Showcasing young talent

10:43am Tuesday 27th May 2008

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HUNDREDS of young performers took to the stage in Kidderminster to reveal their talents in an effort to bring arts to the community.

Pupils from eight Wyre Forest schools were involved in the Wyre Forest Voices and Visions event, held at the Rose Theatre.

It was organised by Emma Lashford, a performing arts teacher at Wolverley CE Secondary School, to raise awareness of what students were performing and creating at school.

The 200 youngsters, aged between four and 18, entertained Worcestershire County Council officials and their peers, with work which included a superhero dance and an extract from the play, Two, by Jim Cartwright, during their performances on Wednesday last week.

Ms Lashford said: "All performing arts teachers in Worcester-shire had a meeting with the county council to see how we could bring events to a small community. They asked for some of the teachers to organise them.

"I got the names and addresses of all performing arts teachers in Wyre Forest schools to see if they would be interested.

"They were all keen so I visited them to watch their piece. I picked a selection and drew up a running order."

She added that there was a piece of dance, drama and music from every key stage group, with a mix of devised and scripted performances from different genres.

"It was a good experience and the kids were really fired up for it," she said.

"They performed well. It was nice because it was about them mixing with other students."