It looks like a messy construction zone today, but in a short period of time it will be turned magically into a dreamland.
The brick commercial building at 1010 Fourth Avenue has been sitting partly vacant and partly used for nondescript offices for many years. It was once a hive of creative arts, when it was Judy Russell's original Enchainement Dance Studio, and it will once again hum with performance and creation when the doors open on Dreamland School of the Arts.
With a focus on music, this school's mission is different than the many other purveyors of traditional instrument lessons. The instructors are all picked for their band aptitudes and mainstream public performance skills.
"Once you hit a certain point, if you don't play in front of people, that's as far as you go," said Jeremy Stewart, who co-founded Dreamland with wife Erin. Both are noted performers in various folk-orientated ensembles and solo shows. "I have worked at a lot of different places giving lessons, and when I worked for Dawn Boudreau I saw a difference. Performance was her driving force. Her students were given opportunities to take their skills and show them to a live audience. Someone else who does that is Judy Russell. The success we're copying as hard as we can is Judy Russell. She built her entire dance studio on offering performance opportunities for her students."
Another he is looking to as a guide is Jim Brinkman, the owner of Books and Company, which is so much more than a bookstore. It is an arts and culture power-centre. Dreamland is on a smaller scale, said Stewart, but integration and collaboration of the arts is what he is striving for.
"We are here to develop a musical culture, and take what Prince George has and find little ways of elevating that," he said.
Joining him in the effort is drum teacher Danny Bell from the local band Black Spruce Bog; ubiquitous musician Curtis Abriel who most recently led the orchestra for Judy Russell's production of Spamalot; piano instructor Catherine Cantin; guitar teacher Micah Green; and one of the city's best-known troubadours, Scott Dunbar.
"My response was absolutely immediate," said Dunbar. "We went out for a breakfast at the Camelot, he told me about this idea, and did I want to be in on it? Done. Done. The whole philosophy is to do as many recitals as possible for as many reasons as possible. We want a workshopping kind of culture amongst the teachers, not just everybody in their little booth. We want to teach people to play live, collaborate, do it by ear, be organic about it. So to teach people about busking, we wouldn't talk about it in a little room in the basement, the student and I would figure out a corner in the neighbourhood where the student lives and for the lesson I'd go there and play with them. Real-life performance experiences."
The first demonstration of this happens Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sept. 13 starting at 7 p.m. each night.
"Every evening we will have a different free concert," said Stewart.
The physical work to the school's space will be ongoing for some time, but they were gifted a 24-track sound board by a church, they purchased a new set of folding chairs to accommodate regular audiences, mural work and other visual arts features are being added, and the concert series next week will officially open the doors on their dreams for a livelier local arts scene in the downtown.
