Art workshop teaches teens confidence through expression
<p>Instructor Elizabeth Cummings, right, critiques Katie Keller, left, and Hannah Hickethier after performing a mirroring exercise July 23 during the Share Your Voice Foundation's Empowerment Through Performance Workshop at the Bohemian Grange south of Whitefish.</p>
<p>Share Your Voice Foundation co-founder Jennifer Johnson-Bell watches exercises July 23 during the Empowerment Through Performance Workshop at the Bohemian Grange south of Whitefish.</p>
<p>Derek Taylor mimes pulling a rope July 23 during the Share Your Voice Foundation's Empowerment Through Performance Workshop at the Bohemian Grange south of Whitefish.</p>
<p>Former attendee Vanessa Naive, right, films a mimed tug-of-war match July 23 during the Share Your Voice Foundation's Empowerment Through Performance Workshop at the Bohemian Grange south of Whitefish.</p>
<p>Hannah Hickethier laughs during an exercise July 23 during the Share Your Voice Foundation's Empowerment Through Performance Workshop at the Bohemian Grange south of Whitefish.</p>
<p>Other participants laugh as Joey Martiniello, left, tries to say a tongue twister July 23 during the Share Your Voice Foundation's Empowerment Through Performance Workshop at the Bohemian Grange south of Whitefish.</p>
This week, Flathead teenagers are learning to express themselves through the arts at a camp in Whitefish.
The Empowerment through Performance Workshop, sponsored by the Share Your Voice Foundation, aims to encourage its teen participants to discover and express their talents in a safe space. Doing so improves their self-esteem, unleashes their creativity and helps them develop strong and effective communication skills, foundation organizers say.
The students take movement classes, learn voice projection, try their hands at songwriting and working with the camera, and participate in teambuilding exercises. They are guided by arts professionals, coaches, teachers and volunteers, who spent last week preparing for this week’s festival.
“To make this happen, [Share Your Voice Foundation] board members, volunteers, will be at work full time creating a transformative experience for these kids,” said Jennifer Johnson-Bell, founder of the organization now in its seventh year.
“Guest educators and facilitators will devote two weeks of this summer, from July 14 to 27, to make this a once-in-a-lifetime for these young people. We are fortunate to draw upon the significant population of talented artists and educators concentrated in Northwest Montana to make contributions to our programs ...”
Those educators include Whitefish actress and director Rebecca Spear; her husband, guitarist and singer-songwriter Nick Spear; choreographer and former Denver Broncos cheerleader Robin Schaefer; Flathead High School speech coach Elizabeth Cummings; and Share Your Voice Foundation alumna and recent Montana State University graduate Vanessa Naive.
The workshop also includes sessions taught by Los Angeles educators Corrine Cleary, a director and actress; dancer and educator Anna Walters; and Noah Crowe, who has worked with young actors in Nicaraguan communities and in juvenile detention centers from Ojai, Calif., to New York City.
A graduate of the first Share Your Voice Workshop, Naive is now working as production coordinator on the documentary film “Unbranded.” She created the multimedia editor position at the Montana State Exponent newspaper and served as production coordinator for “Celebrating Einstein.”
Naive also was the undergraduate nominee for the Princess Grace Award for her thesis film, “Little Princess,” which won Best Cinematography and Best Actress and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director at the 2013 Tracy Awards. She has worked on documentaries covering Montana Pride.
Having come full circle, Naive says: “Teens enjoy the opportunity to explore the parameters of stage performance, attain theatrical and writing skills, and develop familiarity with the camera while improving self-confidence, teamwork and finding their own unique voice.”
The workshop culminates in a performance Saturday. The students in the workshop are writing and rehearsing the variety show, Night at the Landing, that will be performed at Stillwater Landing, located on Lower Stillwater Lake, 15 miles west of Whitefish at mile marker 143 on U.S. 93.
The community is invited to see the results of the students’ hard work at the show, which starts at 7 p.m. Gates open at 6:30 p.m.; a $10 donation is suggested at the gate. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.
For more information about the workshop, visit wwww.shareyourvoicefoundation.org, email info@shareyourvoicefoundation.org or call (888) 806-5700.