Youth Programs - Community Sponsorship - Lensic Programming

Through Lensic Youth Programs:

10,000 kids have performed on the Lensic stage since 2001!

20,000 students are attending free performances each year!

75 high schoolers have participated in the Lensic Technical Apprentice Program!

In the audience, onstage and behind the scenes, youth and educational programs are central to the Lensic's purpose and vision. Whether watching a rehearsal with dancers from The New York City Ballet, attending a master class with San Francisco's acclaimed theater company, Word for Word or gaining hands-on technical experience in a professional setting, New Mexico Youth are being introduced to all aspects of performing arts at the Lensic.

Here's what we're doing:

PARTNERS IN LEARNING
Working in collaboration with our public schools, free daytime performances are organized throughout the year for school children at the Lensic. Kids are bussed in from throughout the region to experience the unparalleled excitement of live performance- from traditional New Mexican music, circus artists, classical concerts and the Nutcracker ballet.

KIDS CENTER STAGE!
Imagine the experience of putting on your school play at a professional theater with state-of-the-art lighting and sound and the same tech support offered to the world's great performers! The Lensic has offered just that by providing free space and technical assistance to kids from area schools like Carlos Gilbert Elementary, Ortiz Middle School, Santa Fe and Capital High Schools and Acequia Madre Elementary.

STATEWIDE YOUTH ARTS FESTIVAL
In February 2005, we presented the first annual Lensic Youth Arts Festival for New Mexico. This showcase of young talent from all corners of the state featured a visual arts exhibit at the State Capitol and five incredible groups performing on the Lensic stage. We continued the festival once again in 2006 and welcomed schools from across the state performing, poetry, Ballet Folklorico, Tahitian Dancing and Drumming, and Big Band Music. Plans are in place to continue the festival in the future.

TECHNICAL APPRENTICE PROGRAM
Since 2001, the Lensic has offered Technical Apprenticeships to High School students, giving them a chance to earn credit towards graduation, work hands-on backstage and gain advanced technical training from our professional staff. Each year, select apprentices are chosen by the Lensic as paid Technical Interns. With this experience, many students have gone on to work for other professional companies and to pursue technical theater degrees at the college level.