Youth & Teen Creative Workshops

A beginner workshop that uses poetry to teach participants about empowerment and self-confidence.

This is Fire: Fire exists as a brave space, inspiring truth and freedom, where creativity nurtures youth to express, heal, and connect self and others. Our mission is to encourage and respond to people’s desire for authentic expression and social justice. As a youth driven space for art and justice in the heart of Kalamazoo’s most diverse neighborhood, we develop social and emotional learning and leadership skills through out if school time workshops , open mics, and poetry slams.

A beginner singing workshop that allows participants to learn different vocal techniques and stage presence to express themselves.

Dylan Tolbert: Dylan Tolbert is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Kalamazoo, Michigan. He grew up in Three Rivers, Michigan where his love for music started. Over the span of 20 years Dylan has learned to play drums, piano, guitar, and violin. Putting his own style on classic songs with soulful grooves and creating tunes of his own is the driving force of every show. March 29, 2021 was the release of Tolbert’s debut album, Tolbert Drive. For more information about music, events, and booking visit www.tolbertdrive.com.

A unique workshop that focuses on melody, harmony, rhythm, improvisation, and lyrics. Participants can develop individual style by applying various concepts and techniques to express themselves when creating music.

Megan Dooley: "Megan Dooley, born and raised in Kalamazoo, has been performing and entertaining regionally, nationally and internationally for 23 years. She has performed live at The State Theater opening for Grammy award winning artist "Sugarman" Rodriguez, and at Chenery Auditorium with the Kalamazoo Concert Band as well as the Maple Street School Girls Choir, to name a top few.

Specializing in dynamic and powerful vocals, versatile performance styles, genre-bending techniques, songwriting, and even professional whistling- Megan is also a multi-instrumentalist, a longstanding open-mic host in the community, a mentor, consultant, and music producer with an associates degree in Liberal Arts from The Kalamazoo Valley Center for New Media.

A beginner dance class that allows participants to explore ways to create and learn different dance techniques.

Rootead Enrichment Center: Rootead programs include Red Birth Green, our doula collective; Roots of Yoga, a yoga teacher training program led by yogis and community leaders, Kama Tai Mitchell and Karina Mirsky; and RYDDE (pronounced "ride"), which is our Rootead Youth Drum & Dance Ensemble.  The majority of our programming is low or no cost, and we offer scholarships for others.  We encourage folks to visit our center to have a cup of tea and learn more about how we're reclaiming the village.  Our walk-in hours are Tuesday - Friday, 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm and Saturday 10:00 am - 2:00 pm.  

Learn creative ways to think on the spot, create characters, test your memory, build confidence with stage presence and public speaking.

Shannon Hill: Shannon Hill is a multi-faceted theatre artist with a strong background in acting and directing. She received her BA in Theatre Performance from Western Michigan University and her MFA in Theatre from the University of Houston. She studied improv at Second City and the Annoyance Theatre. She founded WMU's "Worklight Improv Team" and was a member of Philadelphia's improv team, "Bright Invention". She teaches acting, stage combat, improv, and voice for the theatre all over the country for ages five to adult. Some institutions at which Shannon has instructed are the Walnut Street Theatre, the University of Houston, Lone Star College Cy-Fair, St. John's School (Houston), UNO Rogers Park (Chicago), and Bureau County High School (Illinois). Favorite directing credits include Eurydice (Allen's Lane Theatre), Peter and the Starcatcher (FMCT), and the Comedy of Errors (Festival 56). Favorite acting credits include Rosalind in As You Like It (Festival 56), Hamlet (Houston Shakespeare Festival), Sally in Talley's Folly (Allen's Lane Theatre), and Masha in Three Sisters (Studio 208). Shannon also worked as the Artistic Director of Festival 56 from 2015-2017 and as the Associate Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Women's Theatre Festival for 2022. Her best creative project to date is her daughter, Roz. 

Learn creative poetry structures and rhythms to express your thoughts, feeling, and emotions into a story.

This is Fire: Fire exists as a brave space, inspiring truth and freedom, where creativity nurtures youth to express, heal, and connect self and others. Our mission is to encourage and respond to people’s desire for authentic expression and social justice. As a youth driven space for art and justice in the heart of Kalamazoo’s most diverse neighborhood, we develop social and emotional learning and leadership skills through out if school time workshops , open mics, and poetry slams.

A unique workshop that focuses on melody, harmony, rhythm, improvisation, and lyrics. Participants can develop individual style by applying various concepts and techniques to express themselves when creating music.

Megan Dooley: Megan Dooley, born and raised in Kalamazoo, has been performing and entertaining regionally, nationally and internationally for 23 years. She has performed live at The State Theater opening for Grammy award winning artist "Sugarman" Rodriguez, and at Chenery Auditorium with the Kalamazoo Concert Band as well as the Maple Street School Girls Choir, to name a top few.

Specializing in dynamic and powerful vocals, versatile performance styles, genre-bending techniques, songwriting, and even professional whistling- Megan is also a multi-instrumentalist, a longstanding open-mic host in the community, a mentor, consultant, and music producer with an associate’s degree in Liberal Arts from The Kalamazoo Valley Center for New Media. 

A beginner dance class that explores techniques from different dance genres, tips on stage presence, and simple choreography. The class is guaranteed to be energetic and fun!

Trinity Prep Center: Ms. Adiah, Ms. Courtney, and Ms. Carmilla opened the doors of Trinity Prep Center in Kalamazoo, MI in the Summer of 2014. TPC offers affordable dance lessons in Ballet, Tap, Hip Hop, Jazz, and Tumbling for youth. Their mission is to use positive influence to help youth reach their maximum potential.