Poway's Free Summer Movies in the Park Series Begins Saturday

Poway is filled with dragons, dance and disco this summer!

The Summer Movie in the Park Series kicks off at 7:30 p.m. this Saturday with the movie How to Train Your Dragon.

“This is a fun and affordable opportunity to bring the community together to enjoy a family-friendly movie under the stars,” said Emily Fox, recreation supervisor for the city of Poway.

Dragon tells the animated adventures of a reluctant young Viking who must capture and kill a dragon for a rite of passage.

Poway Community Park will host the free movie, which will be shown on a giant, outdoor screen. Upcoming movies include Toy Story 3 on Saturday, Aug. 20, and Tangled on Saturday, Sept. 3.

The outdoor movies were originally held at Lake Poway but transitioned to Poway Community Park last summer. Families are invited to bring a blanket or lawn chairs, a picnic dinner or treats, and enjoy an evening under the stars.

Parking is free and arriving early is recommended. For more information, call the Poway Community Park recreation office at 858-668-4671, or visit poway.org.

A special six-week summer Tap and Dance Workshop will be offered, also at Poway Community Park, by local, veteran dance instructor Debbora Childress, going on now through Aug. 18.  Dancers ages 3 to 12 will learn tap, coupled with jazz, ballet, tumbling and creative dance during the one-hour-per-week, special summer program. 

“Children learn to dance, sing, balance, imagine, express, gain self-confidence, strength and flexibility, enhance their musicality, learn rhythm, make new friends—and so much more,” Childress said.

She says the kids build the skills that will make them more comfortable in classes with on-going students who have more dance experience.

“Summer classes offer new dancers the opportunity to learn technique in a non-competitive, non-performing atmosphere, said Childress, who believes dance to be a “positive, creative, joyful, directed physical activity” for youngsters.

Class times are: 11 a.m. for ages 3-5; 2-3 p.m. for ages 6-8; and 3-4 p.m. for ages 9-12. Tap and ballet shoes and dance attire are required.

In addition to the workshop, beginning dancers ages 3-5 can also enroll in Dance for Children: Creative Movement and Tumbling for Boys and Girls, a musically-based tumbling, pre-dance and creative movement program that encourages expression, while enhancing skills, rhythm and coordination. This six-week class is Thursdays at 10:45 a.m. and runs through Aug. 18, also at the Poway Community Park. Bare feet or ballet shoes and comfortable clothing or dance attire recommended.

School-year classes begin mid-September. Interested students can enroll online at poway.org, or contact Debbora Childress at 760-747-9777 or debbora@cox.net.

And finally, mark your calendar for the Poway Center for the Performing Arts Foundation’s 21st season, which begins Saturday, Oct. 1. The season will feature big band, classical and zydeco, as well as a sentimental multimedia look back at one of the ‘60s rock ‘n’ roll icons and an explosion of urban rhythm and dance. 

“Audiences are responding to our eclectic mix of quality shows with record attendance, and we’re tremendously eager to build upon that success in 2011-12,” said Michael Rennie, executive director for the POW! Foundation. “We've got hip-hop dancing, the nation’s preeminent zydeco band and a tribute to one of the ‘60s most beloved musical and television personalities.”

Rennie says he’s particularly excited for E Street Band’s ‘Mighty Max’ Weinberg, who will be fronting his own “mini-big band.”