Travelers moving through Terminal 1 of San Diego International Airport on Thursday may encounter more than potentially long lines of passengers.
From 4 to 7 p.m., members of the creative youth development nonprofit A Step Beyond, will perform pop-up presentations of their new dance work “Migration: Making a Home in Transit” throughout the terminal. A Step Beyond has a spring arts residency at the terminal that will also include follow-up performances from 4 to 7 p.m. May 7 and 14.
Student dancers from A Step Beyond rehearse choreography from “Migration: Making a Home in Transit” in Terminal 1 of San Diego International Airport. They’ll perform in the terminal from 4-7 p.m. Thursday and May 7 and 14. (San Diego International Airport)
Since January, the students, alumni and teaching artists with A Step Beyond have been creating a series of original dances that will explore the themes of belonging, identity and adaptation, as well as how people define the concept of “home” in a changing environment. Airport commuters are encouraged to watch and to interact with the dancers.
“Enhancing the customer experience is at the heart of everything we do,” said Atif Saeed, President and CEO, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, in a statement. “Through our Performing Arts Residency program, A Step Beyond brings the spirit of San Diego’s resilient culture and the universal theme of beginning anew into the terminal—creating memorable, uplifting moments for travelers along their journey.”
Other entertainment scheduled this week at Terminal 1 includes pianist Petra Persolja at 10:30 a.m. Thursday and singer-songwriter Noël Tsoukalas at 10:30 a.m. Friday, both on the Hiritage Stage.
Based at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, A Step Beyond is a 12-year-old nonprofit serving hundreds of local students whose families are living below the poverty line. The program provides youths from third grade to high school with free after-school dance classes, as well as academic support and social services.