TeenTix Blog

Are you passionate about youth arts access? Do you organize artsy outings with your friends? Are you in the know about Seattle's arts scene and want to explore even more? This application is FOR YOU.

The New Guard: Teen Arts Leadership Society is formally an arts leadership training program, but really this group is the heart and soul of TeenTix. New Guardians play a central role in guiding the development of TeenTix programs and events, identify organizational values and serve as the primary teen ambassadors for TeenTix.

It's the most wonderful time of the year: SUMMER. Below is a comprehensive list of ALL OUR PARTNERS' opportunities for youth this year, conveniently separated by genre. Dive in and make this summer the best one yet!

DANCE

Are you a TeenTix superfan? Do you want to get an inside look behind the scenes of what we do and make arts access happen for teens across Washington state? THIS IS YOUR CHANCE. Peruse our positions below and apply today!

The first thing I noticed upon my arrival to the Moisture Festival at Hale’s Palladium was the long line that wound out the door. I knew the show was “family-friendly” (I was at a matinee, after all), but had interpreted the term more loosely, in a there-may-be-swearing-bring-kids-at-your-own-risk sort of way. But the number of young kids in line with their parents surprised me.

One of our favorite things about The New Guard: Teen Arts Leadership Society is that it opens doors for teens to create and curate the art they want to see in the world. In true youth arts leadership fashion, New Guard members Abbey S. and Esme D. are piloting a brand new annual program: the Teen Arts & Opportunity Fair, happening May 6th at Washington Hall!

From Abbey: "This is an event where teens can come with their friends and families to check out the different arts opportunities that our city offers through TeenTix & our partners. We are calling this an ‘Opportunity Fair’ and not a ‘Career Fair’ to promote exploration of the many various opportunities to engage in as a teenager in our community."

If you love fun, laughing, and building skills in public speaking & self-confidence--this class is for you! Our longtime Arts Partner Unexpected Productions is very generously offering TeenTix members the opportunity to take Teen Improv 101: Dynamic YouthProv! for FREE.

Learn more about this class and apply now! Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

When Pacific Northwest Ballet premiered William Forsythe's One Flat Thing Reproduced in 2008 it caused quite a stir, polarizing audiences and prompting questions about what defines "ballet." In early versions of the Press Corps, teen reviewers tackled the debut of One Flat Thing. Read these impressions from 10 years ago, then go see it for yourself! The piece has been remounted this weekend in PNB's Director's Choice program! "Calculated Chaos" By Greta R.

A dancer's leg kicks upward at the exact moment that an adjacent dancer's arm shoots outward and hand clenches; the two are divinely connected for this second, before their bodies twist in different directions. Every limb of every dancer is on a pivot, malleable and boneless as the dancers navigate a grid of 20 metal tables that they themselves pushed onto the stage in a charging herd. A pelvis juts and a skin turns itself inside out as numerous bodies malfunction like broken toys rewired with a mistaken circuit. This calculated chaos is contained in the sounds of a long-forgotten arcade game, one that hums and whirs and occasionally remembers how to simulate a booming crash.

ALL-CAMP is a community dedicated to building creative and supportive live music and arts experiences for all ages. Launching just this year, ALL-CAMP has already helped produce a Teen Night with TeenTix, and has another upcoming event that will introduce you to new people and music.

Opportunity Alert: ALL-CAMP is also looking for a group of people ages 13-20 to work with them to make the experiences described above happen. If you're a passionate teen with some big ideas and a desire to get involved with Seattle's art and music scene, you can fill out the application. Below, check out what's next for ALL-CAMP!

Does theatre get your brain juices flowing? Do you love talkbacks with cast and crew? Do you love dissecting the meaning of art with a group of peers?

Penguin Productions, one of our newest Community Partners, has what you need! They're gearing up to offer a new quarter of this play-going and discussion class, and you're invited to join them. Get all the deets below:

TeenTix's beloved Arts Partner, Seattle Public Theater, is offering limited FREE spaces in this drama camp for a few lucky TeenTix members! PRODUCTION: Twelfth Night or As You Will

Be a part of a production of one of the most famous romantic comedies of all time: Twelfth Night is the story of outsider Viola, who washes up in an unfamiliar country and has to disguise herself as a man. Filled with love, misunderstandings and gender bending, Twelfth Night is a delightful plunge into the colorful world of William Shakespeare. Taught by ArtsWest's production manager Jay O'Leary, this production is sure to get young actors engaged and excited about working with classical text. Intended for grades 7 - 12. Only TeenTix members may apply: sign up now!

Two Teen Nights. One amazing weekend. On March 2 & 3, TeenTix and a couple of our many treasured Arts Partners bring you two very special events. Check out the ever-growing perks of having a TeenTix Pass, below!

