We just hired our British Writer for this summer’s International Tour!
Posted by centauri in International Arts Tour on March 11, 2010
Last week was pretty, interesting, since I got to meet and interview half a dozen fantastic writers/writing teachers, all based in the North of England, to figure out who might be the best person to lead the ‘writing retreat’ portion of the international tour. All the writers were amazing, since they were recommended to us by the Arvon Foundation, who ran last year’s retreat for us. In the end we chose the fabulous Rommi Smith! Rommi is an all-round fascinating person… a poet and performer who often works alongside musicians to create exciting multi-media pieces. Music inspires her poetry. She also writes short stories and plays, and has just finished a series of short monologues which were performed on BBC Radio 4. Rommi is Nigerian-British, and the first writer ever to be nominated ‘Parliamentary Writer in Residence’. She has worked extensively with school groups, teaches creative writing at Leeds University and runs retreats for the Arvon Foundation.
Rommi has so many thrilling ideas for our retreat that I can hardly wait! She says: “I like to view writing as an adventure, rather than something you sit down and do.” As well as incorporating music, props and performance into our work, she hopes to make the most of our spectacular location in the atmospheric Robin Hood’s Bay. She mentioned possible writing sessions on the beach, and by moonlight!
If you’d like to find out more about Rommi and read some of her work, you can go to: www.rommi-smith.co.uk . Two spaces still remain on the International Tour. There are THREE group leaders now… Aaron Alviano will be joining us for the tour, as well!
Julie
Julie’s Drama and Theatre Workshops for Schools
Posted by centauri in Drama Workshops on March 7, 2010
One thing I love about Winter and Spring is doing school visits, to talk abut Centauri and to offer drama workshops. I get to teach (which I LOVE), kids get some drama, and we all have a chance to chat about camp! Yesterday, I did three guest workshops in a private school near Fort Erie. It was a gorgeous school, and we had three fantastic groups. The first was a hugely energetic grade 5-6 mix, and we explored storytelling techniques together. The second was a self-conscious Grade 8 group, and we explored Stanislavsky, and character development. Lastly, we had a Grade 7 group, and since they were super-dramatic without any coaxing, we did some crazy melodrama stuff!
I’m running workshops at several other schools over the next few weeks, but I still have space. If you’d like me to offer a free workshop at your school, let me know and I can email you info for your drama teacher! I’m also a keynote speaker, and I have a brand new talk about entrepreneurism available for high school students. It’s all about what we learned when we set up Centauri. You can read more at julie@juliehartley.ca
Centauri Arts Camp introduces our brand new Program Director for “Rock, Jazz, Blues & More”!
Posted by centauri in Arts Camps, Music Camp on March 5, 2010
We’re excited to welcome onto the Centauri staff, Violet Chepil, a Toronto-based musician and music teacher who will be teaching our Session 2 Music Mayhem program this summer! Violet is a graduate of the music program at York University who teaches music at various places in Toronto, including the Toronto Young Entrepreneurs program, and DARE Centre for the Fine Arts. She has toured festivals all over Canada with her band, The Sweet Peas, and cites Dala as one of her influences! To listen to The Sweet Peas, www.myspace.com/thesweetpeasmusic
Spring Orion Cafe for Campers (New and Old)
Posted by centauri in Camp Events, Centauri Arts Camp on March 3, 2010
The all-important date is Sunday 11th April, and the time: 2-5pm.
We’re holding the event at The Baby Point Club, located at 71 Baby Point Road, in West Toronto. You need to RSVP if you want to come, because there is only room for 60 people! The event is for campers, and also people who hope to join us as campers this summer. It’s also for staff, of course! Bring along a guitar, or poetry, or a monologue. There’s even a piano in the room! We’ll chat. Drink teas. Eat snacky stuff. Enjoy some mellow performances. Maybe even reveal a few secrets about summer camp this year. If you have any friends (or siblings) curious about Centauri, pleas bring them along. But you MUST RSVP. Contact us at julie@centauriartscamp.com to hold your spot!
