Welcome to Youth Excellence on Stage Academy ASEAN 2016. This year, ASEAN’s most talented young singers, songwriters, actors, dancers, DJs, rappers, MCs, Beatboxers and music producers from across the region will gather at Jakarta’s prestigious Institute of the Arts to study with America’s finest Hip Hop, Broadway and Songwriting professionals from New York City.
The 2016 Program
This is a tuition-free program brought to you by the U.S. Embassy to Indonesia and participating Embassies across ASEAN, along with American Voices and the Jakarta Institute of the Arts. We are accepting up to 50 participants from across Indonesia on full scholarship (including housing, meals and travel) and another 50 from across ASEAN with two levels of scholarship. All scholarship information is here.
This is a highly competitive program. You may apply online and send us links to audio and video files best representing your talent. The application deadline is Sunday, June 19. Results will be announced on Monday, July 5.
All classes will be held daily from 10am to 6pm at the Jakarta Institute of the Arts from August 1 to 12, 2016.
The YES Academy program was developed by American Voices, a NGO based in the United States. The project is led by Executive Director, John Ferguson in cooperation with support from our Indonesia Project Manager, Silvya Lo. Please join our Facebook group now to stay up to date on the program.
The craft of being a singer-songwriter is forever a work in progress, from writing, recording and performing songs to building a fan base and successful career.
Ravi helps singer-songwriters of all levels attain success in every aspect. He shows them how to develop ideas that are hitting "writers' block," and then refine and record them for both demo purposes and ultimately a marketable product. In terms of the performance, he offers techniques to better execute both the singing and accompaniment independently, and then marry the two as a stronger union (many singer-songwriters are plagued by poor accompaniment skills). Being a successful singer-songwriter is largely about being an effective story teller through song and performance, so Ravi works with students to develop audience communication and presentation skills not just as an artist performing, but also as an entertainer between the songs--ultimately enabling them to draw from their own personalities in order to build memorable shows and a loyal fan base. Ravi also brings a wealth of knowledge on artist-entrepreneurship, giving his students the needed business skills to promote their art into sustainable careers including branding, booking, distribution, publicity, networking, and good general business practices.
Singer-songwriter Ravi is a former member of triple Grammy nominee band Hanson (three Billboard Top 10 songs including a #1); has four music instructional DVDs on Truefire; is published by Simon & Schuster and multiple music trade magazines; has over a dozen endorsement deals with musical instrument manufacturers; and is a regular "artist-in-residence" and international lecturer at Berklee College of Music in Boston, National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM--USA, Russia, and China), and others renowned institutions.
Would you like to develop community-based arts programs to help those in your local community who are in need?
The Cultural Entrepreneurship Program will be a daily seminar designed to help you grow as a professional artist, social entrepreneur and community leader. Sessions will address the following topics:
• Social Entrepreneurship
• Community Cultural Engagement and Diplomacy
• Leadership Skill Development
• Networking and Strategic Alliances/Partnerships
• Developing Your Personal Brand
• Nuts and Bolts: Budgets, Proposals, Fundraising, Social Media, Documentation
During this seminar you will work in teams to develop arts-related educational and performance projects that serve underserved and at-risk communities in your home country or town. You will walk away with your ‘elevator pitch’, a budget on paper, a one-page narrative proposal and photo/video documentation for potential funders.
This Academy we will be preparing another over-the-top Broadway Revue studying excerpts from Hamilton, Chicago, and others.
We are pleased to welcome back the star of “Legally Blonde: The Musical”, Nikki Snelson and to welcome Vocal Coach and Music Director, Peter Thoresen of New York City to the YES ASEAN family!
About the Program
In 2016, Nikki will join Peter and American Voice’s John Ferguson in a program of solo and ensemble singing, choreography and acted scenes from a wide range of hit Broadway shows. These excerpts present many exciting challenges in music, acting and dance for the aspiring Broadway performer.
The Broadway Musical is one of the great art forms to emerge from New York City in the 1920’s. For performers, it demands a unique combination of acting, dancing and singing skills not often taught in University and Conservatory programs. More and more, classical musicians, dancers and actors are expected to have some experience in Musical Theater and the familiarity with the genre may lead to new performance opportunities in your professional life.
The Broadway Musical Theater program of the YES Academy is designed for singers, actors and dancers who want to improve their skills in all three art forms. Most participants will come into this program with a background in only music, theater or dance. Don’t worry! The program is designed to accommodate your area of experience as well as to help you discover talents you may have thought you never had in music, dance and acting. Your artistic boundaries will certainly be expanded and we can guarantee a sense of accomplishment at the end of the program.
The program will be performance-driven: you will spend most of your time preparing songs, choreographies and acted scenes from a wide selection of classic and contemporary musicals. At the end of the Academy, you will perform in the final gala concerts.
You will also participate in one group choreography with the Hip Hop dancers as well as in ASEAN Cabaret performances where you will combine elements of your local and national cultures with your art form.
