Performing Arts at Liberated Kids
Building skills, telling our own stories, and bringing liberatory theater to life.
What began with one facilitator sharing their love of musicals and Black Joy has grown into an established, full-year Performing Arts Program.
Nia helped start it all, leading our early productions of Annie and The Wiz. Through our partnership with Oakland Performing Arts Intensive and performing arts specialists Jorge and Saije, the program continued to grow. Together, we’ve created unique productions like Aaliyah in Wonderland and The Golden Tickets—taking inspiration from familiar musicals and reimagining them to be more liberatory, relevant, and reflective of our young people and communities.
A Full Year of Performing Arts
This year, Tuesdays are full Performing Arts Days, with classes in dance, drama, singing, musical theater, and more. Young people have regular opportunities to build their skills, try new forms of creative expression, collaborate with one another, and grow more comfortable performing in front of an audience.
The program is open to young people from both Liberated Kids and Liberated Youth.
More Than Putting on a Show
For the past three years, our Performing Arts Program has culminated in a full musical production. But we don’t simply hand young people a script and tell them what to perform.
Young people are involved throughout the creative process, including:
Choosing the musical and shaping its direction
Rewriting storylines, characters, and scenes
Auditioning and choosing how they want to participate
Developing their dancing, singing, and acting skills
Designing and building sets
Creating costumes and props
Designing flyers and the Playbill
Helping bring the entire production to life
Together, we explore questions like: Whose voices are missing from this story? What should these characters do differently? How can we challenge injustice instead of repeating it? How can we make this story feel meaningful to us?
The result is more than a performance. It is an experience in collaboration, creative problem-solving, confidence-building, community, and collective liberation.
Taking the Stage
Through our partnership with Oakland High School, our young performers have been able to present their musicals in a full theater for families, friends, and community members.
Each year, the program has become more ambitious and more youth-driven. Our next big dream is to work together to write and produce a completely original, full-length Liberated Kids musical.