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artspace class to see another performance of the calibre they couldn't hope to access in Cranbourne. Experiences such as this, she says, give the kids in her class the chance to model their work on that of theatre professionals – and something to aspire to. Through their contact with the Art Centre's Education Program, Lentini's students not only improve their knowledge of the performing arts, they gain hands-on theatrical experience and make memories they won't soon forget. Year 9 student Samantha Kelly, who got to join in a performance skit at Impro Melbourne, says the experience taught her skills she couldn't have learnt in the classroom. "The show benefited me because I was able to watch professionals improvising," she says. "It gave me lots of ideas about how to improve a performance and keep things flowing, rather than getting stuck." At the Impro Melbourne workshop, students participated in various games and group activities, such as an exercise in which they translated one another's gibberish – later adopted in the classroom so students could continue to practise their performance skills. Thomas Kempter, another student in Lentini's Year 9 class, was inspired by the professionals' confidence and how they kept themselves together while performing. He hopes to use their example if he performs in the future. "It was just an amazing life experience, because most of us have never seen a performance or anything like that before," he says. This month at Arts Centre Melbourne, don't miss the Victorian Opera's Puss in Boots, the Australian Ballet's production of Vanguard, and the Australian premiere of Solomon and Marion. For more information, please visit www.artscentremelbourne.com.au. Clockwise from top: Arts Centre Melbourne's ongoing Education Program enables regional and disadvantaged students to join in and engage with all sorts of performing arts. XX arts centre stage The aim of the Arts Centre Melbourne Education Program's ArtsConnect9 initiative, First Call Fund and Partner Schools' Initiative is to get students involved in the performing arts by helping regional and otherwise disadvantaged schools overcome funding and transportation obstacles. Since ArtsConnect9 began in 1997, more than 90,000 regional students have enjoyed access to the city's cultural assets. The First Call Fund began in 2008 and since then, it's enabled more than 20,000 Victorian students and 2,000 teachers to visit Arts Centre Melbourne. In 2013, the Partner Schools' Initiative was launched as a three-year collaboration with 20 schools to enable eligible students to attend city performing arts events each year – all fully subsidised by the First Call Fund.