Nine artists have been chosen for a major arts movement designed to address the “chronic lack of diversity in youth arts”.
Vital Spark, which aims to make the performance for young audiences sector more relevant and inclusive, will involve the nine taking part in a six-month programme of masterclasses and mentoring which will help them to develop new ideas for shows for young audiences.
The artists are illustrator and children’s author Debora Naomi Adachi from Dublin, Tanya Akrofi, a Lincoln-based writer and storyteller, London-based dancer and choreographer Sarah Blanc, Justyna Cwojdzinska, a Limerick theatre practitioner and voice-over artist, Dublin-based writer Alexandra Grogan, Sarah “Rain” Kolawole, a Nottingham-based playwright and spoken word artist, Leicester-based choreographer Lewis Major, HK Ní Shioradáin, a Dublin based composer, poet, lyricist and sound designer, and Tandeka Williams, a Derby-based creative producer and youth practitioner.
Leicester-based arts organisation The Spark Arts for Children set up Vital Spark in 2018. Artistic director Christopher Gorry said, “we’re excited to announce the diverse group of artists that make up this year’s Vital Spark cohort.
“The ambition of this year’s artists, our new partnerships and a planned Vital Spark symposium in March 2024 are clear signs of how much Vital Spark has evolved to be at the very core of what we do and the important role it plays in the sector internationally.”