Young Americans tour comes to Cleveland
Workshops and performance with cast members offered to area students
The Young Americans National Music Outreach Tour will be making a stop in Cleveland for a series of workshops offering professional performance instruction and character education.
Members of the cast will lead three days of workshops at Cleveland State Community College Feb. 16 through 18. The program is open to anyone between the ages of 5 and 18. In the workshops, participants learn about dance and choreography, developing performance attitudes, singing and acting, as well as other areas of interest in the performing arts.
In addition, themes and activities designed to help build self-esteem, team work and discovering one's own potential are woven into the workshops.
Organizers say that no prior experience is necessary and that kids who are talented or even very shy are encouraged to come out.
"It is truly a life-changing experience, not only for older students who join the cast and tour internationally but for the shy child who feels confident in participating for the first time or the student who needs a place to belong and is able to find it through the arts," Karen Dale, associate professor of music at CSCC, said in an prepared statement.
Everyone who participates in the workshops will have the opportunity to perform on stage with the 47 cast members from the tour in a special performance at Cleveland Middle School on Feb. 18.
According to the website, the comprehensive workshops "cover everything from vocal techniques, dance and comedy improvisation to stage movement, sound, lighting and more. Hundreds of students from fourth through 12th grades learn to work together, to respect each other’s strengths and to discover their own potential—all through the universal language of music and dance."
The Young Americans tour was formed almost 50 years ago in Hollywood with the purpose of supporting music in schools. Today, the group consists of 250 members from 39 states and eight countries around the world.
Over the years, the tour has performed for presidents and heads of state, won an Academy Award, been on national television and appeared live before worldwide audiences. Alumni from the Young Americans have moved on to become professionals on Broadway, television and film, as well as have careers as music directors and teachers.
Currently, there are approximately 165 participants signed up for the February workshops in Cleveland with room for more, according to Tracey Wright, CSCC director of special programs and community relations. Wright's goal is to have at least 200 students in the workshops, "but I would love to hit 300," she said.
Students do not have to be from Bradley County to participate.
For more information on the tour click here. To register for the workshops in Cleveland click here.
