Tri-Valley Youth Performing Arts Center Slated To Open This Year

DANVILLE, CA — When Jarusha Ariel and Shayna Ronen first opened the I Can Do That Performing Arts Company in a 1,000-square-foot studio in 2016, they started with a cast of 18. Before long 70 students were showing up to auditions — so many that they had to turn some away.

The vision for I Can Do That was a long time coming for Ariel and Ronen, who have been best friends and theater buddies since the age of nine, Ronen said.

Theater helped Ronen get through difficult periods of her life, and she and Ariel long dreamed of creating their own youth theater program to pay it forward. When their childhood theater director passed away in 2016, they decided to take a gamble and give it a shot.

As the program grew, Ronen said the space became a place where youth would show up early and stay late. It was a place for fun and vulnerability, where students could feel safe to share personal struggles, and stories of bullying and abuse. Youth turned to Ariel and Ronen for help amid traumatic times, during incidents of self-harm and after being raped.

"We thought that theater was the whole point and we realized it wasn't," Ronen said. "The whole point is community."

Now the nonprofit is seeking to expand and serve more youth through theater, family programming and fostering community. The 6,000-square-foot space is slated to include a lounge area where students can feel welcome to hang out with friends and do their homework in a supportive, empowering environment, she said.

The youth center will be located at 194 Diablo Road, formerly the Two Left Feet Dance Center.

I Can Do That hopes to hold classes to teach youth coping mechanisms to deal with troubling times, yoga, meditation, and workshops on self-worth and setting boundaries. They want to bring youth and families together by hosting events such as karaoke nights and dance parties.

Scholarships will be available to families who can't afford to participate.

"We want to be the loudest place on the block, and always have something cool and interesting and fun," Ronen said.

I Can Do That is currently fundraising to complete the $750,000 project. So far, they've raised about $600,000, including $385,000 during the shelter-in-place order. Construction is underway and the center is currently on track to open by the end of the year.

Families, individuals, businesses, groups and nonprofits are invited to make a donation and have their name included on the donor wall to honor those who contributed to the project, she said. Learn more about the project and find out how to donate here.

"Our kids need a place where they can become empowered, a place where they can see that they're loved, valuable and capable," she said. "Where they can discover their own strengths, find their own joy and impact the world in ways only they know how."