Being a TeenTix member has all SORTS of benefits: $5 tickets to the arts, exclusive arts events, snacks, and now this! Seattle Public Theater and 14/48: The World's Quickest Theater Festival are teaming up to bring you this Winter Break Camp. TeenTix members are encouraged to apply here to snag a FREE spot in this camp. Don't wait! Spots are limited, and the camp starts next Monday, February 19th.

Here are the deets:

Last week, we were lucky enough to go see American Hwangap by Lloyd Suh at West of Lenin. The play explores the relationships of an American-Korean family, the Chuns, particularly that of the family’s estranged father, Min Suk Chun, who returns home after fifteen years to celebrate his “Hwangap” (a commemoration of his 60th birthday). Before the show, we were also able to sit down with the play’s director, AJ Epstein, to ask a few questions.

With an artist for a mother, Epstein grew up surrounded by theatre. He went to shows regularly, and his parents were very supportive of him going into an arts-related field: “I was really lucky, that… I was able to have agency over [my decision to pursue an arts-related career]”, he stated. That wasn’t the only unique aspect of his arts-related journey, we found out, as Epstein had come up through lights and sound, and got into directing only later, in college. After purchasing West of Lenin, a tiny, eighty-eight seat, black box theater, in 2009, he started producing and directing shows there. Part of the theater’s charm is its small space, which provides the audience with a much more intimate experience.

This Friday, February 16th: our Community Partner, Arts Corps, presents the Youth Speaks Seattle WILD CARD Slam, part of the 2017-18 Youth Speaks Seattle Poetry Slam Series. Whether you're there to slam it down yourself or watch others at work, this is a fantastic way to spend your Friday night!

Since 2003, Youth Speaks Seattle has held an annual poetry slam series to build community, showcase the next generation of Seattle's poetic changemakers and to decide the top 5 poets to rep Seattle at Brave New Voices (BNV), the International Youth Poetry Slam Festival. This year, the winners will travel to Chicago for BNV 2018. Stay tuned for the GRAND SLAM on April 21st @ The Neptune Theatre!

One of our favorite things about The New Guard is that teens get opportunities throughout the year to take trips to TeenTix’s Partner Organizations! A few months ago, The New Guard used their time to take a formal outing to the Wing Luke Museum. Not only did they get to enjoy a personal tour of the museum and learn about its history in in Seattle’s lively International District, but New Guardians also had a couple hours to spend with the art, and followed up the whole experience with dim sum at a local restaurant! And, since they were closeby, the group took a jaunt to Seattle Art Museum’s Teen Night Out—overall, a fantastic night of fun, friends, and food.

Give yourselves the HIGHEST OF FIVES: you helped TeenTix raise $10,700.14 for our Annual Campaign, exceeding our goal of $10K!

Did you know that TeenTix gets most of its donations from teens & their parents? It’s true! YOU make TeenTix happen!

We need to raise just $360 a day for the next 12 days to meet our goal of $10,000 (that’ll allow us to send out 13,000 FREE TeenTix passes in 2018).

UPDATE: Applications will be accepted for The Press Corps Manager through Dec 31, 2017.

The Press Corps promotes critical thinking, communication, and information literacy through criticism and journalism practice for teens. Since 2006, some of the city’s most talented professional arts critics from The Seattle Times, The Stranger, Seattle Globalist, Seattle Dances and more, have taught over 550 teens through workshops and intensives focused on arts criticism training, resulting in over 450 reviews of arts and culture events that live on the TeenTix Blog. In 2015, we put the Press Corps on hiatus and worked with task force of community members to address some of the program’s ongoing challenges, including lack of significant racial and socio-economic diversity amongst program participants, and staffing challenges.

On Sunday, September 24th, teens, parents, artists, and arts leaders gathered at TeenTix Community Partner, Vera Project to celebrate the 10th annual Teeny Awards, hosted by TeenTix arts crush, Justin Huertas and members of The New Guard: Teen Arts Leadership Society.

In the first seconds of the film, a dark screen appears and fuzzy neon green text slowly types the message: It is the distant future. Mankind has conquered many galaxies, but the universe is vast. The mega-corporation Apocalypse Inc. has dispatched exploration vessels to discover new resources and possibly new life. The following is a journey of Syrinx-87.” This opening statement is frozen on the screen for a full 75 seconds before launching into the one hour and 13-minute long feature film, “Constant Space”.

“Constant Space” is a claymation space adventure filmed with a vintage Super 8 camera. The filmmaker Emmett Fifield, Snohomish native, wrote the script at the age of 16 and began filming at 18.