Corrugated Iron.
In Q1 2023 we conducted interviews with our youth arts partners. Below is a summary of Corrugated Iron’s programs as told through the interview with Zoe Scrogings.
Who are Corrugated Iron?
Corrugated Iron is the Northern Territory’s leading youth arts company playing a crucial role in a region where there is no performing arts tertiary training or major performing arts company.
They engage, train, mentor and employ emerging artists and creative professionals who inspire children and young people to develop their skills and forge pathways in the arts.
They inspire the NOW generation of creative leaders, movers and shakers to take the lead in shaping our artistic program to ensure that it is driven by the voices of young people.
Through cross sector partnerships they ensure that barriers to participation are removed and that young people across the Northern Territory have access to creative experiences.
Their artistic program features term based workshops, performances, special projects and a significant community engagement program delivered in urban, regional and remote communities.
Programs and How They Work?
Workshops
Corrugated Iron run a number of youth arts and performance workshops for young people in the Northern Territory, focussing particularly on theatre and circus training
Backstage
Corrugated Iron’s Backstage program trains young people in live production: including stage management, prop design, lighting and audio tech
Zoe Scrogings (Executive Producer)
“One other program that we've started is Backstage, which is a workshop program. That started out as Tech Club and it's grown to learning all the behind-the-scenes aspects. So they're going into things and they're little kids, I think our youngest participant is 8 and maybe the oldest one is 14 or 15, maybe 16. And our teaching artist, Angus, has talked them through workplace health and safety. And very, very dry topics, but they're lapping it up, loving it. So the kids that aren't into being actors or performers know that there's a pathway for them behind the scenes. And it also assists us in the NT. We were really struggling for people that are into live production. So if we can just spark that in some of the younger crew that they can go through and they're opening their eyes to these possibilities, not just performing.”
Circus
Corrugated Iron runs a number of different circus programs for young people, from their Circus Troupe, to their “High Flyers” and “Ninjas” workshops
Theatre Workshops
Corrugated Iron runs a number of different theatre workshops for young people, including script writing, script analysis, performance, improvisation, filmmaking and various masterclasses
Teaching Artists
Young people also work at Corrugated Iron as teaching artists - this is often their first job experience
Artist and Company in Residence
Corrugated Iron has “Artist in Residence” and “Company in Residence” programs where individuals and groups of emerging young artists can apply
Zoe Scrogings
“We're starting a company in residence and it's for emerging artists. So there's a real gap up here for a young person who might not want to go to university. They might have gone to university down south and realised that it wasn't for them or they finished their degree and they've come back. So there's this real mix of skill and experience and education levels. But there's a cohort of, I would say under 25s who want to create, but there's not really many opportunities.
So we've set up a company in residence or a collective in residence and we interviewed the cohort that we want to take the opportunity yesterday. And these are the things that they don't even know at that age and that they're actually pretty experienced that they don't really know either.
So yeah, we were just talking about setting up a process where they could learn what business models they could operate from. If they are a collective or do they become an association, or do they just become a little business? So there's all these supportive mechanisms that we're trying to put in place at the moment. So that they're equipped, and it's interesting that what I noticed is that they really did not know what the pathways were. Even tertiary educated young people did not necessarily know some of what you would call really kind of micro stuff. And yeah, so I think, you know kind of looking at the microcreds, you could apply it in so many levels I think.”
The 21st century skills and capabilities that young people develop
literacy
numeracy
Zoe Scrogings: “Time. Turning up on time, obviously knowing how to read the time. And knowing how to, in terms of a lesson plan, they're guided with a leading teaching artist, but you'd have to map out a 2 hour block, for example. So it might mean I do 20 minutes warm up, half an hour particular game, 30 minutes of another activity. So they have to look at the timing in a workshop.”
financial literacy
Zoe Scrogings: “a lot of young people work at Corro as a teaching artist or a training teaching artist, and it might be their first ever job. So when it comes to things like filling in a timesheet that's a key thing. And some of them have never heard of superannuation, so they have to fill in a superannuation form. So conversations around what super is and what pay rates people might be on.”
critical thinking
problem solving,
communication,
Collaboration
adaptability
Zoe Scrogings: “And it's so brave of them to try on different identities within the space. And I guess what we do as a company is let them try on identities as well”
Persistence:
Zoe Scrogings: “Just in terms of say for example, learning a particular skill or trick, let's just say for example juggling. And you might not get it on first attempt. So you have to keep trying and keep trying. So there's something about engagement as well and how the arts and in particular circus and in particular juggling develops neuropathways in the brain and supports neuroplasticity. So if you get persistent at it, it sets a track. And there's research on it that it sets a really important track that supports persistence.”
Curiosity,
Zoe Scrogings: “So young people that are falling outside of the system are being able to demonstrate leadership there, being able to demonstrate curiosity, they're allowed to fail. They're not being told this is right or wrong. It's like ‘ohh give it a go,’ they have a chance to play. Really. I think we talk about play a lot. So that to me is curiosity, initiative.”
Zoe Scrogings: “The curiosity part for us is not only an art form practice, but it sets up a learning opportunity where it's OK to fail as well because the important thing is being curious, so to have a learning organisation which aligns itself to circus… in that process of developing a skill, you're going to have to fail and get back up again. And so it links in with persistence as well, curiosity and persistence.”
Zoe Scrogings: “It takes a certain amount of curiosity to be even able to answer questions and show leadership to express a divergent opinion amongst a group of peers.”
Initiative:
Leadership:
Zoe Scrogings: “On that leadership side of things. And I guess this happens at Coro on multiple levels. But at a young person level, they've had the opportunity that they know that they can come to us and go, ‘we want to put on a workshop with this teaching artist.’ So that happened. A group of young people got together and went. ‘We want to have Friday drama classes with Matt.’ And we went, ‘OK, if you can get enough participants, we'll ask Matt and see if he's available.’ And they did. They got enough participants and Matt said yes. So now we've got this additional class because they wanted it.
So we've got a safe enough environment for them to go. ‘Ohh we can walk in and suggest things’. And we'll take it on board and action it.”
Young people’s pathways beyond Corrugated Iron
Zoe Scrogings on Young People at risk of dropping out of school
“And particularly in those senior years where what we're saying is that there are young people at risk of dropping out of school. I guess a lot of the time mental health comes into it, and if we've got this space where people want to come and hang out and they don't wanna hang out at school. If we can say ‘ohh well, you can do this.’ I don't know. It kind of alleviates parents’ nerves, maybe around education and training.”
“I think at the moment young people, when they're at school every minute interaction can just chip away at their well-being or their hope or their resilience. So if anything, microcreds would have that opportunity to give feedback to build resilience, and wellbeing in young people that there is hope and that there is a future pathway.”