Youth need more local chances to participate in the arts

The past five weeks I had the opportunity to watch a team of 8–12 year-old dancers, led by choreographer Sherean Maynard and a cast of teens, led by directors Olivia Caserta and Megan Abbanat dive deep into learning dances, and memorizing lines and blocking positions on stage. On top of that, they all worked with music director Nick Carvajal who wrote songs and arranged the musical score for this year’s Winsters Shakespeare Workshop production of “Twelfth Night.”

By the performance nights, I was in awe of these youths. They came together in the most magical and hilarious rendition of a Shakespearean play I have seen. I will be as bold, and possibly biased, to say that it was one of my favorites.

Winters — we need more theater opportunities for our youth.

We have WSW every summer, and the Winters Theatre Company occasionally has parts available for children and teens. But, our neighboring towns have youth theater programs that run year-round and I can tell you that is what my daughters want to participate in.

While they both have their athletic sports of choice, they also have a strong desire to do theater. if they were just given the option to participate in one.

I don’t have a big solution in mind. I’m a Girl Scout troop co-leader, and I do what I can to bring that experience for my troop members. However, that is a small and limited number of youth. I would love to see someone who has the experience, knowledge and managing skills and connections to bring something like this to Winters.