Building Friendships, Dreaming Big
Masks and social distancing can’t stop us from having fun! We jumped right in and had such an amazing first 4 days!!! The magic of camp is air and the friendships forming in just 4 days is amazing to witness! Our first week of StarQuest is spent bonding, creating our camp culture and getting familiar with all that camp StarQuest has to offer – friendships, singing, acting, dancing, bringing out your inner artist and so much! At StarQuest we focus a lot of our energy during week one to set the tone that will ensure our campers feel inspired, supported and safe so they are empowered throughout camp, in all activities, to rise to each moment and greet it head on! We encourage our campers to set daily intentions, to try new things and to express themselves fully. We take time for mindfulness mediation, we share our positive affirmation of the day and we discuss how it looks to be a kind and supportive friend to others and to ourselves. It is from this foundation that our campers stretch their comfort zones and have a creative blast!
Here’s the Inside Scoop
On the first day of camp, we jumped right in by making group spirit banners, writing our dreams on our StarQuest stars and signing our door of integrity . We had our morning POW-WOW by our creative tree (ask your camper more about our tree – and little Quest and little Power) and we jumped right in with getting to know you games including our name game and our famous improv skit activity using story prompts to get our imaginations going! This was a great way to get our campers interacting, laughing, and having fun! We continued the week with bonding exercises, learning about the process of theater (education, auditioning, casting) and of course spending time in acting, dance, voice classes, and having auditions and rehearsals for each group’s individualized Broadway Revue. All of our counselors worked with their groups daily on gaining trust in one another and achieving comfort levels that allow all the campers to feel nurtured. Our voice, dance, and acting specialists focused on setting up basic skills and foundations, helping our stars gain confidence in their abilities. We also had auditions, casting, started our character and scene work for our final performance! To top off the week, our appreciation circle today brought all of our campers together to share their gratitude for each other and for the moments they loved most all week! We also gave everyone a necklace with an inspiring quote to remind them are a part of our StarQuest family… you are safe, supported, loved and loving! Oh and don’t forget the ice cream YUM!
Voice
- Audition prep – learned our audition song
- The importance of vocal warm-ups.
- We discussed the need to dive into understanding text, subtext and context when singing.
- We learned our StarQuest song.
Acting
- This week was all about improv games enabling us to bring out each camper’s individual creativity!
- Through improv we learned great acting is in the details.
- We learned the importance of physicality
- We also learned the importance of working together in a scene.
Dance
- Dance started off with a bang as we learned our choreography for our auditions.
- We did something totally new and fun this year…. a silent film. The goal was to use our bodies to portray a story. Without be able to use the lower half of our faces (as we are safely in masks) we have to rely on the expression of our bodies and eyes to tell the audience a story.
- We also learned basic dance steps that are in almost every choreographed work of art – Chasse, chaine, pas de bourree.
- We also learned the original choreography to “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from “Hairspray.”
Audition/Rehearsals
- Before we conducted auditions, the entire camp was guided through a visual meditation to bring in the love and release any anxiety they may be feeling.
- Couldn’t be more proud of our campers! Everyone did a fantastic job!
- We cast all three Broadway Revues to find the best fit for our campers to ensure each of them are challenged and encouraged to have an opportunity to shine!
- Before diving into the lines and songs, we discussed rehearsal etiquette and respect.
- We began learning songs, reviewing scenes and creating our own narration for each show.
Conversation Starter
Ask your camper what our camp contract/agreement says. Ask them what they said in our morning appreciation circle. Ask them about our complimentary wall. Ask them what wish they made on their star?
This is How We Do It at Camp StarQuest
To see more pictures of our campers and continue to get updates please download the J camp app from the app store, become a friend of our JPAS Facebook page and follow us on Instagram.
Can’t wait to see what happens next week at Camp StarQuest!
Alise Robinson
Director Camp StarQuest