terrace by a sweeping circular ramp that encircles a fully grown jacaranda tree and leads to a muraled outdoor terrace.
The Center for Dance and Innovation is also home to the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School and the Center’s School of Dance and Music for Children with Disabilities. Center President Terrence W. Dwyer said, “We planned the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza to fill a longstanding need: a welcoming public gathering place where people from throughout the county can socialize and enjoy free year-round performances and community events.
Center President Terrence W. Dwyer, Julianne and George Argyros
The plaza and the many programs supported by our Center for Dance and Innovation and Center Without Boundaries are enabling us to respond to the changing needs of our county. We are pushing the boundaries of what an arts center like the Center can do for every member of our dynamic and diverse communities.” Julianne Argyros remarked, “George and I believe so deeply in the plaza’s ability to bring people together, to be a place where families feel welcome, where people can socialize, make new friends, and enjoy free performances……one where all of us can enjoy our community at its very best.”
GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION
The entire Segerstrom Center campus was alive with activities and back-to-back performances. The day was filled with family-friendly fun: Patriots Marching Band Ensemble, TAIKOPROJECT drummers, the Darden Sisters Band, Ane Thanh Lion Dance, Vybration a cappella sextet, Los 440’s band, Orange County’s gay men’s chorus MenAlive, Culture Shock LA dance troupe and Puppets and Players Little Theatre.
Caricature artists, trick-or-treating and face painting added to the festive mood. Center resident companies were represented by Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble, Philharmonic Society of Orange County with South Coast Brass and Pacific Chorale. South Coast Repertory sent members of its Theatre Conservatory and Orange County Museum of Art brought “The Art Project.”
Many visitors took docent-led tours and observed classes in the Center’s School of Dance and Music for Children with Disabilities and the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School.
In the evening, the Argyros Plaza was transformed by its dramatic new decorative lighting design. Starting the entertainment was a 3-D video mapping “ribbon cutting” that filled the side of Segerstrom Hall above the Argyros Stage.
Photos of hit Broadway shows , dance companies, stars who have appeared at the Center along with Center community engagement and education programs appeared and disappeared in a myriad of seemingly magical geometrical transitions.
Immediately after, vertical dance company BANDALOOP performed a new breathtaking, gravity-defying performance. The company created intricate choreography across the wall of Segerstrom Hall. Music and dancing to California bands hour-long sets by Orgōne and Monophonics rounded out the evening.
scfta.org
Photo Credits: SCFTA
