Fundraiser
Charley G's 25th Anniversary
08.08.10 11 am - 2 pm

FREE EVENT!
PASA in the Park
So Percussion
09.22.10 7:30 pm

Special Event
Judy Collins
10.15.10 7:30 pm

2010-2011 Series Event
Momix
10.19.10 7:30 pm

2010-2011 Series Event
Stefon Harris and Black Out
11.19.10 7:30 pm

2010-2011 Series Event
Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca
01.26.11 7:30 pm

Special Event
Chris Botti
02.20.11 5 pm

2010-2011 Series Event
An Evening With Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer
03.24.11 7:30 pm

2010-2011 Series Event
The Aluminum Show
04.20.11 7:30 pm

History of PASA

It all started with a meeting around a dining room table. The Fine Arts Foundation, a 13-year-old organization, fell bankrupt in 1988 and FAF board members, plus a few other interested people, looked beyond the woes of that day and created the Performing Arts Society of Acadiana (PASA). PASA was then, what it is today, only smaller: A not-for-profit performing arts presenter that provides local access to great performing arts. After a year of planning, fundraising and ticket sales began in March 1989. At the same time, a board member, Jackie Lyle, stepped up to be PASA's part-time executive director. The part-time position became full-time. James Edmunds joined as a full-time volunteer.

The first PASA performance ever was North Carolina Dance Theater, which also re-opened the newly-renovated Heymann Performing Arts Center. Since then, PASA has offered more than 20 years of great performances, master classes, workshops and other activities that give individuals the chance to meet and work with actors, dancers, choreographers, composers and musicians. PASA presents important artists in the fields of dance, music and theater, including both those who are easily accessible to the general community and those who appeal to a more diverse, educated or eclectic taste. The majority of PASA funding comes from earned revenue and donations from private sources and corporations and grants.

PASA began to expand in its early years, offering its first daytime performance for students—the New York City Opera National Company's La Traviata. More partnerships and more ideas continued to flow. Booking artists began to mean more than a one-night engagement. Artists began conducting residency activities, including school visits, lecture demonstrations, question and answer sessions, workshops for Girl Scouts, master classes and outreach activities that have stretched from Downtown Alive to Improv broadcasts, live on the radio. Slowly, over the next two decades, staff positions were added as PASA's schedule and aspirations became more and more demanding and today the PASA staff numbers five.

PASA has proven itself to be capable of carrying out a wide range of activities and has launched exemplary programs like Play It Again, which recycles musical instruments for the benefit of middle school band programs. The L. Hill Bonin, Jr., Scholarship Fund supports aspiring performers and arts administrators in their support of advanced studies. PASA also pioneered a Girl Scout Opera Badge Workshop, which included presentations by local opera enthusiasts and local artists. It was an activity that was fully subscribed each year. PASA has left permanent marks on the performing arts world by commissioning new work and initiating new relationships and partnerships between artists.

Commissioning new work

Supporting the development of new choreography, music, video or scripts is what commissioning new work means. This is an important investment that PASA believes in. Here's how our first commissioning evolved:

In the 1995/96 season, PASA presented the world premier of its first commission, FEU FOLLET, created by choreographers Elisa Monte and David Brown and composer Richard Peaselee. Music was performed live by the Cajun Band Mamou. FEU FOLLET is a narrative dance that tells the story of the settlement of south Louisiana by the Acadians. Our one-week residency included the first rehearsal between the dancers and the musicians, which was attended by 300 junior high and high school students. The rehearsal was followed by a question and answer session where students quizzed all of the artists about the collaborative process, their individual careers and a variety of other topics. We also hosted a panel discussion between the choreographers and the composer and, throughout the days of the rehearsal, the venue was open so that the public could experience the collaborative and rehearsal process--something that has never been available in our community at the professional level.

PASA staff was the primary contact for research literature and a sounding board for artistic themes. PASA staff also prepared advance materials for teachers and students. This project required two years of planning and research and produced a dance piece that toured the state of Louisiana in the fall of 1995 and has since been seen in countless locations in Europe and the United States, including a New York premier at Lincoln Center in the summer of 1996. It was hailed locally, regionally, nationally and internationally for its exceptional artistry.

