On Thursday, December 28th at 7:00 pm Antonia Arts, located at 925 South Street, will present “Home for the Holidays.” This theatrical performance is the ultimate festive celebration with a delightful blend of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the Nutcracker.

Home for the Holidays is about unity, community, a sense of togetherness, and bringing diverse populations from all different backgrounds and religions together. This one-time only performance covers just about everything this holiday season. The third annual performance is truly community oriented that will include a range of diversity of ages, religions, abilities, and performing arts styles. David Peterman will host the event. Judith Heineman, representing the Jewish faith, will be a storyteller. Lafern Joseph, owner of the Fern Tree and organizer of the Underground Railroad Tours, will share information about Kwanzaa and what it means to the African American community. Mary Rose will talk about the birth of Christ and the meaning of Christmas. Amy Reyes, a young vocalist who has just made the first round of auditions for the tv show The VOICE will sing in Spanish. The Wiz Kidz will perform a short vignette from the Nutcracker. The Antonia Arts Youth drama group will perform a short scene from the “Peekskill Holiday Surprise” play that was performed on Dec. 16.  Tania Vallejo will introduce her dance students as they perform an Ecuadorian dance, and guest dancers from Just a Place in Peekskill will perform. “Home for the Holidays” is truly a community event. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance at AntoniaArts.org.

Many people are unfamiliar with Antonia Arts. For those who don’t know, Antonia Arts is a multi-purpose studio offering an array of classes, opportunities, master-classes, workshops, and space for events and rehearsals. The studio has made Peekskill its home for the last 23 years under the artistic direction of Scarlett Antonia. Antonia Arts continues to expand and bring people together in harmony.  Antonia Arts has been thriving as an art studio with classes as diverse as the clientele and staff. Antonia Arts offers things such as beginner dance classes, young LatinX dance classes for ages 4-12, children’s drama classes, theater and drama classes from young children to adults. 

From grassroots to today’s performance space, Antonia Arts continues to expand and create opportunities for local artists. Four years ago, Anotnia Arts embarked on creating a new space for artists and to create a new performance area. Therefore in 2019, The Artist Spot was created. The Artist Spot is a muti-purpose creative and performing arts event space that offers theater, dance, music, and an art gallery for local artists. It hosts open mic nights, performances, concerts, film screenings, art exhibits, and more. Most recently, local Jazz musician and High Top Productions founder, Kristina Koller, rented out the 1200 square foot Artist Spot space and created a new pop-up jazz club called South Street Jazz. As of 2024, Antonia Arts expands once again as the New Victory Theater will become formed and work as a production company. This is an exciting venture for Scarlett as she helps lead performers, actors, singers, and dancers to the big stage. 

Scarlett Antonia is known for helping shape and pure raw talent into national stage winners.  In 2016, she helped Grace Vanderwaal to become the America’s Got Talent Season 11 winner at the age of 12. Today, Grace Vanderwall is 19 years old, and has more than made it on TV. Vanderwaal has gone on to win numerous national and international awards and toured both nationally and internationally. She has accumulated over 7 million Instagram followers, 3.5 million Youtube followers, created over 79 videos on YouTube and continues to explode on the music scene. All from a start in Peekskill at Antonia Arts. That is something Peekskill can be proud of.

Currently, Scarlett is working with 16 year old Amy Reyes. Reyes just got her first audition and callback for the national television show The VOICE and is on the verge of being called back for her second callback for the national television show. The Peekskill Herald will continue to follow this young woman and keep you updated on her progress. Just last year, Amy Reyes won Miss Quinceañera New York 2022. Last year, Reyes sang Adele’s While We Were Young at the Hudson Valley Chamber of Commerce December Networking Breakfast at the Paramount Hudson Valley which you can see using the hyperlink. Under Anotnia’s direction, many of her students have gone on to be very successful in places such as the New York City Ballet, the cruise ship entertainment industry, and have even appeared in Madonna videos.  

If you would like more information about Antonia Arts, Scarlett Antonia, the staff, classes, The Artist Spot or the New Victory Theater production company, visit AntoniaArts.org. 

Please remember December is Peekskill Herald’s big annual fundraising campaign – where every dollar we raise is matched, dollar for dollar, by major national funders through our partnership with NewsMatch. Every dollar counts and helps keep this 501c3 organization thriving. 

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