June Bug Hosts Teen Open Mic
~ The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on March 21, 2012.
“We’re hoping that this will be something we do twice a semester, giving young people an opportunity to perform and share their creative talents with each other,” announced Heather Krantz from the Black Box stage at the June Bug Center’s first After School Open Mic.
After School programming at the Center, which began in January of 2013, is a collaboration of June Bug and the Floyd County Public Schools. It includes mentoring and enrichment workshops in theater, dance, authentic relating games, and more for area teens on Mondays through Thursdays, 3:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Krantz, the June Bug Center’s administrative manager, thanked everyone for participating before turning the stage over to teens enrolled in the after school program and students of the Floyd Music Lab who are learning about performance production under the guidance of Music Lab director Joe DeJarnette.
About 30 people, mostly teens, were in attendance. Guitar, mandolin and fiddle performances were presented by Music Lab students.
Other Open Mic highlights included improv skits guided by workshop leaders Susan Saunders and Stacy Dowd of the Locust Street Players, the “cup song” in which teen performers accompanied themselves on percussion using plastic drinking cups, the Harlem Shake, a youtube dance meme reminiscent of a flash mob, and a dance performance that was led by instructor Leia Jones and ended with a shower of glitter confetti.
Joe Klein, a licensed professional counselor who hosts an after school authentic relating workshop, led the audience in an interactive game that had them standing and high-fiving each other. “We play a lot of games in ways that helps teens get relaxed and get comfortable with each other, so that they can be themselves and feel free to be their full selves without judgment,” he told attendees.
A new semester of programming at the Center begins from March 25 to May 23 and will include Teen Cuisine, a nutrition and cooking class with Cooperative Extension agent Dawn Barnes, Performance Arts with the Locust Street Players, Physical Theater with Katie Wells, Hoop Dance with Leia Jones, TaekwonDo with Skip King, Yoga for Beginners with Doug Chance, Ceramics with Floyd County Public School’s art teacher Aven Tanner, and ‘What Me Worry?’ a workshop on authentic relating games and techniques for stress reduction led by Joe Klein.
Note: The majority of workshop classes are offered for free with donations being accepted. For more information contact Heather Krantz at JuneBug@swva.net. Watch video clips of the event embedded as links above.
