Cultch's Ignite! youth program attracts big names

The Cultch's Ignite! youth mentorship program has recruited an impressive group of performers to offer guidance to aspiring artists for early 2010.

Among the big names are dancer-choreographers Susan Elliot, Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg, and Noam Gagnon; theatre directors Adrienne Wong, Kendra Fanconi, and Marcus Youssef; songwriter Veda Hille; and spoken-word artists Barbara Adler, RC Weslowski, and Brendan McLeod.

Theatre directing is a new category for the three-year-old program, as is playwriting; mentors in the latter include acclaimed local talents Amiel Gladstone, Shawn Macdonald, and Michele Riml.

The program, which is free to young artists between 13 and 24, offers not only the chance to work one-on-one with established artists, but to tkae workshops on everything from grant-writing to media relations and to present work on the Cultch stage.

Info and application forms are available on the The IGNITE! blog: ignitementorships.wordpress.com.