BWW Interviews: Aniela Zaba, Artistic Director of the International Youth Arts Festival

Hi Aniela! First of all - this sounds like a HUGE challenge to pull together. What made you want to do it?

Who wouldn't want this job! It's been an incredible experience to see the organisation grow since we launched with a pilot festival in 2009 that involved 500 young people over 10 days to being just over 2 weeks away from our third festival, which will run across 15 venues for 18 days and is likely to involve over 10,000 young people in total! I became artistic director when I was just 23 which is a huge credit to the board of directors whose ethos it is a pleasure to reflect - young people up to the age of 26 really are involved in every single area of the event, as performers and producers, as project managers, in press and marketing, in design and branding and in coming up with all the ideas which makes IYAF a unique festival in this country.

One of my biggest pleasures is the mentoring and support we provide for many young individuals and organisations who have the potential to be the exceptional artists, entrepreneurs and businesses of the future. I am delighted to see so many of them flourishing through our support, excited to see all the work they will produce as part of IYAF this year, but also importantly how they continue to develop and grow once IYAF is over for this year.

What's the toughest part of your job?

The toughest part of my job is probably the few weeks before the festival (now!). We are a very small team who work on a huge event and are very reliant on an incredible team of over 100 young volunteers and 15 interns, without whom it simply would not be possible. In the few weeks before the event you just want the festival to start, and for the adrenalin to kick in! In these few weeks you are dealing with hundreds of emails and phone calls per day - whether it be major artistic decisions or where someone should park their car - you have to answer every query, leaving not much time to get the work you need to get done, done!

What input do your royal president and the other patrons have?

We are honoured to have an incredibly active President and patrons. HRH The Earl of Wessex annually attends our royal gala and has also attended various fundraising events for us over the last 3 years. In January he visited to Rose to watch a showcase event called 'From Amazon' which included a performance by a group of 14 year old boys created in just 20 hours. They did everything - learnt how to puppeteer, made puppets, made the set, learnt a complex piece of choreography, wrote the story and the characters, operated lighting and sound and performed the piece! The piece was performed in front of 100 local businesses and led HRH The Earl of Wessex to say that "It is in these difficult times that great art is often produced. What you are doing in Kingston is unique, there is no other festival of its kind in the country and you should feel proud that it is taking place right here, in your town."

Our other patrons are also wonderful - Matt Lucas hosted our Folk 'n' Roll fundraiser last November, Tom Chambers has been and met some of our young people at a few events and Sheridan Smith is going to become a lot more involved this year.

Spring Awakening is a fantastic show, particularly for young people - it's a bit of a coup for you! It's also a bit controversial - is that part of the attraction?

I think the festival is here to reflect what young people are feeling about the world they live in, and it certainly feels this year that more and more what you might call "controversial" pieces are appearing. Spring Awakening is a fantastic show and I know that the Arts Educational School are going to do an amazing job with it - their performances at IYAF come off the back of a sell-out run in London so I can't wait to see it in the incredible setting of the Rose Theatre. I'm sure HRH is going to love it!

Is the future of British musical theatre performance looking bright?

The future of British Musical Theatre performance can be bright. The future of the arts in this country can be bright. Young people will never ever stop having ideas, creative thoughts and an unbending imagination. As long as organisations such as ours are allowed to continue to facilitate opportunities for young people and encourage them to be the inspiration for future generations then they will continue to shine. The difficulty comes when cuts to funding across the county prevent young people's ideas being turned into something concrete. We all have to learn from young people at the moment - and use a bit more imagination and creativity to keep going - if we can do that I am sure they will do us proud.

2011 marks the third year of the INTERNATIONAL YOUTH ARTS FESTIVAL which takes place at a variety of venues in Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, July 1-18 - see the full programme and ticket details at www.iyafestival.org.uk.

 

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