We are building the biggest youth poetry slam the UK has ever seen. It’s exciting, it’s powerful and it will change the way you think about poetry.
Shake the Dust is about bringing together young people from up and down the country; shining a spotlight on voices that would otherwise be unheard. It uses slam poetry as a tool to inspire and motivate young people to share their lives, stories and dreams, and gives them a platform from which to speak out.
Watch a short film explaining the thinking behind Shake the Dust
Plus, it’s a great opportunity for poets, slam producers, venues and arts organisations across the country to work together and share their experience. The competitive slam events are only one part of the process; more than anything it’s about building a community that will be able to look beyond 2012 to the future of youth poetry slam in the UK.
How does it all fit together?
Spread across nine regions of England, teams of young people will come together through writing and performing poetry. There will be five teams in each region rehearsing and workshopping to find their voices, improve their writing skills and hone their ability to perform. Working with them are top spoken word poets from around the UK.
And, throughout the entirety of the project, spoken word artists, teachers and educators will receive specialist training and professional development in slam poetry.
Consulting Slam Producers are established experts in the field of youth poetry slam with a wealth of knowledge about the genre. For each region, they will form part of the national network of professional slam specialists; to act as consultants, to get involved in the action, to play a vital role on the project, to share their expertise and give young people a real taste of what spoken word is about in their region.
Shake the Dust has joined up nine prominent arts venues in nine regions of England to work in partnership. They will form the regional homes for Shake the Dust from now until the slam finals in June 2012. This is when teams of young poets will come together for a day of celebration, workshops, performance and the Regional Slam Finals.
The highest scoring teams from each region will progress through to the National Shake the Dust Weekend to be held at the Southbank Centre in London in July 2012, including workshops, guest performances, international visitors and the grand slam final, a weekend not to be missed!
