Youth Speaks Inc

Bay area programs - every time a thought is put into words, it is a creative act (thus the term, language arts). The same way a student recognizes and is able to practice visual arts by learning images, drawing, painting, and/or sculpting, a person's language skills expand the more s/he communicates ideas, problems, feelings, and solutions. Our local programming sits at the core of youth speaks. Programs such as our after school workshops, in-school residencies, uncer 21 open mic, bringing the noise for martin luther king jr., teen poetry slam, unified district poetry clam, oakland poet laureate, queeriosity and mc olympics, fully embody our unique pedagogy which combines arts education, youth development, performance and civic engagement. We believe that our strength as a national leader is intrinsically connected to the depth and excellence of our core local programs and pedagogy. Youth speaks is also actively creating professional development training opportunities and pathways as part of bay area program. We developed the first sound institute in collaboration with the university of san francisco school of education, to bring together artists and secondary educators from across the bay area and beyond to provide insight into our pedagogy, our philosophical underpinnings of our youth development, and our arts development practices.

Theater program - youth speaks theater program is committed to producing literary performance in the verse of our time. Aesthetically urban, pedagogically freirean, our theater program derives personal performed narratives out of interdisciplinary collaboration. Though its methodology includes dance, music, and film, the company's emphasis is spoken storytelling.we support the creation of verse-based work that is spoken through the body, illustrated by visual and sonic scores, and in communication with the important social issues and movements of the immediate moment. Youth speaks theater program is also centrally focused on supporting the next generation of theater artists, technical personnel and leaders, including writers, directors, performers and producers, through our emerging artists fellowship. Emerging artists fellows are alumni of youth speaks youth programs and the brave new voices network.