Barter Youth Academy Expands Operations Across Region

Barter Youth Academy, one of Barter Theatre's four education programs, expands operations this month to include two new locations and additional classes.

In Abingdon, Bristol, Kingsport and Elizabethton Barter Youth Academy (BYA) is a fixture of the after-school offerings available to students. Early this November, enrollment opens to students in Johnson City, Tennessee and Marion, Virginia for the first time.

"We are thrilled with the program's growth, increasing the number of locations for 2017 means providing more children the opportunity to develop and grow through theatre." said Michael Gerber, associate director of Barter Youth Academy. Gerber adds, "More convenient locations also allows us to better serve our current students."

Barter Youth Academy is a performance-based educational program that allows students of ages 5-18 a chance to learn and develop their performance and storytelling skills. Using the acting and rehearsing techniques of the Barter Theatre's resident Acting Company, students work through the theatre experience from the audition to the final performance on-stage in front of a live audience.

On November 1, spring registration opens for Barter Youth Academy. Although classes will no longer be held in Elizabethton, this year's list of upcoming locations includes Johnson City Community Theatre. Additionally, in partnership with The Wayne C. Henderson School of Appalachian Arts at The Lincoln Theatre, Marion, Virginia is the latest city to offer BYA classes.

In addition to location changes this spring, BYA created new class levels for advanced young students. Although most classes do not require previous theatre experience, BYA recently introduced Troupe and now announces Junior Troupe, both higher-level classes based on age and designed to help foster advanced theatre interest and pursuit.

This spring, BYA classes focus on a variety of productions, depending upon the age of participants:

"The Diary of Anne Frank" for middle and high school aged students

"Ramona Quimby" for elementary school aged students

"A Wrinkle in Time" for Junior Troupe classes

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" for Troupe classes

For more information about Barter Youth Academy, call 276-619-3344 or visit bartertheatre.com/education/bya.

Barter Theatre, the nation's longest running professional theatre, is located in Abingdon, Virginia. The theatre opened in 1933 during the Great Depression. Founder Robert Porterfield offered patrons admission to the theatre by bartering food and livestock. Barter Theatre was designated as the state theatre of Virginia in 1946. It exists today as one of the last year-round professional resident repertory theaters remaining in the United States. Barter Theatre is funded in part by The Virginia Commission for the Arts and The National Endowment for the Arts.

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