Business & Tech

Studio Brings Classical Dance, Theater Arts to Region

Inland Valley Conservatory announced the recent opening of Black Swan Playhouse, another way it is bringing fine arts to the community.

A nonprofit organization formed in 2009 to bring classical arts education to the region has added a black box theater to its repertoire. 

Black Swan Playhouse opened last week at Inland Valley Conservatory in Murrieta. The intimate, 60-seat theater is the only of its kind in southwest Riverside County, said Denise Walker, president and founder. 

The playhouse is the latest addition to the Conservatory, which takes up 4,000 square feet at 41655 Reagan Way, Suite H, in Murrieta. 

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To kick things off in the new space, Black Swan Theatrical workshops are being held for two hours a week, Walker said. Curriculum includes acting and drama, character building, improv, choreography, audition techniques, working with props and script reading and intrepretation.

The space can also be rented out for productions, and includes a reception area, she said.

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Walker founded Inland Valley Conservatory and Athletics in 2009. Her adoptive daughter, Keahe, then 5, was suffering from complex partial seizures. 

"We were devastated so I upped the anty," Walker said. "All my research told me that dance to classical music made a lot of difference."

So she purchased Murrieta Dance Studio, formerly located in the Ralph's center on Washington Street in Murrieta, and quickly put that under the umbrella of IVCCA.

Then she began bringing in classically-trained dancers. Read more about the staff at IVCCA here.

Walker said within two years of instruction, her daughter was able to stop taking seizure medication.

Rather than aiming for competition, Walker said dancers who attend classes at IVCCA are exposed to live, classical music. This includes dancing with Bravura Youth Symphony for a recent holiday concert.

Walker, who has a master's degree in business administration, admits she is not a dancer herself. She minored in fine arts in college, but said she was concerned about making a living with the arts.

After seeing the transformation in her daughter—as well as other special needs children—Walker has made it her goal to encourage the arts as a necessary part of childhood.

"We have defunded the arts in schools," Walker said. "And now we see what has happened with math and science scores."

Whether it is through music lessons, classical dance or theater arts, she strongly believes fine arts contribute to the whole child.

"My hope is that kids will come away with something, a long-term lasting effect."


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