Camp StarQuest News 2021 - Week 1 - Aaron Family Jewish Community Center of Dallas

Building Friendships, Dreaming Big

The magic of camp is in the air! Friendships are forming and our campers are already thriving. It is amazing to witness. Our first week of StarQuest was spent bonding, creating our camp culture, and getting familiar with all that camp StarQuest has to offer. Campers are finding a newfound sense of self and confidence. They are learning to sing, act, dance, and how to bring out their inner artist. At StarQuest, we focus a majority of our energy during week one to ensure our campers feel inspired, supported, and safe so they are empowered throughout camp to participate in all our specialty activities and rehearsals. We encourage our campers to set daily intentions, try new things, and express themselves fully. We take time for mindfulness meditation, we share our positive affirmation of the day, and we discuss what it means to be a kind and supportive friend to others and to ourselves. At StarQuest we stretch our comfort zones and have a creative blast!

Here’s the Inside Scoop

On the first day of camp, we jumped right in by playing the name game, followed by our StarQuest tradition – “skit in a bag” (always a hit) and making group banners. This was a great way to get our campers laughing, interacting with one another, and having fun! We continued the week with bonding exercises, learning about the process of theatre (education, auditioning, and ensemble work), and of course spending time in acting, dancing, and voice classes. We have already begun rehearsing for Seussical Kids! Our voice, dance, and acting specialists focused on setting up basic skills and foundations, helping our stars gain confidence in their abilities. To top off the week, our appreciation circle brought all of our campers together to share their gratitude for each other. We also gave everyone a peace necklace to remind them we are now part of a new family… our StarQuest family… where you are safe, loved, and loving! Oh and don’t forget today was ice cream day! YUM!

Creative Tree

The creative tree is another StarQuest tradition! It is our special meeting place each morning where we have our morning Pow-Wows. Everyone contributes artistically to our Creative Tree. It is designed to provide us with the artistic energy and positivity we need each and every day.

Voice

Audition prep – we learned our audition song
Learned several vocal warm-ups
All groups learned “We’re All Made Of Stars” from the musical Finding Neverland
By the end of the week we divided the song into solos/duets/trios and performed together as a big group today (while still maintaining socially distant)! It was so cool!

Acting

Played drama games designed to help our campers learn to work as an ensemble
We created strong, specific characters and used different types of music to help inspire these characters
Learned the first two rules of improvisation

Dance

Learned choreography for auditions
Learned and recorded a dance to “Walk the Dinosaur” by Queen Latifah
Intro ballet class where we learned about ballet positions, did plies in the center and at the barre, and did chaîné turns across the floor
Today was Friyay dance games!

Meditation

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. We could not be prouder of our campers! Everyone did a fantastic job!

Conversation Starter

You can ask your camper what our camp contract/agreement says. Ask them what they said in our Friday morning appreciation circle. Ask them about our complimentary wall. Ask them what wish they made on their star? Oh, and ask them if they “took what they needed” – words of encouragement from our wall

Seussical Kids – Afternoon Rehearsals

We learned all about the world of Seussical this week! We have three incredible, diverse casts for our camp production this summer! So exciting and to replace a live audience we will be professionally tapping these performances for our families. Stay tuned.

This week we have already begun exploring blocking, characterization, learning choreography, music, and supporting the authenticity of each actor as we create the stage for their success.

Following are links to all of the music. Please encourage your campers to listen to the tracks. They are aware I am sending you the links.

Guide Vocal tracks

Performance tracks

Also, please remember how critical it is for your children to be here for all rehearsals. Since our time is limited to get this show up on its feet, strive for being present for all of it. At every rehearsal, campers will be learning new numbers each day!

Please encourage your camper to read their scripts over the weekend and listen to the music! The more they learn and practice at home the more productive our rehearsals will be.