Jai Hinson’s nonprofit, Artz for Life, Inc., has brought arts training, live performance, and high-energy afterschool programming for more than 30 years.
Hinson’s dancers and drummers have also brought dance classes and performances to programs in St. Pete, recreation centers, and of course, the annual performance of “The Family Blessing.” Once again, audiences are about to be thrilled on Dec. 19 at the Mahaffey Theater.
While Hinson acknowledges that the arts are often at the bottom of people’s lists when they consider where to share their charity dollars, she can testify to the difference Artz for Life has made in the lives of her students over the decades.
Many of her students have gone on to travel and perform internationally and make it to Broadway. This includes Sir Brock Warren, who spent weeks prepping students for the Artz for Life’s end of summer presentation before beginning rehearsals for “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg: The Life and Times of the Temptations,” which he’s now performing in on Broadway.
Warren started studying with Hinson at the age of 8 and soon began traveling with her West African Dance troupe, the Dundu Dole Urban African Ballet.
