Date Posted: June 24, 2008.

Ten young adults between the ages of 18-30 have begun a month long training seminar in leadership and facilitation. The seminar is a component of the APPLE Theatre programme, an initiative adopted by the Ministry of Social Development, Department of Youth and Culture to promote values and sustainable development among young people, through involvement in and exposure to the arts.

The seminar will focus on the process of collaborative creation, and calls upon the use and development of planning, creative, cooperative and interpersonal skills. After a week of intensive training, facilitators will be required to manage their own project teams made up of participants ages 12-18 to create and present a performance work within the allotted time.

Programme Coordinator Eleanor Stacey

Skills developed during this process will include new teaching/facilitation, management and leadership methods, useful in conceptualizing and executing creative projects, but also applicable in any workplace. Throughout the programme, participants will be called upon to reflect upon how new skills and information can be utilized in their own workplaces. Participants for the workshop are drawn from a range of public and private sector agencies who have agreed to sponsor their young employees for the training. Agencies include: H.M. Prison, the Department of Education, the Department of Immigration, the Department of Disaster Management, the Blowing Point Youth Development Centre Ltd., the Ministry of Finance, the Anguilla National Trust and the Department of Youth and Culture.

Seminar Participants Pose for Group Photo

APPLE, acronym for, Anguilla People Performing Live Entertainment operated in Anguilla during the period 1998-2003. During this timeframe it engaged more than 250 young people in the production of several shows, including Anne of Green Gables, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Children of Eden, Once upon an Island, and Voices of Anguilla, as well as a music and dance variety show called Journeys.

In addition to the leadership and facilitation component for young adults between the ages of 18 and 30, there will be a component for young people between the ages of 13-18, which is scheduled from June 30-July 18, 2008. Areas of focus will include short plays, dance, and music pieces and other forms of performance genres in addition to support areas such as photography, Stage Management, Publicity, Costume, Props, Choreography and Directing Assistance.

Further information about the programme can be obtained by contacting Ms. Hyacinth Augustine, Programme Officer - Youth Development, at the Department of Youth and Culture (498-3792 or hyacinth.augustine@gov.ai) Young people between the ages of 12-18 who are interested in the programme should register their interest with their form teachers.