A Yellowknife teen is working to make space for young people in the city to show off their talents.
Scarlett Anderson is a 17-year-old student at Sir John Franklin High School and the lead singer of R.A.S.K.L, a youth band that plays punk rock and metal.
She is organizing a youth talent showcase at Northern United Place later this month for young people to perform dance, music and spoken word among other talents.
“I believe it’s important to put on these talent shows to sort-of create a community with the youth musicians and just the talented youth of Yellowknife in general,” she said.
“You can make friends and you can find a community, really, because it’s sort-of hard to find where you belong in school in general.”
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Anderson added the talent show is an opportunity for youth to gain experience and ease some of the stage freight and anxiety that can come with performing on stage.
This will be the second youth talent show that Anderson has organized following a show at Northern United Place in December.
Given the limited performance opportunities for young people in Yellowknife, Anderson said she joined the NWT Recreation and Parks Association’s Activate NT program, which offers grants to NWT youth, to put on the show.
“It went amazing,” she said. “We had a lot of people come out and perform and we also had a lot of people come to watch.”
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
In the future, Anderson said she would love to partner with a local festival or organizers to put on similar events.
“I do enjoy it a lot and I really would like to create change in Yellowknife and create more opportunities for youth to perform,” she said.
The upcoming talent showcase is set to take place on February 22, starting at 6pm.
Anderson said youth aged 10-17 can still sign up to perform.
“Please come and participate and let your talent shine.”
She also encouraged people to come out and support the performers.
“It’s sort-of validating to have people interested in youth performances to come see the youth,” she said.
“It is really felt by the performers and it really does show that people care about the next generation of musicians and local talent in Yellowknife.”
