Frederick said the arts play an âincredibleâ role in community-building and bringing people together.
The former dancer, artistic director and educator will start her new role on March 15. George Trudeau, the centerâs previous director, retired in July 2020.
Frederick was a performer with the ensemble Urban Bush Women, a dance-theater group that addresses inequality in the lives of Black women. She has also danced with the Arthur Aviles Typical Theater and Merian Soto Performance Practice and co-founded a dance theater company, Areytos Performance Works, âto create multidisciplinary community-based projects that explore themes of power, colonization, migration, race, gender and culture,â according to a press release from the College of Arts and Architecture.
The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State named Sita Frederick as its new director. Frederick is succeeding George Trudeau, who retired at the end of 2020.
Discussing the organization’s dedication to social activism, Urban Bush Women co-artistic director Samantha Speis will join artist Michael Mwenso for the opening event of his spring 2021 “Meeting the Moment”