Leap Day provides additional cultural, economic impact for ASU Gammage

How does an extra day impact the largest university-based presenter of performing arts in the country and top touring market for Broadway – ASU Gammage?

Here are just a few examples of the impact that occured on Feb. 29:

• "Wicked" is playing at ASU Gammage now through March 11, and nearly 2,900 people are expected to attend the Leap Day performance, which will result in more than $800,000 economic impact. "Wicked" has been playing to sold-out crowds since its opening on Feb. 15 and the full run is expected to bring in more than $30 million of economic impact.



• Members of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company conducted residency work with more than 70 dance students across the ASU Tempe campus. Company members work with these students through master dance classes, Q&A’s and choreographic workshops. The company is in town for the second year of The Gammage Residency and will perform at 7 p.m., March 6. Body Against Body, which revives and reconsiders the duets and solos that launched Jones and Arnie Zane – his partner and collaborator of 17 years on the dance scene of the early 80s and redefined the dance landscape of the day.


• Twenty-five incarcerated women ages 23 to 50 at Estrella Jail in Phoenix prepared for their March 4 performance in conjunction with ASU Gammage’s Journey Home: an Arts Experience for Incarcerated Women program. This arts residency program is designed to enable incarcerated women to discover a personal sense of constructive identity through movement, visual arts, creative writing and storytelling. The inmates train in movement, visual arts, creative writing and storytelling. The intent is to help them build personal skills and self-esteem and demonstrate alternative methods to avert destructive behavior through the arts. The women then begin to see themselves as productive, creative people.