The Charlotte Jewish News - May 2022 - Page 14 Celebrating Jewish Youth
JSTAGE: What They Are Is Magical By Kayla Piscatelli “Everyone’s art is beautiful, and everyone’s art is perfect.” At JSTAGE, a program of the Levine Jewish Community Center (LJCC) Cultural Arts Department, we use this phrase quite often with the tiny — and not as tiny — humans. With a mission to make all who enter our space feel loved and valued simply
for their existence, JSTAGE is a place where young people are not only accepted but also celebrated. Not only are they taught, but also they are the teachers. Not only are they spoken to, but also they do the speaking. Empowering young people to stop looking out for validation and instead turn in and witness the incredible, beautiful, and power-
Outdoor performance of JSTAGE’s teen production of Seussical learned entirely on Zoom (July 2020)
ful beings they are is at the core of every production, class, and aspect of JSTAGE. From preschool classes and summer camp to large musical productions, it is the tiny humans who make JSTAGE what it is. They serve as an inspiration for all of us to continue creating, believing, hoping, and persevering. In the last two years, we have seen this in more ways than we ever could have expected. When the world shut down in March of 2020 and we all retreated to our own homes, JSTAGE decided to carry on virtually. We had young preschoolers continue to show up on Zoom for JSteps and JPlay classes. We had elementary school students arrive each week on their computers for JStage Jr. We had more than 40 teenagers who not only showed up but also dedicated themselves to the impossible task of learning an entire full-length musical over Zoom (“Seussical the Musical”). When schools decided not to open in fall of 2020, JSTAGE kids instead came to the LJCC every day to do their virtual learning. As part of the Camp Mindy 365
Open to ALL Kids 4 Ages 5-1
JSTAGE’s Kids musical revue, “Make Some Noise” (March 2022)
program, about 35 kids spent all day every day for an entire year demonstrating more strength, patience, and determination than we as adults could ever hope to display to them in return. They overcame every difficult obstacle thrown at them while continuing to create beautiful and inspiring art in a variety of mediums. Every day they did incredibly hard things, and they did them with an infinite amount of joy and kindness.
We walked through that difficult year with them focused on simply being good humans — not on fancy productions with lights and costumes, not on honing special skills and techniques, but just on existing as we were at any given moment. The children forced us as adults to come into the present moment, see them and one another, and continue to find our light in the midst of all the darkness. (Continued on page 15)
Benefiting Pediatric Rehabilitative Services at:
LEVINE JCC KIDSKIDS TRIATHLON 10TH ANNUAL LJCC TRIATHLON
2022 DATE:
Sunday, May 22 • 2pm Register EARLY at: LJCCKIDSTRI.ORG POWERED BY
Details at: charlottejcc.org • 704-366-5007
