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MEDIA ADVISORY Contact: Ellen London
202-939-1383
Rap, Poetry, Dance Highlight Theme of Building Bridges, Breaking Down Barriers
Showcase Sponsored by the DC Trust
What: First-ever citywide performing arts showcase featuring young people from after-school programs in underserved DC neighborhoods
When: 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 17, and 7 p.m., Thursday, June 18
Where: The historic Atlas Theatre, 1333 H Street NE
Editors’ note: Because seating is extremely limited at the performing arts showcase, the event is not open to the general public, but to the families and friends of the youth performers. Reporters and photographers are welcome to attend the event or to interview and photograph students at the dress rehearsal at 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 16. Many young people in these after-school arts programs have compelling personal stories about how these programs have made a tremendous difference in their lives.
Washington, D.C. – Approximately 150 young people from 12 diverse after-school programs in underserved DC neighborhoods will hold a performing arts showcase called “We Got Next! Hear Our Voice” – featuring rap, dance, poetry, short spoken narrative pieces, African drumming and orchestral musicians. The young performers range in age from 7 to 18 and come from some the city’s most underserved neighborhoods.
“It’s unprecedented for young people in our city to cross neighborhood boundaries and come together for this kind of citywide performing arts showcase,” says Millicent D. Williams, president and CEO of the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation, which is organizing the event. “Many of these young people face tremendous odds in their lives, and the after-school programs in which they participate are a way for them to discover new talents and develop a greater sense of self.”
For instance, LaToya, 17, has been studying drums and keyboards at ESharp for years. While many of her friends in her Edgewood neighborhood in Northeast DC have dropped out of school, LaToya is graduating early from Cardozo Senior High School and has been accepted to several colleges. “She has grown up in the program,” says Sean Nix, program director of ESharp, which is part of the Community Preservation and Development Corporation. “She is dynamic and expresses herself through rap.”
Among the other acts at the showcase, seven girls from DC Scores will perform a short, choreographed, spoken piece about womanhood, self image and empowerment. Young people from City at Peace will perform an excerpt of their original youth-written piece called “Living in Theory,” about being a teen and building bridges between cliques as well as between children and their parents. Northeast Performing Arts
Group plans a dance piece to Kirk Franklin’s son, “Imagine Me,” about overcoming obstacles and conflicts between friends and siblings.
The Trust is organizing the performing arts showcase as part of its 10th anniversary celebration. The Trust is the primary resource for developing partnerships that expand and improve services and opportunities for children and youth in the District of Columbia, especially during their time out of school. It provides funding to more than 150 community-based organizations, helping more than 20,000 children after school and during the summer. The after-school programs taking part in the performing arts showcase are funded by grants from the Trust.
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The DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation is the primary resource for developing partnerships that expand and improve services and opportunities for children and youth in the District of Columbia, especially during their time out of school.
The partnerships include public schools, city agencies, and employers, including non-profit providers. Since its inception in 1999, the Trust has provided grants, technical assistance, youth worker training, capacity building, learning opportunities, convenings, and policy support in the District.