This project was followed by the commissioning of new music for the Ahn Trio, which premiered on the 2000/2001 PASA Series. PASA then introduced the Ahn Trio to Parsons Dance Company and commissioned choreography—Swing Shift—which thrived internationally for five seasons, and premiered on the PASA stage in 2003.

PASA pursued another commissioning project with Elisa Monte, which resulted in Zydeco Zare!, a partnership with Jeffrey Broussard and the Creole Cowboys that melds modern dance with Zydeco dance influences, Creole culture and Zydeco music. Elisa Monte Dance premiered Zydeco Zare! in Lafayette in October 2009 and, the new work had its New York showing in January 2009.

With the support of a special grant from AT&T, PASA introduced David Parsons to the scientists at the LITE Center and the result of that exploration led to the world premier of Remember Me in January 2009 at the Joyce Theater in New York. That piece will tour throughout the country in the 09/10 season.

The development of an opera audience is another PASA success story. In eight seasons, PASA presented the New York City Opera National Company, the only occasions when professional full-scale opera had been presented in southwest Louisiana.

Daytime performances for students

Our mettle was tested in late November 1995 when the National Company lost its performance scheduled for the evening following its PASA engagement. We were asked to pick up the date, adding over $22,000 to the expense budget for the opera. In all, we scheduled two performances for students of one-hour versions of La Traviata, along with the planned evening performance for general audience.

Over 3,200 students attended the day-time events. In addition to coordinating all student groups who attended the performance, PASA also created educational materials for students and teachers that made a positive, impressive impact the day of the performances.

We followed this student offering with a range of pilot performances over the next two seasons and officially introduced PASA's series of Daytime Performances for Students in the 1996/97 performance season.

PASA has made many changes in order to reach a broad segment of the community, including convening an outreach advisory panel to build minority participation in PASA events; programming artists of color with high name recognition, such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Wynton Marsalis, Marcus Roberts and Boys Choir of Harlem and restructuring its marketing strategy based on recommendations of professionals and the advisory panel. In the spring of 1996, board members participated in the development of a strategic plan that would guide the direction of the board for the next three fiscal years. The plan's goals focused on development of a stronger subscription base, elimination of the deficit and development of cash reserves and a geographical expansion of PASA's presenting venues.

In 1999, the PASA board met to revisit the strategic plan and in December of that year, the University of Southwestern Louisiana (USL) MBA program gave a formal presentation of the strategic plan it created for PASA. The plan is an aggressive, five-year document that addresses revenue generation, staffing, programming and outreach.

Programming directions expand

As PASA matured, it became evident that some types of performances need to happen in venues smaller than the Heymann Center. On occasion, we have used the Angelle Hall, Lafayette High School and Opelousas High School auditoriums. Like most of what PASA does, some efforts have been more successful than others.

International programming: Acknowledging the growing international cultures in Acadiana, PASA has experimented with programming Latino and Indian art forms. International programming is a valid area of pursuit for PASA.

PASA in the Park: Driven to present Aquila Theater somewhere, somehow after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the first PASA in the Park featured Shakespeare's Hamlet in Parc International, offered free of charge to anyone and everyone. The success of the event, the turnout of a somewhat non-traditional PASA crowd and the enthusiasm for the effort encouraged the development of an annual PASA in the Park event.

Jazz and classical music: Ever on the lookout for our niche audiences, PASA continues to explore where and how to offer classical chamber music and jazz. Big name artists like violinist Itzhak Perlman or Wynton Marsalis will always belong at the Heymann Center. The challenge is to develop a plan that programs high quality chamber music and jazz artists in an appropriate, practical and cost-effective manner.

Fund raisers

PASA's first fund raiser was a general interest auction that took place in the early 1990's. After a few years, the event turned its focus to wine and the PASA Wine Auction became our major fund raiser. It developed into a three-event effort, with a Harvest Bachannal added, followed by the Wine Tour in River Ranch. In 2007, it was rebranded as the Golden Gala Wine Auction. In 2007, the tour was dropped and in 2008 the Harvest Bacchanal was moved to the spring.

Leadership for others

PASA has fulfilled contracts on behalf of the Louisiana Division of the Arts, developing and leading the Louisiana Presenters Network, which is a consortium of performing arts presenters in Louisiana, and the Louisiana Opera Initiative. PASA has also provided administrative and programming services to the Grand Opera House of the South in Crowley, LA and to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation as it approached the opening of the Manship Theater at the Shaw Center.