“Emily has been running her own workshops through her company for a while now and has great success with them,” Ms Thomas said.
“She was looking for a base in Horsham so that she could continue to offer those workshops to local kids, so we told her we’d love to have her be part of our public program offering.
“We jumped at the chance to have her and it’s been a great success since we started.”
The workshops, aimed at children aged eight to 12, are designed to be fun and inclusive, with no previous performing arts experience required.
“Drama is a safe environment for students to build their confidence, practice working with others and develop skills that will support them later in life – social skills, leadership skills and more,” Ms Dalkin said.
“Our workshops encourage play and exploration through characters and script work.
“Students seamlessly build empathy, listening and team skills through ensemble work. It’s amazing to see confidence build in just a few weeks.”
Ms Thomas said there had been ‘a great amount of interest’ in the program after it was trialled during term one, leading the town hall to schedule weekly sessions on Wednesdays during term two.
“We know from the number of kids who are involved in local Horsham Arts Council productions and Smart Artz productions that there is certainly an interest in performing arts at a junior level,” she said.
“It’s been great to see kids take it up and enjoy all the activities that they’ve been doing.
“Hopefully we’re unearthing some performers of the future.
“There are certainly opportunities for them locally to do things in performing arts, but also beyond that – if they want to go on and do this as a career, the opportunities are there.
“It’s not only that, there’s all the behind-the-scenes career opportunities that are there too in performing arts.
“That’s what’s great about doing it at the venue, is they can see what other opportunities are out there, whether it be working in the technical operations or marketing of a show – any of those aspects.”
The Drama Up! term two workshops will continue with sessions at Horsham Town Hall from 4pm to 5.15pm today, June 25 and July 2.
The cost is $15 per session and people can book online by visiting hthpac.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/147894.
People can call Ms Dalkin on 0456 010 589 or Horsham Town Hall on 5382 9555 for more information.
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