Afrocats’s Youth of the World rocked up to our Creative Expression Saturdays session supported by Children in Need, where they had a blast making poetry, turning their hand to podcasting, and dancing their hearts out in rehearsals.
Read on to find out more.
Building practical skills for the future
As the younger group played interactive games for the first hour, our older ones began with a crash-course introduction to podcasting with Naomi from Reform Radio, where she explained the necessary elements, sounds, and software they’d be using.
Naomi also familiarised them with Reaper, the programme they would be working with, emphasising its importance since they would later help each other with the recordings.
She then helped our young people create a poem to read aloud on the podcast, first choosing the theme and guided them through crafting their introductions, which they then recorded:
'My poem is about Nigerian food.'
'My poem is about how stressful school is.'
'My poem is about someone who wants to keep herself anonymous.'
After successfully making the recordings, Naomi reflected on the session:
'Today was all about hands-on experience in the recording world, and I’ll record them individually and translate some of their work. I'm excited about it as I’m planning to use little clips for social media and vox pops about their cultures!'
Feedback from Naomi’s group included:
'I liked how you could hear everything with the headphones.'
'I think it’s going to be very easy for me to understand podcasting.'
'I liked podcasting more than writing poems, but I enjoyed both.'
Good job everyone!
Pre-performance dance practice
Then, our younger and older groups merged for dance practice with facilitator Joy - a crucial one as this would be their final one with the instructor before the performance.
Joy began with a warm-up, and then assessed how much of the choreography they remembered.
Noticing some uncertainties, Joy spent time refining the entire dance, step by step, and then placed them in their positions and addressed any questions or tricky steps.
To finish, she emphasised the need for energy and attitude, rehearsing the final steps and the pose they would hold at the end of their performance on stage.
Look at them go in the clips below!
Our young people said:
'I liked the warm-up.'
'I liked the dancing—it’s very good, there’s nothing I would change.'
'I think I’m ready to perform.'
'I liked these sessions; I enjoyed them a lot.'
And Joy’s said of the day:
'Great session! They’re stage-ready and confident enough to perform alone. It was a fantastic session, and I’m really happy with the group.'
Fantastic work everyone – and see you next time for more fun and creativity on Youth of the World Creative Expression Saturdays!
Find out more about Afrocats’ vision for a more inclusive society here.
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