News on our Sponsored school in India…
Posted by centauri in Centauri Summer Arts Camp. on March 1, 2010
Local workers starting the foundations of the school
Thanks to everyone (staff, campers and parents) who participated in our Arts Marathon last year, work on our sponsored school in Mirik, India, is now underway! What you can see in these photos is the big hole where our school will go. Villagers have been busy digging foundations since early January, hauling baskets of dirt away by hand. Foundations must be deep, because although the school will initially have just three classrooms, there are plans to add a second storey in a couple of years.
Local workers starting the foundations of the school
Here is a photograph of the amazing school sign!
This celebrates the contribution of Centauri to the school’s existence, and the fact that we hope to continue assisting in the community in years to come.
Julie
Julie’s new web site www.juliehartley.ca
Posted by centauri in Camp Staff, Julie Hartley on February 26, 2010
Julie’s new web site is now live at www.juliehartley.ca
The new site is still growing, but already has information on her poetry, articles, plays, workshops and storytelling. Check it out!
Interviewing writers for the England 2010 Tour
Posted by centauri in Centauri Summer Arts Camp., International Arts Tour on February 24, 2010
I’m interviewing Writers for the England Tour…
This is going to be a really, really interesting week. We’ve had five amazing writers recommended to us by the Arvon Foundation in Britain, to teach our writing retreat this August in Robin Hood’s Bay, on the North East coast of England. Now, I get to meet with them all via webcam. They all have an impressive track record of writing achievements. They all have a ton of teaching experience. What I have to do is figure out which writer will be the best match for our group. And along the way, I get to chat with them all about writing and literature – huge interests of mine. I LOVE this job!
If you are interested in our international tours, check out
http://www.centauriartscamp.com/summer-camps/international-arts-tours.htm
Julie
Senior Staff Retreat a Huge Success!
Posted by centauri in Centauri Arts Camp Staff on February 22, 2010
Each year at about this time, we take our Senior Staff Team North to a cottage by a lake. Included in the group are the Heads of Dorms, Junior Counsellor Liaison, Teaching Evaluators, Head of Tech, Assistant Director, Program Director Co-ordinator and Camp Directors. People came from far and wide, with Calypso flying from New York, and Maria from Minnesota. The goal each year is to focus on team-building, get to know each other better, and to begin planning for the summer!
Katie skating
Matt and Jeremy, Hold On!
For these reasons, it’s a pretty exciting event. The weather this year was just glorious. Glistening snow, sparkling ice, sunshine and clear, starry nights. We cooked together, tobogganed together (literally – see the photo of 2 Mentor-Counsellors crammed on one child’s toboggan!), snow shoed, cross country skied, took a skating lesson with Aaron (!!) and stared in wide-eyed wonder at dozens of white-tailed deer. Just as importantly, we spent many intense hours planning the summer! We now know exactly what thrilling, exciting festivals will be offered this year, and we created the structure for staff training. We (the Directors) also ran training sessions for all the Mentor-Counsellors on what it means to be Senior Staff at Centauri.
Carol and Andrea cross country skiing
At the end of the weekend, we posed for the obligatory Group Shot. As we climbed back into the cars for the long drive back to civilization we mused on what the weekend had meant for us all. “It’s like a little taste of camp in the middle of the Winter…” one MC said. The reply: “Yeah. I want camp to start today. I can’t believe we have to wait four more months.”
But really, summer 2010 starts NOW. My desk is piled high with ideas I need to sort. Planning for camp begins
TODAY… and like the rest of the Senior Staff, I just can’t wait…
Centauri Arts Camp, Senior Staff 2010
New Website now live
Posted by centauri in Uncategorized on February 17, 2010
Our new web site www.centauriartscamp.com is now live, with a new updated home page and easier ways to find us on all your favourite social sites!
Film Festivals
Posted by centauri in Film Camp, Film festivals, young filmmakers on January 27, 2010
The following film festivals are look for submissions from young film makers.
Toronto Student Film Festival. Looking for submissions by March 22 2010
http://www.tsff.ca/
Also Check out the Sprockets Film festival, looking for submissions
http://www.filmfestivalworld.com/festival/Sprockets_Toronto_Intl_Film_Festival/
Centauri Arts Camp is a sleep over arts camp for kids ages 9 to 18. Located in the Niagara region of Canada, we run over 40 specialty programs including dance camps, theater camps, writing camps, fine Art camps, film camps and more!