Summer 2009 Newsletter

Gemstones on the Camp Trail

Hiking – blazed new trails in the canyon, took turns being hike leaders, identified plants along the way, found all kinds of new natural wonders

Theatre – created choral poems, improv games, scenes, commercials, interviews, puppet shows and special monologues

Cooking – made moon rocks, fabulous guacamole, tasted tomatoes fresh off the vine and purple carrots, made moon muffins with cream cheese frosting with cheese from the moon, ocean cookies, salsa from our garden tomatoes with circus shaped tortilla chips, clown faces on rice cakes

Music –  practiced instrument jams on the keyboard, guitar, flute and recorder , learned many new songs, learned boomwhachers and percussion  games with some music notation and created and sang new songs.

Arts and Crafts – made terra cotta suns, planet mobiles, nylon sculptures, fish mobiles, alien sculptures, space suits, carousel horses, dancing acrobats

Swimming – Lots of amazing activities and progress in the water including speeding races, learning to float on their back, exploring never before reached places in the pool, swimming like mermaids and floating on their bellies like superman, holding their breath for the whole length of the pool, awesome dives (even into the deep end) and playing in the water with old friends and new

Performances – We ended each week with a multimedia show on our theme:  Week 1 was Circus, Week 2 was Space and Week 3 was Ocean.  Our shows included our original songs, improv scenes, written scenes, dances, and puppet plays.

Memories – Seeing the light in each child’s face when s/he had a breakthrough in the pool such as putting faces in the water or diving, seeing the teamwork and problem-solving in Improv scenes, hearing the original ideas that were born from the scene-writing and music-writing, listening to the beautiful sounds of children’s voices and instruments playing in harmony, seeing the smiles and laughter when a new plant was discovered or when a dance came together, enjoying the thrills of yummy food made by children’s hands, laughing together in the summer sunshine and making new friends!

What I loved about camp…

“everything!” – Charlotte, 6

“the show” – Lola, 7 3/4

“going underwater” – Jackson, 5

“how tired and happy my daughter was when she came home” – Charlotte’s mom

“so many activities, many different counselors, the variety and kindness of the atmosphere” – Barker’s mom

“the small size and giving roles to everyone” – Mae’s mom

“the relaxed-yet-organized approach, the array of activities, the fact that nice things to do are all close by, and you two!” – Leo’s dad

“a great value!” – Jackson’s mom

“The Making of A Great Artist”

An old theatre story tells of Fred Astaire auditioning for a musical in his early days.  In the director’s notes next to Astaire’s name reads, “OK singer.  Can dance a little.”  Of course, today we know Fred Astaire to be a dancing legend.  This story illustrates just how much of art is subjective and each opportunity has everything to do with timing, sensibility, taste, as well as training.  Perhaps Fred Astaire became a better dancer as he studied and performed once given an initial chance.

A recent article in the NY Times discusses the sale of Frida Kahlo’s personal archives – reciepts, little notes to herself, recipes, letters, journals, sketches – bought for a small fortune from a lawyer who had purchased them from a wood carver friend in the Rivieras.  Frida had bartered these trinkets for the wood carver’s picture frames in 1954, and handed over papers marked, “personal archive of my private life.”  I was struck by the monetary value of these items which to most would be worthless, simply junk to be sorted through or discarded, yet because of Frida Kahlo’s value as a “Great Artist,” they are now treasures.

These stories remind me that art has no cultural value in our society until someone decides that it is significant – someone other than the artist.  To make these value judgements, we must first have the support to create the art and the education to think critically about it.  The Visual and Performing Artists (V.A.P.A) Standards were created by the California Department of Education so that we as educators could teach our students to observe, create, discuss and critique the arts.  The five strands of V.A.P.A. Standards are 1) Artistic Perception 2) Aesthetic Valuing 3) Creative Expression 4) Historical / Cultural Context and 5)  Connections, Relationships, Applications.  Each of these strands are essential to our youth’s growth in the arts.  Children need to understand and use the vocabulary of their art form.  Whether it is Theatre, Music, Dance or Visual Art, it is necessary to practice their craft, critique their own work and other’s, learn about the art form’s place in history, current society and the global community, then make connections with other art forms and subject matter.  These steps are important to master the skills of any art form.

We at Aimee Art Productions are committed to using these strands in our teachings to make each class “Great” for the children we teach–fun, but also enriching, multicultural, and relevant to their lives and learnings at home and school.  Whether it is a piano lesson, a musical theatre production or a hip hop dance workshop, we believe in providing our students with the best quality arts education so they have the chance to develop “Greatness” in themselves.  A few of these youngsters will go on to become “Great Artists” like Fred Astaire and Frida Kahlo.  Many will make the arts an important part of their lives, a sanctuary to express and create.  Some will become “Great” at a chosen art form and pursue it as a lifelong passion or career.  But most will incorporate their artistic learnings into their development as human beings – increasing confidence, improving reading skills, synthesizing rhythm and tempo with mathematics, applying art history to their knowledge of the world’s story and so on.  Our job at Aimee Art Productions is to take this learning seriously and give our students a chance at “greatness” in whatever form it takes.

Today’s student may only have a few sketches, fragments of a poem and journal entries but will someday paint like Frida Kahlo.  A teacher can only suggest a child is an “okay singer” and “can dance a little” but with consistent training will become the next musical theatre sensation.  The worst crime  would be to judge our students before they have had a chance to blossom and explore the arts.  Who knows? Maybe you as the parent or administrator might grow too! I’ve seen many a parent sign a child up for piano lessons then decide to take lessons as well to help their child.  They find a whole new world opening up in the process.  It is never too soon or too late to begin nurturing the “Great Artist” within each of us.

Thank you for being such a valued part of this exciting process with us and your child!