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Expressions! Performing Arts Camp

Academic Life

Expressions! is an exciting summer camp for middle school students who are interested in exploring the performing arts. This two-week program provides an intense, hands-on learning experience with offerings in drama, vocal training, dance and musical theater. Participants and staff work together to develop a community of working artists where everyone is encouraged and supported in stretching their creativity and expanding their talents. Parents are invited to attend the Final Gallery, a performance given on Thursday, June 24, 2010.

Criteria

This summer program is open to students who are in grades 5-8 during the 2009-2010 academic year. The program is intended for participants who have an enthusiasm for the performing arts and a desire to develop skills. The camp is fun, yet rigorous.

Instruction

The curriculum is designed so that participants will learn by creating. Four strands, or areas of exploration, are offered: drama, musical theatre, vocal training, and dance. Campers will choose three particular areas on which to focus. After developing skills in their chosen disciplines, participants will work on individual and group projects. Some projects will highlight only one area of concentration, while others might integrate two or more.

Strands of Study

Drama: In the drama strand, participants will study character and explore how different methods of movement, voice tone, and sentence structure can reveal who a person is and what he or she wants. Using improvisational techniques, campers will create characters and study their development through conflicts in scenes. Then they will create monologues for their characters and do scene work. The work will incorporate vocal exercises, movement, improvisation, writing, imagination and playacting to create a short play written by the participants. The play will be performed at the Final Gallery.

Dance: The dance strand of this program will explore hip-hop dance through technique, choreography, and improvisation. First, students will learn traditional jazz technique in relation to its development into the modern form of hip-hop that is more familiar today. This portion of class will focus on learning how to properly execute movements while expanding their dance vocabulary.
Choreography will also be taught allowing the students to test their technique and memory. Set to their favorite music, students will have the opportunity to learn dances as well as choreograph their own. They will get to work both individually and in groups, permitting them to fully engage all methods of choreography.
Finally, we will explore movement through the use of guided improvisation. This ‘freestyle’ aspect of hip-hop dance will allow the students to come up with dances on the spot using the tools they acquired through technique class and their knowledge of the elements of choreography.
The final gallery performance will highlight dances they learned in class, the students own choreography, and end in an exciting round-robin of hip-hop freestyle that will showcase each of the students individual talents. This class is geared toward all levels of dance ability. All you need to bring is a love of music and movement!

Musical Theater: This class will explore the rich and fun traditions of the American Musical Theater. Participants will be exposed to various types of the genre, including the operetta, musical review, concept musical and book musical. The focus of the class will be on acting styles, vocal performance, choreography and stage presence. The group will select a scene from shows such as Newsies, Bye-Bye Birdie, Li'l Abner and Oliver! to rehearse and prepare for a class performance at the Final Gallery.

Vocal Performance: This class will help participants learn fundamental vocal technique and foster participant's discovery of and confidence in their developing voices. It may also be used to supplement participant's work in the musical theater and drama strands, incorporating many skills which apply to both vocal performance and theater. Through vigorous warm-up exercises, observations, master class performances, and opportunities for private studio instruction, participants will learn correct posture for the stage, breath management skills, resonance tuning, healthy stage projection, and dramatic interpretation. This class also offers participants concurrently enrolled in the musical theater strand the opportunity to receive individual voice coaching on their assigned vocal selections.

Daily Schedule

Camp hours are from 8:30 AM until 5:00 PM. The academic day will include three classes, studio time, coaching/conference time, a gallery period, a lunch hour, and an activity period for indoor or outdoor games. The studio time provides an opportunity for participants to work on individual and group projects. The coaching/conference time is for students to work one-on-one with instructors or assistants. The gallery period will offer participants the opportunity to share their work in a large group setting with all campers. Parents will be invited to the Final Gallery, a performance of the dance, drama, vocal training, and musical theater classes.