Oconee Youth School of Performance (OYSP)

Oconee Youth School of Performance offers private voice lessons, private piano lessons, and comprehensive dance and theater training. The program includes performance companies made up of singers, dancers, and actors who are selected through auditions held each May. Company members take part in regional and sometimes national competitions, along with other OYSP shows and events.

• Ages: 3–18 years old

Oconee Youth School of Performance has provided comprehensive dance and theater training for the youth of Athens, Oconee, and surrounding areas since 1998. The program is led by Artistic Directors Terra and Shane Hannon and is taught by caring and qualified instructors. Its facility includes a new theater that opened in 2018 within a 20,000 square foot space. The OYSP companies have won numerous awards, including the Broadway Cup at the 2004 Access Broadway Nationals in Orlando, and OYSP has been named “Best Dance Studio” and “Best Performing Arts Studio” at the Access Broadway Regionals multiple times. Alumni have gone on to study in musical theater and dance programs at schools such as NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Texas Christian University, the University of Oklahoma, Boston Conservatory, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and the Alvin Ailey School. The program describes its approach with the phrase, “Train like you're going to Broadway, perform like you're already there!”

Last updated August 1, 2026.