From the desk of NRT's Project Coordinator -
Kutchiak John Gregg in Lincoln, Nebraska.
NATF Radio Trainer Janine Marr from New
Hampshire and I took to the road this April
and joined a team in Cherokee, North Carolina.
The
Cherokee Youth Center Boys & Girls Club
was the destination and we worked with the
kids at the Club. Radio theatre trainer
Janine Marr is representing the National
Audio Theatre Festivals as co-trainer for the
workshops in Cherokee and is a veteran radio
theatre producer. I will be there as
co-trainer with Janine.
The week long workshop was held in mid April
in the CYC Radio production studio. The
Cherokee Team included leaders from the
Cherokee Youth Center Boys & Girls Club -
Shawn Crowe and Manager Denise Ballard. Also
on board was Kevin Norris, who teaches in the
Gifted/Talented program at the high school
and also serves as the Theater Arts
Instructor at the Cherokee High School.
As mentioned earlier, Janine Marr is working
with Norris on script development and was
hired by NRT to join us in Cherokee for the
workshop. Janine is also the newly elected
President of the Board of Directors for the
National Audio Theatre Festivals in West
Plains, MO.
Joining us from Western Carolina University
is Wayne Robbins, who also participated in
the Native Radio Theater Project in 2006 at
the National Audio Theatre Festivals in West
Plains, MO.
CYC Radio Instructor Shawn Crowe (Cherokee)
currently produces the news features with the
kids for their weekly news show called One
Feather News. During the week of
workshops, the students learned additional
skills such as writing, directing, voice
acting and more. Shawn brings many years of
radio experience to the project and currently
maintains the program Cherokee Youth In Radio
at the CYC.
The radio play the students are producing is
based upon one of the many Cherokee myths &
legends entitled Why Possum's Tail Is
Bare. The student crew is comprised
mostly of ninth grade students from Cherokee
High School, many of whom have dreams of
going on to work in theater and film.
Currently the students are working on some
productions at their school under the
tutelage of CHS Theatre Arts Instructor Kevin
Norris.
The Artist in Residency in Cherokee is the
first in a series of residencies planned by
the Native Radio Theater, a project of Native
American Public Telecommunications (NAPT) in
Lincoln, Nebraska. Shirley Sneve (Sicangu
Lakota) is the Executive Director of NAPT.
Sneve stated "NRT exists to give tribes
opportunities to tell their own stories in
their own voices. By using the Internet we
can do this electronically and it allows the
stories to be heard by future generations. We
are excited about the project, and we are
looking forward to hearing the voices of
Cherokee Youth on the national native radio
network, Native Voice One and on the Internet
at www.nativeradio.org"
The
Native Radio Theater Project is also
looking for future locations to host the
Artist In Residency Program. If the idea of
hosting a workshop to produce a story for
radio appeals to you, give us a call. For
more information contact me, Kutchiak John
Gregg, at (402) 472-0497, or e-mail: jgregg1@unl.edu
