South Arkansas Arts Center Arts Academy adds three new instructors
The South Arkansas Arts Center has announced three new teachers for classes at the Arts Academy.
Charlsie Falcon will teach voice and beginning piano, and Alexander Jeffery and Emily Cole will teach children’s drama for those up to sixth grade. Arts Academy classes run during the semester and are held at the arts center.
Falcon, a choir director at the Smackover and Norphlet School District, graduated with a degree in vocal/keyboard music education from Southern Arkansas University in 2014. Falcon has been singing in choirs since she was a freshman at Camden Fairview High School, and has dedicated herself to the art since then. Falcon also studied voice at the Salzburg College in Austria and said she has enjoyed being a part of performances such as “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Pirates of Penzance” in the Callaway Theater at the SAAC.
Falcon also is a member of the choir at First Presbyterian Church in El Dorado. She hopes to continue making music and to help inspire others to find the joy of making music.
Born a Canadian and raised an Arkansan, Jeffery has made several short films, including the award-winning “Bespoke Tailoring of Mister Bellamy” and “Memoir.” Jeffery attended the University of Nebraska where he earned two degrees in theatre performance and film and new media. His love for acting makes his approach to directing performance-driven. He believes there is no better way to learn a craft than to teach it to others. His joy for teaching stems from a long lineage – his mother, a teacher, and his grandfather, a principal. He said he loves working with kids and sharing his passion for the arts.
El Dorado’s own Emily Cole has been on the stage since she was 7 years old. Most of her spotlight experience began with singing, but over the years she developed a love for acting. Cole has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville,
where she resided for several years before coming back home to her roots.
She has played characters such as Fantine in “Les Miserables,” Dolly Parton in “9 to 5” and Viola in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” She loves working with kids and said she is looking forward to an exciting semester.
For more information on the fall semester of Arts Academy classes, call the SAAC office at 870-862-5474 or visit the website at www.saacarts.org. SAAC is located at 110 E. Fifth St., El Dorado.