Curated by Laura Raboud

Nextfest is delighted to have developed relationships with high school drama classrooms over the past ten years, and for the first time this year we are forging a relationship with high school dance classes.

Over 50 high school playwrights, actors, dancers, directors, choreographers, and stage managers from ten Edmonton and area schools compose the roster of the 2009 Enbridge High School Mentorship Program.

Through this program Nextfest is able to provide an even younger set of emerging artists with the opportunity to actively learn and engage in a professional festival setting. The students involved in the program can see their theatre and dance works produced as part of a Mainstage program, get their scripts workshopped in a play reading, or develop relationships with emerging professional mentors involved in one of Nextfest's Mainstage Theatre or dancefest@Nextfest shows.

This year two hour-long Mainstage Theatre slots are dedicated to celebrating new works created and performed by high school theatre students. COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE consists of two pieces created by collective ensembles at Ardrossan and Louis St. Laurent Schools. The second high school program, ALTER EGO, features three short plays: Elevator, Red, and Over The Top!, produced by students at Strathcona High School.

On Sunday, June 21st, four young playwrights will share their works in progress as part of the Afternoon Teas(ers) Development series. The reading will feature Tinseltown by Ayden Ross, X vs Y by Mitch Dexter, Consequence by Samantha Silver, and The Apartment by Kevin Weir.

Finally, the mainstay of the high school initiative is the Mentor-Shadow Program. Each year high school theatre artists (the “shadows”) are connected with mentors from the Mainstage Theatre programs to witness and gain experience in all aspects of theatre production, from directing and stage managing to acting and set design. 

Thank-you to the dedication and enthusiasm of this year's Mentors: Lisa Dalmazzi, Cory Sincennes, Zvonimir Rac, Nicole Schafenacker, Amy Shostak, Taylor Chadwick, Perry Gratton, Jon Lachlan Stewart, Michael Davidson, Keltie Squires, Merran Carr-Wiggin, and Joel Crichton.

...And to our Shadows: Mitch Dexter, Ayden Ross, Annie Pumphrey, Taylor Rubin, Morgan Melnyk, Haley Fanning, Gaby Phaneuf, Graham Petit, Jessica, Nepton-Chayer, Erin Doucet, Emilie Duchesne, Paul Cournoyer, Madelaine Durrant, Letizia Vacchio, Philipp Schroeter, and Erin Valentine.

A new feature in Nextfest high school activity this year is the engagement with dance programs at Victoria School and Strathcona Composite. The dance programs Safety Dance and Let’s Dance incorporate compositions by high school choreographers Heather Devaney, Delaney Mckerricher, Taylor Kiryluik, Melissa Watt, and Becky Sadowski. A warm welcome to these choreographers and their performers: Skye MacDonald, Rory Cleator, Allison Bachynski, Emily Schultz, Amanda Gauchier, Quinn Dooley, Syndee Shuchuck, and Ellyne Antoniuk, Kara Chamberlain, and Afton Rentz…. and congratulations and thanks to their Dance Mentors: Cheryl Fontaine, Cheryl Jameson, Ainsley Hillyard, and Raena Waddell.

Special thanks to: Helen Rusich at the Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, Celine Gareau Brennan at L'Uni Theatre, Jan Taylor at Kompany! Family Theatre, Keith Ewasiuk at Beaumont High School, Diana Boratynek at the Foote Theatre School, Pamela Schmunk at Jasper Place High School, Linette Smith at Strathcona High School, Fiona Williams at Archbishop MacDonald High School, Annette Loiselle, Jon Lachlan Stewart, Maureen Tigner at Victoria School, and Linda Turnbull… and once again, our continuing gratitude goes to Enbridge, whose generous sponsorship providesyoung students with these important opportunities to learn and grow, thereby supporting our future generation of artists in Alberta.