Finding My Voice Through YPAS
In March 2026, Kentucky to the World held the program “Legacy in Motion: LaVelle Smith Jr.’s Dance Journey from Kentucky to Pop Icons.” Smith, an alum of Louisville’s Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS), spoke of the deep impact the school had on his life and career. After the event, KTW reached out to a current student for her take on how YPAS continues to impact students today.
Madeline Alt, Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS) Student
When I moved to Louisville, the last thing I was expecting was the opportunity to pursue something I’d only ever considered a hobby. Despite my overwhelming insistence on becoming a lawyer or an astronaut at the age of twelve, the Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS) encouraged me to embrace a part of myself that has undoubtedly shaped me into the person I am today.
As a little girl in a big world, I’ve never fully grasped the concept of “properly” expressing myself. Oftentimes I’ve been told I’m too much, or that my emotions seem too big for my body. While this initially inhibited my ability to make friends with other girls my age, I quickly learned that feelings don’t always have to be shown in a conventional way. I may not have understood why other girls enjoyed doing one another’s makeup at such a young age, but when my mom would turn up the dial on the Barden Bellas’ Riff-Off, I found myself experiencing that same amount of excitement, despite the emotion being from a different source.
When I was about five years old, my family moved to a small town in Arkansas called Fort Smith. Unlike Louisville, Fort Smith had nothing to boast about when it came to performing arts. However, around the start of my fourth grade year, a new theatre program was beginning to bloom: The Fort Smith Community School of the Arts (CSA). This is where my love for performing truly began - every Tuesday and Thursday, right after school. But it was only a hobby.
This meant that, when I transitioned to Louisville, I couldn’t comprehend why people were willing to dedicate over twenty hours of their week to a simple artform. Why were people willing to give up over a day’s worth of time just to sing or dance? I’ve had the immense privilege of discovering that “why.” YPAS, divided by numerous different practices - vocal music, musical theatre, band, orchestra, guitar, piano, theatre, and design and production - prides itself on providing an environment for its students to grow. For many performers, it’s a place to better understand themselves in a language that allows for mistakes, passion, persistence, individuality, and togetherness.
The Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville, KY.
For me, YPAS represents an escape from the past and the current, while presenting an ability to move forward. When I find myself having a rough day, I always have the opportunity of looking forward to my artform. Vocal music at YPAS insists on a foundation on classical music, but it also encourages its participants to find their voice through other genres. It allows students - no matter their background - to explore both the world and themselves. For me, every class I’ve had the privilege of being enriched in has provided me the opportunity to express myself how I see fit. I don’t have to worry about coming off as “too much,” because as we’re consistently taught within our choirs here, no amount of effort is too much.
While I’ve discovered community through my peers within my own artform and others, the teachers of YPAS are just as devoted as their students. In many high school General Education classes, the expectation is to prepare learners for their college learning via a more-embedded academic mind. Though the performing arts teachers also uphold this standard, but they prioritize students’ outside expertise, too. In the vocal magnet, we prepare ourselves not only through technique, but also through social skills and experience. Every six weeks, we’re given the opportunity to perform a classical solo in front of one of our choirs; this helps us to build a sense of confidence for future endeavors, even if we don’t choose to pursue music further into college. Throughout my enrollment at YPAS, I’ve been granted many outside opportunities, such as performing with Teddy Abrams and the Louisville Orchestra. Not only do these experiences provide students with more knowledge of what the world of music can look like, but they also connect Louisville’s performing arts scene in ways that establish permanent standing in the city.
Madeline (center) performing in YPAS’s 2025 Vocal Magnet Variety Show.
Now, with the arts experience I’ve had the privilege of developing, I find myself applying for colleges in Nashville and Los Angeles, where I can be wrapped within the music scene. Though I still have some time before college auditions begin, I know what I want to pursue because of the guidance that YPAS has given me; it is my hope to continue in music through both vocal performance and music production, no matter where I go. When I look back at myself even just a few years ago, it feels like such a blessing that I was taught to continue what makes me happy.
Without YPAS, I don’t fully know if I would have continued to sing as much as I do now. Whereas I once considered vocal music a hobby, it’s become my life, allowing me to discover parts of myself I didn’t know were present. As I finish out my junior year, watching newly-enrolled freshmen enter the school for the first time with wide eyes, I’m reminded of how much this program can mean to so many people. Though my time at YPAS has been short, I know its impact will stay for so many generations to come.
