Kimberly Janelle is eager to share the artistic talents of her students with Carmel again.
Janelle’s Indianapolis-based KJI Institute will provide performances for the City of Carmel’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration at 6 p.m. Jan. 20 at The Tarkington at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel. The program is free and also will include performances by Blair Clark and Indiana African American authors.
Janelle said there will be approximately an hour of artistic programing.
“We’ll have singers and a couple of solo acts that will be performing,” Janelle said. “Some of the monologues will be ones written by the students. There will be some dance pieces and a short production about 15 minutes long. The play is focused on Dr. King’s letters from the Birmingham Jail after he got arrested in April 1963.”
Janelle wrote the play her students will perform.
Janelle, an Indianapolis resident, had been selected last year by Carmel resident Dee Thornton to help with the city’s first Martin Luther King Day Celebration. Thornton described the community response for the first celebration as incredible, with nearly 500 attendees.
“The event is for everyone,” Thornton said. “It’s educational, entertaining and inspiring as we honor the work and writings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. As a representative of the Mayor’s Advisory Commission on Human Relations, my role is to help promote the event throughout the community, identify resources to deliver the program, guidance on program content and welcome the attendees.
“As a longtime resident of Carmel, it’s important that the community recognize its ever-changing diverse populations. The MLK Day-celebration allows us to spread a message of unity and love and demonstrate just how great Carmel is.”
