The inaugural year of the initiative will kick off with a four-day arts intensive that will run from the 12 – 24 of January 2009, in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. The programme includes acting, dance, music and playwriting workshops for young children.
BSA comprises 14 New York City-based professional actors, dancers, singers, directors, musicians and producers from Broadway shows such as The Lion King, Rent, Wicked, and Hairspray.
The NGO seeks to provide children from disadvantaged South African communities, with little or no access to a formal arts education, an opportunity to be trained and taught by professionals in the industry.
“BSA’s philosophy is that all children deserve the opportunity to explore their own creative potential, and should never be denied exposure to art and possibility because of their life situations,” says the organisation.
Besides training young South Africa artists, the organisation also raises funds through star-studded Broadway concerts in America. In conjunction with local producers Pieter Toerien and Hazel Feldman, the BSA will produce and perform live benefit concerts in South Africa in the coming few weeks. The proceeds from these concerts will go directly to the Keep A Child Alive charity, that provides medication for children and their families living with HIV/AIDS.
The youth workshops will be held at the JL Zwane Centre in Gugulethu Township, Cape Town. There will also be masterclasses taught at University of Witwatersand and Theo-Twala Primary School in Johannesburg, as well as the Agape Orphanage and other children’s centres in Durban.
The benefit concerts will at the Theatre on the Bay in Cape Town on Sunday, January 18, 2009, and in Johannesburg at Montecasino on Monday, January 19, 2009.
For more information visit www.broadwayinsouthafrica.com
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