Theatre For Young Audiences/USA Announces 2024 TYA/USA NATIONAL FESTIVAL & CONFERENCE Hosted By AllIance Theatre

Theatre for Young Audiences USA (TYA/USA), the national organization that provides advocacy and resources to the field of Theatre for Young Audiences, in collaboration with The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, will present the 2024 TYA/USA National Festival & Conference: POSSIBILITY on March 13-15, 2024.

This annual national festival offers the largest convening of leaders, educators, artists, and organizations in the field of Theatre for Young Audiences. This landmark event will provide a platform for exchange, dialogue, and connection through the presentation of 10 performances, concerts, and staged readings from around the nation, keynote speakers, master classes and workshops. The 2024 TYA/USA National Festival & Conference will be presented in conjunction with the Alliance's Toddler Takeover Festival, an annual arts festival developed for children from birth through 5 years old.

2024 Programming Highlights include:

• A Closing Keynote Conversation between activist, author, and change maker Yolanda Renee King and Atlanta's own nationally-celebrated writer and playwright Pearl Cleage.

• An Opening Keynote Conversation between Artistic Director of The Alliance Theatre Christopher Moses and Artistic Director of Children's Theatre Company Peter Brosius.

• 10 live performances, staged readings, and concerts, presented in conjunction with the Woodruff Art Center's “Toddler Takeover,” a celebration of work created for very young audiences. 

• A professionally performed SONG SLAM cabaret featuring songs from a variety of new musicals for young audiences, music directed by renowned theatrical composer Deborah Wicks La Puma. 

• 21 Breakout Sessions led by TYA leaders across the nation, including “Healing and Community-Centered Devising with Youth,” “Investigating Accessibility Practices in Theatre: From Programming to Purchase to Performance,” “Sharing Resources and Breaking the Scarcity Mentality,” and “Reimagining Funding Models to Uplift Community-based Devised Works.”

• Pre-Conference Training Program Co-hosted by the Alliance Theatre: a FREE opportunity for students and emerging career professionals the afternoon of Tuesday, March 12th.  This half-day professional development event, designed for emerging career artists, will lead participants through an Alliance Theatre signature program for developing new work, the Palefsky Collision Project. Participants will “collide” with a source text under the guidance of Alliance Theatre Artists in Residence.  Participants will unpack the source text, engage in a series of theater workshops with guest artists, and express their unique reflections upon these experiences through creative writing exercises. This pre-conference event will culminate with a panel discussion featuring TYA/USA Board Members.

“This is an unprecedented and challenging time for our theatre industry,” shares TYA/USA Executive Director Sara Morgulis. “It is crucial that we gather together for artistic exchange, dialogue, and framing for the future that will motivate us to action. The theme of the 2024 National Festival and Conference is POSSIBILITY, as we highlight innovation and creativity in artistic practice, model the expansive opportunities of cross-cultural partnerships across sectors, uplift youth voice, and empower our attendees as changemakers in their communities. We are proud to partner with the prestigious Alliance Theatre, a true leader in the TYA field, for this remarkable event.”

The Alliance Theatre Artistic Director Christopher Moses shares, “What an honor to once again host the TYA/USA National Conference & Festival at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA.  It's hard to imagine a more perfect marriage of theme & place.  To collectively contemplate new possibilities in a city that still brims with hope, in a city that was fueled by a dream, promises to inspire our field at this most critical time.”

Registration is now open. More information can be found at www.tyausa.org/festival 

Theatre for Young Audiences/USA (TYA/USA), is a national service organization whose mission is to promote the power of professional theatre for young audiences through excellence, collaboration, and innovation across cultural and international boundaries. The organization provides advocacy and resources to over 1300 members in 47 states in order to strengthen and diversify the field of theatre for young audiences. TYA/USA is the United States Center for the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People (ASSITEJ). TYA/USA hosts an annual national conference and offers a range of professional development opportunities, both for its membership and the greater field. www.tyausa.org. 

  

The Alliance Theatre is Atlanta's national theater, expanding hearts and minds onstage and off. Founded in 1968, the Alliance Theatre is the leading producing theater in the Southeast, reaching more than 165,000 patrons annually. The Alliance delivers powerful programming that challenges adult and youth audiences to think critically and care deeply. Under the leadership of Susan V. Booth, the Jennings Hertz Artistic Director, the Alliance Theatre received the Regional Theatre Tony Award in recognition of sustained excellence in programming, education and community engagement. www.alliancetheatre.org 

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