Scotland’s leading National Youth Performing Arts Company is abuzz with activity, as 62 children aged 8 – 11 hone their acting craft at Scottish Youth Theatre’s summer Junior Course.
Over a third of the young participants hail from Shanghai Le Ran Performing Arts Centre travelled over 5,000 miles with their teacher and Le Ran founder, Tina Tao, to participate in the high quality opportunity, to develop their skills and knowledge in the world of performance.
Sarah Linton, 10, from Cathcart in Glasgow said: “I love SYT, I came here last summer. I’m really looking forward to performing in front of an audience.”
Elaine Huang, 11, from Shanghai is interested in musical theatre, counting Annie and Matilda among her favourites. She said: “I’ve been studying theatre for three years. My teacher told me about SYT and I’m enjoying it very much.”
Ten year old Frozen fan Sawyer Ji, also from Shanghai said: “I like the theatre very much and I am ready for the performance. I should get better at singing.”
The dedicated group are working on general drama skills, exploring movement, characterisation and storytelling. This will create a unique performance to be presented in the professional theatre venue on the final day. Video artist Emma Bowen is working with the young people to incorporate a unique audio-visual element for each performance.
Tina Tao, one of the founders of Shanghai Le Ran Performing Arts Centre accompanied the group. She said: “It’s been an amazing experience so far. Our group travelled all the way to Glasgow to take part in the SYT Junior Course. The group are showing great passion and enthusiasm. It’s an intensive six day course and requires a lot of hard work, but they’re all having fun!”
This year marks the 40th anniversary year for Scottish Youth Theatre. Since 1977, SYT has involved tens of thousands of young people across Scotland and has created hundreds of successful productions.
