By Stephanie Froese

Traveling theater camp pays it forward

Jul 11, 2011 | 7:01 AM

After a group of older youth benefited from a Saskatchewan Native Theater Company program, they decided to start a theater Summer Camp to give back to the community.

“Those youth felt really empowered and sort of enlighten by the theater and experiences they had,” said Alan Long, general manager of the company.

“It was a way for them now to go to younger youth in the community to say that theater is a great thing and we’d like to pass that on to other youth.”

The Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company is traveling around the province to bring the Performers’ Playhouse Summer Drama Camp for kids to several communities through the summer including some in Northern Saskatchewan.

This year the camp will not solely focus on acting.

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They are incorporating dancing and singing, as well as writing aspects, for those that are interested, Long said.

“So really it’s just about them finding out what they like to do and becoming more expressive at it,” Long said.

Long said the kids and the instructors all have more fun in the summer camps when the format is a little more open. He said the theatre camps teach youth to have confidence and to use their creativity.

“There are more specific games that help each individual youth break out of their shell and then as we proceed through that we try to recognize what kind of talents each of the youth have and we encourage them to bring their ideas.”

The camps take about 15 to 20 kids who are between the ages of eight and 16. Long said they can be flexible to include 17 and 18 year olds as well.

The camps go from Monday to Friday at 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.

“At the end of the week on the Friday afternoon we do a presentation with the youth and they showcase their talents and some of the things that they’ve learned during the camp.”

The first three camp locations include Île-à-la-Crosse on July, 11, Piapot on July, 18 and Buffalo Narrows on July, 25.

Long said there is still some room in their summer schedule. Communities can contact the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company at gm@sntc.ca

sfroese@panow.com