The program will run from 10am to 6pm daily from August 1 to 12 with evening dress rehearsals possible on August 10 and 11. The final concert will be held on August 12. In addition, the ASEAN Cabaret program is back: bigger and better, and there will be Cabaret nights at @America theater on August 8 and 9.
Participants from age 18 to 24 will be chosen for the program based on their talent, motivation and potential. Students younger than 18 (provided they have housing and transportation in Jakarta) and over 24 may be accepted on a case by case basis. Up to three teachers may be selected for our Teacher Training program and they will function as rehearsal assistants.
APPLY NOW
Do you have a passion for rapping. singing, beatboxing or producing music? Do you love Hip Hop? Would you like to make art your profession? To be a professional Hip Hop artist today, one must be a musician, performer, entrepreneur, activist and teacher.
During this 12-day Hip Hop musical boot camp, aspiring emcees/poets, singers, beatboxers and music producers will learn what it means to be a professional artist who takes their artistic and business acumen to the next level.
This workshop series will be a crash-course in the crafts of song-writing, beat-production, audio-engineering and performance. Participants will:
Learn about Hip Hop's historical and cultural foundations.
Collaborate across linguistic and cultural borders with fellow participants to create new artistic material. Organize and participate in a culminating performance with the other artistic sections of the YES Academy program.
Develop a personal business plan that will lay the foundation for future personal and professional success.
Special synergies will be created when the languages and dialects of the ten member nations of ASEAN converge in Jakarta for these 12 days of learning, creating, collaborating and improvising. Be prepared to work, share--and yes, be prepared to FREESTYLE!
* Participants from age 18 to 24 will be chosen for the program based on their talent, motivation and potential. Students younger than 18 (provided they have housing and transportation in Jakarta) and over 24 may be accepted on a case-by-case basis.
* Please plan to participate in the ASEAN Cabaret performances where you will combine elements of your local and national cultures with your artistic craft.
14:30 – 17:30 - Studio recording, performance technique, rehearsal
17:30 – 18:00 - Final share, closing cipher
About the Instructor
World-renowned artist and activist Farbeon (Hip Hop Re:Education Project, Freestyle Mondays NYC) returns to YES ASEAN for the second year in a row!
Whether on stage, in the recording booth, in the classroom or behind a camera Farbeon brings a community-based approach to the creative process that has inspired young and old throughout the United States and abroad for 15+ years. He has has independently released 5 records, has consistently toured internationally since 2008 and his performance range includes the use of loop stations, effects pedals and live computer production.
Farbeon has overseen both virtual and real-world cultural exchanges between young Hip Hoppers in NYC, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Berlin, Barcelona, Seoul and throughout Southeast Asia. This modern-day Griot is ultimately dedicated to maintaining and supporting the development of genuine hip-hop culture and community to bring about dialogue and understanding and to pave the way for the next generation of young Hip Hop ARTivists.
Join B-boy and Hip Hop dancer Ken Fury from New York in 12 days of pure Hip Hop from the USA!
Ken Fury, originally from Colorado, moved to New York City in 2005 and began working in theater and as a street performer, while simultaneously traveling abroad to compete and judge in break dance competitions. He has won over thirty of the top dance competitions and has had the honor to judge some of the largest dance events worldwide. He has choreographed for and performed in films and commercials including, Starburst, Toshiba, I love New York, Blender's Pride, K-Swiss and many other independent projects.
As an educator, he has worked in dance studios and schools in his community along with working as an adjunct professor teaching dance and movement at New York University's TISH School of the Arts in the Experimental Theatre Wing. He has also taught at the Seoul Institute of the Arts in South Korea and has worked as a cultural ambassador with the University of North Carolina and the U.S. Department of State's program Next Level, where he traveled to Zimbabwe, Africa using art and dance as a tool for conflict prevention, cultural exchange and teaching entrepreneurship skills.
About the Program
Join B-boy and Hip Hop dancer Ken Fury from New York in 12 days of pure Hip Hop from the USA!
Ken Fury is coming from New York City to get ASEAN dancing! This is a dance program for ASEAN’s Hip Hop dance crews, B-Boys, B-Girls. Poppers and Lockers and solo dancers. Participants from age 18 to 24 will be chosen for the program based on their talent, motivation and potential. Students younger than 18 (provided they have housing and transportation in Jakarta) and over 24 may be accepted on a case by case basis.
Under the leadership of Ken, you will also participate in one large group choreography with the Broadway performers of the YES Academy as well as in ASEAN Cabaret performances where you will combine elements of your national culture with hip hop dance.
Each day will be spent on technique, choreography, personal style development, and learning new Street Dance genres such as breaking, rocking, experimental movement, house, voguing, whacking and jazz.
The program will run from 10am to 6pm daily from August 1 to 12. Please plan on evening dress rehearsals on August 10 and 11 and on final performance on August 12.
Students will be selected for the program based on their talent, motivation and potential. Up to two teachers may be selected for our Teacher Training program and they will function as rehearsal assistants.
