COURAGEOUS CADENCE: YOUTH SPOKEN WORD & PERFORMANCE RESIDENCY

PRESENTED BY THE VORTEX & THE POET HOUSE

Courageous Cadence: Rhyme in Resistance is a youth-centered arts initiative focused on empowerment, creative leadership, and community building through poetry and performance. Grounded in a commitment to race and gender (in)justice, this program equips young spoken word poets with the tools to explore identity, advocate for social change, and build collective power through artistic expression.

Through a year-long progression of workshops, intensives, residencies, and public performances, participants engage in:

  • Spoken word and creative writing labs

  • Social justice and identity workshops

  • Public speaking, stage presence, theatre making, and performance coaching

  • Ensemble building and collaborative creation

  • Community dialogue and public showcases

Courageous Cadence cultivates a space where youth voices are amplified, stories are honored, and poetry becomes both personal healing and public resistance. The program’s open mics, residencies, and mentorship opportunities inspire the next generation of poets, leaders, and changemakers to rise, speak, and transform their communities.

A Partnership Between The Poet House & The VORTEX

Courageous Cadence is made possible through the collaborative partnership between The Poet House and The VORTEX, two Austin-based arts organizations committed to cultivating creative spaces that center historically marginalized voices.

The Poet House provides programmatic leadership, curriculum design, instructional staff, and youth-centered care practices that ground Courageous Cadence in spoken word, social justice, and community-based storytelling.

The VORTEX serves as the hosting site for all monthly intensives and the producing partner for the residency and public performance, offering rehearsal space, technical support, and professional production infrastructure.

Together, The Poet House and The VORTEX offer youth comprehensive artistic development, mentorship, production support, and community engagement opportunities that foster both artistic excellence and social change.

Core Program Pillars

  • Creative Empowerment: Developing writing, storytelling, and spoken word skills

  • Leadership Development: Building confidence, advocacy, and public engagement

  • Community Engagement: Centering youth-led conversations on race, gender, and justice

  • Literacy Development: Strengthening both traditional literacy (reading, writing, critical analysis) and digital literacy (media creation, online advocacy, responsible platform use).

  • Public Performance: Sharing work on professional stages for real-world experience

  • Mentorship: Partnering youth with working poets, artists, and community leaders

Who is this for?

  • High school aged youth poets and theatre makers

  • Ages 13-17 (or 18 if within 1 year post-secondary school transition)

  • Emerging spoken word artists, performers, activists, and storytellers

  • Youth passionate about using art for social justice, leadership, and personal growth

  • No prior stage experience required. All skill levels welcome!