The Apollo Launches Apprenticeship Program for College Students and More
The Apollo continues the non-profit organization’s longstanding commitment to creating opportunities to advance Black narratives and nurture future generations of the creative workforce with the launch of The Apollo Apprenticeship, a new initiative that provides college students with pre-professional experience in the arts and entertainment industries. Through this new initiative and its ongoing educational and community programs, workshops, onsite visits, and more, the Apollo continues to serve as a cultural anchor in Harlem, New York City, and the world, expanding its role as a catalyst for both social and artistic engagement.
The new Apollo Apprenticeship program will offer hands-on experiences in the areas of project creation and management, technical production and direction, and event management. Apprentices work over an 18-month period and receive a $600 biweekly stipend. For more information and to apply, visit https://www.apollotheater.org/
“The Apollo’s dedicated education team has continued to serve tens of thousands of students and educators in the five boroughs each year, working to inspire and cultivate the next generation of creatives on the stage and behind the scenes,” said Apollo President and CEO Jonelle Procope. “I’m thrilled that we are launching the Apollo Apprenticeship program, which will enable us to expand our work with college-aged students in our community as we also get back into classrooms and work with young students and teens at such a critical time, not only to supplement their education and inform them about the myriad types of artistic careers, but to also foster a love of the arts and promote its ongoing vitality and resonance in their lives.”
“The Apollo is able to reach students, educators, and families through our education programs both in schools, on the historic Apollo stage, and online, serving thousands of educators and students,” said Shirley Taylor, the Apollo’s Senior Director of Education. “We continue to expand our education offerings in order to support students and educators while integrating the Apollo’s history and the arts into curriculum across the country. Our new Apollo Apprenticeship allows us to engage with college-aged adults and provide them with a unique, hands-on experience to expand and deepen their experiences with the performing arts.”
In addition to its events for students, Apollo Education offers its learning workshops and resource materials to educators across the country, providing teachers with the opportunity to fuse together the rich intersection between the Apollo, Harlem, the arts and entertainment, and classroom subject areas. Through this multifaceted work, the Apollo provides opportunities for students to learn firsthand about the many opportunities available to them to work in the arts. More information about the Apollo’s ongoing and current education programs follows below.
APOLLO EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Apollo Live Wire
Apollo Live Wire conversations are a popular free series that honors iconic individuals who have had an impact on the Apollo’s history. Live Wire events are free and open to the public.
Apollo Theater Academy
In addition to being a platform and resource in furthering the careers of entertainers, the Apollo has a legacy of providing substantive opportunities for technicians, designers, and other behind-the-scenes industry professionals. The Apollo Theater Academy, available to high school and college students, advances this impact through seminars, workshops, internships, apprenticeships, and events designed to enhance an individual’s career in the performing arts and entertainment fields. Other programs offered by the Academy include Digital Collective, which teaches students how to craft compelling digital narratives and tell stories across a wide array of multimedia platforms, and Young Producers, a network of alumni from the Apollo’s high school and college programs that curate events for young artists.
The Apollo Theater Academy also offers a career panel series, which provides a behind-the-scenes look at careers off-stage in the arts and entertainment and shines a spotlight on people of color working in creative industries. Part panel discussion, part live demonstration, these informative events provide tangible takeaways and insightful resources to empower the next generation of creative minds in these fields.
The Apollo Theater Academy honors the Apollo’s legacy by repositioning underrepresented creatives as thought leaders, skilled technicians, and purveyors of change in the entertainment field.
Resources for Educators
In addition to programs for youth, the Apollo also offers curriculum materials, aligned to state and national learning standards, and study guides derived from the Theater’s history, available online at no cost to all. The Apollo also offers an array of on-demand virtual classroom guides to enable educators to connect the performing arts to their classroom curriculum. On-demand modules include lessons on Between the World and Me, interactive lessons on social dances of the Harlem Renaissance, and the history of the Hip-Hop Dance technique.
Apollo Education also offers professional learning opportunities available to educators from all grade levels and disciplines, led by Apollo Education departmental staff, teaching artists, and historians. The workshops, both online and in person, utilize a wide variety of resources, primary source materials, and hands-on group activities intended to benefit both educators and their students, as well as to provide educators with methods and strategies for teaching and learning through the arts and across disciplines.
For additional details about the myriad programs Apollo Education offers, along with access to virtual online resources, please visit https://www.apollotheater.org/
In-School Workshops and Tours
In addition to Apollo School Tours, the Apollo offers a diverse selection of Apollo Workshops in dance, theater, and music, in which Apollo Teaching Artists visit onsite for 45–60-minute sessions. These workshops tailor to students across all grade levels, giving them the opportunity to explore the soul of American culture from their own classrooms. Learn more here.
Distance Learning Program
The Apollo’s Distance Learning Program provides opportunities for students and educators to explore the legendary Apollo Theater through interactive Remote Learning Workshops, and an on-demand learning library featuring video modules. Learn more here.
UPCOMING APOLLO EDUCATION EVENTS
Apollo Live Wire: Dance, NYC Street Style, and Hip Hop
Tuesday, November 8| 7 pm EST
The Apollo’s Soundstage —Live and In-person
Tickets: Free with RSVP
Registration is required: https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum/
Join choreographers from the Hip-Hop Dance Conservatory (H+) and Keep Rising to the Top (KR3TS) together with FIT professor Elena Romero, who will discuss the evolution of Hip Hop style—from authentic NYC street style to what is now a more intentional representation of that style. H+ and KR3TS support young dancers as they prepare for a career in the performing arts. Professor Romero has a long career in fashion journalism and is co-curator of an upcoming exhibition at The Museum at FIT on Hip Hop style. This event is organized by The Apollo and The Museum at FIT in preparation for the exhibition Fresh, Fly, and Fabulous: Fifty Years of Hip Hop Style, slated to open at The Museum at FIT in 2023 and as part of The Apollo’s Live Wire series.
Featured Image courtesy of the Apollo
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Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.
