From its humble beginnings as an artist-in-residence project in 1985, Southern Edge Arts (formerly known as Coco Youth Theatre) has grown to be one of the country’s leading regional youth theatre organisations.
With over 200 members in 2009, and hundreds of other children and young people participating through in-school and community based workshops and projects throughout the region, Southern Edge Arts innovative performing arts programs are continually expanding.
Southern Edge Arts will commemorate its long history and achievements in 2010 as it prepares to celebrate 25 years of inspiring the imagination of children and young people from the Great Southern and beyond!
Firstly, the number of after school performing arts workshops it will offer in 2010 has doubled! The ever-popular core streams of drama, dance and circus will be joined by more specialised classes in puppetry, physical theatre, clowning and comedy, and the first SEA choir! Enrolments are now being taken, and if you register before the 22nd January you will qualify for early-bird discounts.
Southern Edge Arts is also excited to announce its performance projects for the year. Kicking off the years is Festy Shorts – A Festival of Short Plays that celebrates young voices. Emerging from the 2009 project, Springboard, where young writers were mentored by Sydney playwright Mary Rachel Brown to develop original scripts, Festy Shorts is an opportunity for teams of young people to take up the challenge of directing, designing, performing their own works!
Secondly, Australia’s leading dance company for children and young people, Buzz Dance Theatre, who are also celebrating 25 years this year, are joining SEA throughout 2010. Inspired by the dreariness of Albany’s winter and the teenage tendency towards the macabre, SEA members will work in collaboration with Buzz’s Artistic Director, Cadi McCarthy and other company dancers to create an original detective themed performance. It is planned to take the resulting performance to Perth, for a short season at the King Street Arts Centre. Any young dancers interested in participating in this exciting project are encouraged to get involved in SEA’s Term 1 dance program.
The mainstay of SEA’s Silver year is a major performance piece, The Colour of Forgetting. With the financial assistance of the Albany Port Authority’s Atlantic Eagle Fund, this production will be inspired by local events and stories, set in and around the Albany Port. It will employ illusion, movement, circus, animation and puppetry to create a visually intoxicating show that will delight audiences of all ages. SEA is excited to partner with The Great Southern Factor to develop animations for the performance. GSFI is hosting animation workshops during January at SEA for those wanting to learn the basics!
SEA General Manager, Kelly Hull says,
“2010 is going to be a magical year. With so many new workshops, fantastic projects and amazing artists lined up, now is really the time to start exploring the exciting world of the performing arts and all the possibilities and opportunities it offers! 25 years is a huge milestone any organisation, especially a non-for-profit regional youth arts one! This speaks to the strong and continuing community support for our programs and for the value of the arts in developing healthy and vibrant communities. I encourage everyone to get involved – from children and young people as participants, and adults as audience members – keep an eye out for some truly amazing artistic works in 2010.”
All of Southern Edge Arts programs are made possible through ongoing funding from The WA Department of Culture and the Arts, the Australia Council for the Arts, and Healthway to promote to Act Belong Commit mentally healthy message!
Full details on Southern Edge Art’s 2010 program & how to get involved in any of the above workshops and projects can be found at www.southernedge.org.au or by calling SEA on (08) 9841 6002.