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The Young Ambassador Singing Entertainer workshop has been running for 34 years, training the Broadway-bound in the basics of music, dance and theater with a Christ-centered focus.
The camp boasts students from all over the world, including England, China and Nova Scotia. Former two-time BYU Young Ambassador president and soon-to-be MDT graduate Taylor Morris explained why YASE camp is so unique in the performing world.
“YASE tailors to [campers’] specific skills but places a large emphasis on using performing to further the work of the Lord,” Morris said. “There isn’t a separate theater and gospel world; at YASE camp it is all in one.”
Young Ambassador director Randy Boothe wanted to start the camp to develop an army of young people who were preparing themselves to be successful in the performing world.
“I want [campers] to develop an understanding that [they’re] enough,” Boothe said. “That ‘whatever I dream, I can become.’ That’s my biggest goal in holding the camp. I want [campers] to develop that confidence and that light so they can go back to their communities tired from the rigorous week but charged with a new level of concentration, effort and discipline to achieve their goals.”
YASE camp is held for two separate weeks every summer with an all-inclusive price of $795. Tanner Dewaal, a senior in the commercial music program, has been helping with YASE camp for three years and feels that the price is worth every penny.
“YASE camp is a week-long camp for people from all walks of life,” Dewaal said. “Some are pure dancers and others are pure singers, but our goal is to make everyone into a triple-threat. One of the main focuses is to teach the campers how to communicate through their performance.”
For more information on YASE camp visit http://ce.byu.edu/cw/yase/.
