What's Your Story? Akpik Theatre Youth Outreach
What's Your Story? is Akpik Theatre’s youth outreach program that visits northern communities teaching youth various skills like theatre, storytelling, singing, spoken word and dance over the span of a day up to a week! Akpik Theatre developed this program to work with northern youth and artists in their community where there is little to no access to the arts. We bring the teachers to you! Youth learn various forms of performance and at the end perform their own new work in front of a supportive audience.
Before we get started with the youth, the facilitators offer a pay-what-you-can performance in each community visited so they can get a sense of the work we do as professional artists. Prior to arriving, Akpik Theatre also sources out local artists to connect with. By having local artists part of the performance, youth begin to see their community as one that can support the Arts.
The main initiative is to help northern youth find their artistic voice. The goal is to have this outreach become a yearly event. You can help make that happen by booking us in advance so we can include you in our programming. We are also available to do classroom sessions that give a brief introduction to the work we do and get students involved.
2015 partnerships in NWT
Yellowknife's YWCA - GirlSpace
Fort Smith's Uncle Gabe's Friendship Centre
Fort Simpson's Open Sky Festival.
partnerships in Alberta - keyano college
Keyano College Theatre Department. What’s Your Story? with Keyano College toured through the Wood Buffalo Alberta Region doing one-day workshops in six communities (Anzac, Conklin, Janvier, Fort Chipewyan, Fort McKay, and Fort McMurray.)
Total # YOUTH Participated: 400!
2013 partnerships in NWT
Yellowknife's YWCA GirlSpace
Yellowknife Weledeh School
Yellowknife St. Pat’s HS Leadership Resiliency Program
Fort Smith's Uncle Gabe's Friendship Centre
Fort Smith PWK High School
Hay River's Diamond Jenness High School
Total of YOUTH Participated: 120!
“Thank you so much for reaching out to GirlSpace and sharing your passion and talents with us. It was really special!!!”
“This was so terrific!!! I will miss this!”
“Thank you so very much for making this happen. It was a pleasure having you here, please come back anytime.”
“That was an amazing event last night!! I was so impressed by how sincere, courageous and talented our kids presented their own work. Their words, their power, their art had me spellbound. They truly shared their story!! Last night I saw art as something different. It was needed art, not ornament art, not a show off. But real and powerful. To sum it up in my daughter’s words: That was WOW!”
WHAT'S YOUR STORY? HAd A SISTER PROGRAM IN NEW YORK CITY, IN MY WORDS!
In My Words! ran from 2015 - 2018. In the first year Renee Benson (Song) , Reneltta Arluk (Theatre) and Micheala Leslie-Rule (Film) worked with the New Settlement Apartment Girls Program in South Bronx. In My Words! was an intensive arts workshop incorporating music, storytelling and filmmaking. Young women between the ages of 12-18 explore the role of the arts in personal growth, community health, and learn how to use art as a catalyst for social change. It was held during their spring recess, afterwards they shared their songs, lyrics, poems, self-created plays, and films to their appreciative South Bronx community.
