Young At Arts performers set to debut
Members of the Summer Theatre Arts Intensive (back row, L-R): Dequan, Jaedyn, Melody, Katherine, Amber and Omar; (front row, L-R): Zayda, Tahiti, Jaimie Kae, Soleyah and Genesis
(CNS): Participants in the Cayman National Cultural Foundation’s (CNCF) summer arts programme will be putting on an original work, Beyond the Skin, from 7-9 August at the Harquail Theatre. The Young At Arts (YAA) Summer Theatre Arts Intensive, which began 2 July, comprises people aged 12-17 interested in theatre or any of its component disciplines – music, dance and acting.
For the production, each member developed a character for the script that addresses the human tendency to “mask” things, such as insecurities, fears and problems. With support from YAA drama, music and dance instructors, the young performers have delved deep to access their feelings on topics such as success, divorce, beauty and loneliness, and will use theatre arts to tell their stories.
Every summer, the programme accepts up to 25 students who need to audition to take part in the sessions and final production. This year’s staff includes show director and drama instructor Lesley-ann Bernard, who is a drama teacher at John Gray High School and has performed in such productions as Rundown and Hannah’s Confession.
Vocal instructor Robin Tayman is also musical director for the Cayman Islands Folk Singers and director of the Cayman Singing Christmas Tree Children’s Choir. Dance instructor Lorna Reid is the founder/artistic director of the Cayman Islands National Dance Company and School, Dance Unlimited, which began in 1988.
Cultural intern Nicole Crance handled physical and vocal warm-ups, preparing students for the classes in music, dance and drama. Summer intern Chelsea Renee Bodden worked in varying capacities on the production. Philipp Richter, also a cultural intern who is a filmmaker/photographer, is working on a documentary about the YAA to showcase the challenges and joys of the theatre.
Young At Arts is an educational youth programme guided by an artistic philosophy that recognises that Caymanian cultural forms and enactments, and their creative interpretation and expression through art, are vital in the moulding of a Caymanian aesthetic.
Tickets for Beyond the Skin, which cost $10, are available at the CNCF office at the Harquail Theatre and the Health Care Pharmacy Grand Harbour, or from YAA parents.
For more information, call the CNCF at 949-5477 or visit their website
