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When you think of community-center arts programs, you usually think of uninspired after-school theatre programs whose main objective is giving parents something to crow about. This is definitely not the case with the Community Education Center situated in West Philadelphia. Since the Kumquat dance collective moved into this space from its Fourth Street location last summer, the center has been a breeding ground for some of the city's most talented dance performers, choreographers and companies.

But even prior to that, the CEC was nurturing emerging arts for years with its juried residency program -- the New Edge Performance Series, the American Concert Theatre's elaborately staged script-in-hand readings and the annual Feminist Film and Video Series. Most recently, CEC has introduced the Sunday Scene for Families, which offers monthly performances and workshops. With the Kumquat Dance Center joining the 30-year tradition of Group Motion Workshops, the monthly works-in-progress Glue Performance Series, the Spiel Uhr Series, the Visiting Artist Series and the annual Kumquat Festival, the CEC is a tireless matriarch for the community.

As a non-profit, community-based arts and education center situated in an area where lower-income families live side by side with wealthy students and social-minded political activists, the CEC fully accomplishes its mission of strengthening the sense of community and culture among people of differing backgrounds. Most impressive though is that the center does this while offering quality performance art. -- Marisa Mariscotti