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Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, step right up and be amazed!  You are invited to attend a very special performance “Cirque de Danse” on Friday, August 26^th 2016 starting at 2:00 PM.

The doors to PSI Theatre will open at 1:45pm.  Costumes for the performance will be provided, but Ms. Christiana has asked that dancers come to camp on Friday prepared with the following:

Clothing:

• Leotard, if possible, if you do not have a leotard, a tank top is fine
• Leggings over leotard, preferably colorful, bright, or sparkly. Leggings or tights over/under your camper’s leotard are required.
• You are welcome to send your child to camp with dance shoes (jazz or ballet) if you have them, but they are not required
• Please no skirts or baggy pants

Hair:

• Please secure long hair back from your face, but the crazier the better!

Make-up:

• Foundation, blush, lipstick, eyeliner if possible to bring out features under the stage lights

Please do not plan to pick-up your child between 1:45-2:45pm on Friday as we will be in performance mode and will not be able to make sign-outs available.  If your camper is in Afternoon Adventures, we will have a special movie that afternoon.

We hope to see you in the audience of the fabulous performance your children are creating this week!

We welcomed our final group of campers yesterday for Art and Nature Mini Camp and the last Dance Intensive of the summer.  What a long, strange trip it’s been…and what a fantastic group to finish with!  This will be our largest Mini Camp yet, and I know I’m not alone when I say that I can’t wait to see the grand finale of Cirque de Danse by the Summer Dance Intensive.

Today in performing arts classes with Ms. Kim and in visual arts classes with Ms. Rebecca, campers are having some quality time outside to take advantage of the beautiful cooler weather and find inspiration for their work indoors.

The dance intensive campers put on a great show today!  Between the fearsome tigers, the daring tightrope walkers, and the silly clowns, it was an absolute feast for the senses.  A few of the audience members even got in on the fun as they were pulled up on stage to show off some dance moves at the end of the show (and let me tell you, did they have moves!).  Thanks so much to everybody for coming out!

Once the excitement of the show was over, our Afternoon Adventures campers had a special treat when artist Kenny Nguyen took the time to sit down with us and talk about his show that is up in the main downstairs gallery.  He was kind enough to come in before his opening reception to give the campers a preview and answer tons and tons of questions!  We had a blast exploring the work together.

Our Dance Intensive campers had a very exciting day today, as they got to try on and assemble their costumes for the show tomorrow.  They went through some rehearsals with costume elements on to get used to negotiating poofy skirts, tails, and umbrellas.  Rollins was looking particularly colorful all afternoon!

Meanwhile in Mini Camp, campers/artists were exploring color and mixed media in our Fiber Arts studio.  Learning that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure is a game changer in mixed media artwork!  Paper towel tubes, apple crates, and more helped us to explore color, texture, and depth.

Shoes outside the Rollins dance studio while campers rehearse

Rehearsals are in full swing for a very special performance, “Cirque de Danse,” on Friday, August 19^th 2016 starting at 2:00 PM.  The doors to PSI Theatre will open at 1:45pm if you wish to attend.  Most costume elements for the performance will be provided, but please see some helpful information included below.

Ms. Christiana has asked that dancers come to camp on Friday prepared with the following:

Clothing:

• Leotard, if possible, if you do not have a leotard, a tank top is fine
• Leggings over leotard, preferably colorful, bright, or sparkly. Leggings or tights over/under your camper’s leotard are required.
• You are welcome to send your child to camp with dance shoes (jazz or ballet) if you have them, but they are not required
• Please no skirts or baggy pants

Hair:

• Please secure long hair back from your face, but the crazier the better!

Make-up:

• Foundation, blush, lipstick, eyeliner if possible to bring out features under the stage lights

Please do not plan to pick-up your child between 1:45-2:45pm on Friday as we will be in performance mode and will not be able to make sign-outs available.  If your camper is in Afternoon Adventures, we will have a special guest artist coming that afternoon.

Please come and show your support for the fabulous performance your children are creating this week!  Thank you for allowing us the privilege of working with your children, we have truly enjoyed the experience.

Campers in Art and Nature Mini Camp started off the day by doing some sketching outside, observing little things in nature and trying to re-create them on the page.  Ms. Sara helped them continue the theme inside in a more mixed media format with yarn drawings.  Campers drew a scene on cardboard, then used bits of colored yarn to add color and texture by gluing them down.

This afternoon, campers staying for Afternoon Adventures will be going on a special field trip to the Golden Belt Studios to meet and talk to artist Warren Hicks about his artwork.  This is the second time we have gotten to visit the Golden Belt!  Last time we met and asked a looot of questions to the talented Chieko Murasugi.

Week 2 of Mini Camp and Dance Intensive kicked off today with a new batch of campers and volunteers!  Ms. Sara and Baba Stafford are back again leading visual and performing arts classes, while Ms. C rocks out up in Rollins Dance Studio with the dance intensive campers.

Today started off with some outside time for the Mini Campers, working on a site-specific dance with Baba Stafford.  They worked on movement  incorporating and responding to the natural and man-made setting around them, creating both individually and as a group.  When they got back into the arts council, they took time to reflect on the dance, draw a response to the work, and discuss with other campers.  Our theme of Art and Nature continues into this week, and site-specific dance is a great way to explore the inspiration many artists draw from the landscape and the natural world.

The first week of Mini Camp and Dance Intensives this summer at the Durham Arts Council drew to a triumphant close with a roaring, colorful display of acrobatics and dance on the PSI stage.  Fourteen dancers performed seven dances choreographed by Ms. Christiana Barnett-Murphy…and the crowd went wild!  We hope to see some of our dancers back over the next 2 weeks for more Dance Intensives or Mini Camps (in case they want to mix it up).

If you can’t wait to see this fabulous show again, join us at CenterFest on Sunday, September 18 at 11:30am, where select campers will be treating crowds to an encore performance!  If your camper is interested in being part of this performance, additional required rehearsals will take place on Friday, September 2 and Friday, September 16 from 5-7pm in the Rollins Dance Studio.  On the day of the performance (Sept 18), arrival time for performers will be at 9:30am.