Camp Imagine • Musical Theatre Workshop

CAMP IMAGINE! Performing Arts Camp

Registration for Camp Imagine 2009 is now closed.

All applications received after June 3rd will be put on a waiting list and will receive a letter confirming wait list status.

Thank you for the unbelievable amount of interest! Students enrolled in the program should have received a letter confirming enrollment. Please expect a packet in the mail with more details by Monday, June 15, 2009.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call Kristin Sgarro at (484) 664-3129.

An Enrichment Program for Middle School Students:
July 6 - 31 (Monday - Friday: 9:30 A.M. to Noon)
Performance Showcase:Saturday, Aug 1 @ 10 A.M.

Click for 2009 Brochure

Camp Imagine! is a unique summer educational program for middle school students with an interest in the performing arts.  Based in the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance on the Muhlenberg College campus and administered by the Department of Theatre & Dance, this day camp offers students an opportunity to explore their talents in a safe and open environment. The experience in the arts contributes both to their education and to the building of more inclusive communities.

Objectives:
To encourage students to embrace collaboration as a way of learning.

To explore their creativity through ensemble music, drama, movement, improvisation, poetry, creative writing, and visual arts.

To provide an invaluable opportunity for Allentown middle school students to nurture their passion for the performing arts and build real-life interpersonal and expressive skills.

Skills that this creative process teaches:

• Concentration – focus activities such as the mirror exercise, tableaus, tongue twisters, etc.

• Cooperation – group problem solving activities, ensemble performance, opportunities to understand compromise and consensus building.

• Collaboration – sharing ideas (such as creating scenes, sound communities, filling in the spaces, etc.) and building bridges to accept differences in approach or response to an activity.

• Communication – physical movement, nonverbal behavior, listening skills, written language, voice and spoken word.

• Conflict resolution – exploring choices and consequences for choices through the performing arts.

Art triggers the creative process by providing a shared, common experience that becomes the frame of reference for each student and focuses each student’s work.  The teacher as facilitator guides the students through a series of activities related to an overall objective.  It could be exploring emotions, resolving social conflict, or taking a journey through outer space.  Themes connected to student-generated ideas and subjects are chosen and discovered through age appropriate poems, stories and plays.  During the four-week camp, participants move in groups among three sets of teachers and activities in drama, movement, and vocal expression.

Flyers and registration forms are distributed in Allentown School District middle schools, and students are identified to participate in the program based on recommendations of teachers, principals, and parents. Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre works directly with corporate sponsors, community foundations, and the Allentown School District to provide the financial resources needed to (1) make the camp free and accessible to all students from the Allentown School District, (2) provide professional training of the teaching interns, and (3) offer free transportation to and from the college campus.

Information and registration is also available online or by request at 484.664.3335. For those students outside the Allentown School District, tuition for the 4-week program is $365. Payment is required at the time of registration. Enrollment is limited, so early registration is advised. Payment is required at the time of registration and class size is limited. Scholarships for students outside the Allentown School District are based on financial need and available by request. For printable registration form, click here.

ADVANCED PERFORMING ARTS WORKSHOP for TEENS

The deadline for the Teen Performing Arts Workshop has been extended!

Please get your applications in by Monday, June 15, to ensure yourself a spot!

A Training Intensive in the Performing Arts for Teens:
July 6 - 31; Monday-Friday, 1:30 - 4:30 P.M.
Performance Showcase: July 31 @ 7 P.M.

Click for 2009 Brochure

Our Performance Workshop for High School students offers the opportunity to work with an energetic ensemble of students from across the Lehigh Valley. Focused on building bridges - culturally and artistically - the workshop engages students with a love for any and every aspect of the performing arts. Respected and encouraged as young artists, teens work together in a professional studio setting to prepare their voices, bodies, and minds to perform. This intensive training workshop is taught by professional teachers and artists who are alumni of the Theatre & Dance programs at Muhlenberg College.

National data has shown that participating in the creative arts fosters new skills in ensemble building, encourages diverse learning styles, and teaches peaceful resolution of differences and conflicts. These communication skills empower teens to accept and respect others in their group, to solve differences creatively instead of violently, and to approach obstacles as manageable problems to be solved – essential life-long tools for learning.  Teens engaged in the performing arts are encouraged to enliven their experience of learning in every classroom, and to develop new confidence in achieving goals they may only have dreamed possible until now. The ensemble production "Break the Silence" (photo above, program below) by the teens from the 2008 workshop was created by twenty students from more than a dozen area public, private and charter schools. Each of them learned the confidence to take creative risks; to explore script analysis, audition skills, and ensemble scenes; and to begin a life-long journey to grow their individual talents.

We are proud to offer this advanced training opportunity for the enthusiastic teens who have experienced Camp Imagine, and to open the workshop to anyone completing 9th through 12th grades in area schools. This summer program will foster their skills and their confidence as they advance to new performance opportunities in their schools and communities.

Information and registration is also available online or by request at 484.664.3335. Tuition for the 4-week program is $465. Payment is required at the time of registration and class size is limited. A limited number of scholarships based on financial need are available by request. For printable registration form, click here.

Thank you to our many community sponsors who make this program possible. If you are interested in attending our 2009 MTA Cabaret Fundraiser for Camp Imagine on April 16th, or in making a tax-deductible donation to support scholarships for talented middle and high school students, please email Marilyn Roberts or call 484.664.3696 for details.

“The arts enable young people to develop independence—
in thinking, creating, pursuing economic and
 social goals, and building their futures.”

Source: CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE, Stanford University and Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching