Nashville Children’s Theatre (NCT) kicks off its Summer Drama Camp registration on Saturday, February 11 at 8 am. 2011-12 season subscribers and friends of NCT at the Explorer level and higher are eligible for Early Bird registration, which begins on Saturday, February 4 at 8 am.
NCT Summer Camps usually fill to capacity, according to company spokesperson Steve Bianchi. NCT Summer Camps run May 29–August 3 and offer weeklong camps for students age three through grade 12. NCT expects to see over 1,000 campers during the summer.
“The summer is an amazing time at NCT—full of energy and creativity,” says Alicia Fuss, NCT Director of Education. “Elementary students play with a wide variety of children's literature, while exploring what it means to create characters and tell a story onstage. Middle and high school students get to tackle stage combat, musical theatre, Shakespeare, acting for the camera and more! Our camps are designed to provide exciting challenges to all of our students while keeping them in a supportive and playful environment.”
New this summer: In addition to sessions at NCT, the theatre will offer a series of camps at Ensworth School’s Devon Farm Campus.
The cornerstone of NCT’s Drama Camps is the popular Voyager Series, which introduces students to theatre skills in a fun, progressive way that builds on each previous camp as the child’s development advances. This series includes:
- Setting Sail for three-, four- and five-year olds—a half-day camp for adult and child to take together! The participants explore creativity and movement through stories, nursery rhymes and songs.
- Lil’ Voyagers for rising kindergarteners—a half-day camp allowing young children to discover their own creativity by experimenting with characters and storytelling.
- Junior Theatre Voyagers for rising grades one and two—young campers gain confidence and stage presence in this introduction to theatre. The energy and imagination of young actors is channeled through theatre games and playful story dramas. Campers build theatre skills, work as a group and are prepared for future classes.
- Theatre Voyagers for rising grades three through five—campers create an original adaptation of a children’s story, myth or legend. They write the play, rehearse their parts and perform their work. Through rehearsal and games, participants learn some of the essentials of acting, discipline and teamwork.
- Advanced Theatre Voyagers for rising grades six through eight—through creative exercises, improvisation and focused scene work, campers delve into the acting process and character development. This engaging course allows young actors to sink their teeth into a script and prepares students for specialty classes should they wish to advance.
At the end of the week, parents, family and friends are invited to attend performances done by the campers (Setting Sail and Lil’ Voyagers do not have performances). Each week the camp content is different, and this allows students to take the camp more than once over the summer.
Older students, (rising grades four through twelve) can choose from the many specialty camps that make up NCT’s Emerging Artists Series. Some prerequisites apply to Emerging Artist camps.
- Musical Theatre Express for rising grades five and six—this introductory camp brings together singing, dancing and acting into a review of popular musical numbers.
- Musical Theatre for rising grades seven through twelve (a two week camp)—campers explore vocal technique, song interpretation and dance as they rehearse and perform some of Broadway’s most interesting songs. This camp is good for all levels of experience.
- On Camera for rising grades four through twelve—an adaptation of our successful Theatre Voyagers and Advanced Theatre Voyagers classes, these camps let participants create stories for the big screen. Screenings of their work will occur on the final day of the camp and students receive a DVD copy.
