Centauri Arts Camp Blog

Centauri Arts Camp: Session 4 update!

centauri — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:56:25 +0000

Session 4 is moving along so quickly!

Yesterday we had our annual “Play in a Day” festival. Campers wrote, directed, acted and danced, did lighting, sound, props and scenery for 4 original plays, all from 9am to 7 pm!

The 4 plays were titled “Teenagers vs Werewolves”, “Heartbreak Hotel”, Pandora’s box, “Commotion, Emotion and Rap”! See the photos here!

Actors Cayle Chernin and Dwight McFee came to camp to adjudicate the plays and gave some great feedback on each play. What a great day!

Tonight is the Hawaiian Banquet, then in the next few days a talent show, the “Mythic Olympics” and much more!

Session 3 was amazing!

centauri — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 13:41:32 +0000

Well, session 3 ended on Thursday. As usual, the final shows, films and art exhibits were amazing. It always amazes us how much campers learn in less than 2 weeks! It was great to see some collaborations between departments such as the writing and dance departments, making poetry come to life in movement, and programs stretching the boundaries of theatre in the presentation of “Acting outside the box” where the program used the whole of the loyalist building as a big stage, having vignettes going on in different rooms as the audience moved between them!

See photos here of Session 3, 2010!

We are now looking ahead to a great session 4!

Craig

It’s August and it’s Session Three!!!!!

centauri — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 19:59:42 +0000

Camp always has a different feel in August. Things are more relaxed. Laid back. No one is arriving straight from school – campers are generally calmer, and the pace is less frenetic. That’s not to say camp lacks spirit – far from it!! We have the usual cheering at meals, and loud singing of the popular camp songs.

It’s session 3 now and we’re one week in. This session’s banquet celebrated Peru. Dinner was an Inti Raymi celebration – which is the annual Inca festival to celebrate the sun. Atahualpa presided over the banquet, in which we ate traditional Peruvian food and offered gifts to the Inca King. Then, at the end of dinner, in stormed the Conquistadors. They took Atahualpa prisoner, and sent off all the campers (Inca villagers) to bring back gold – enough to fill the dining hall. Instead, we all decided to attempt to ‘win over’ the Spanish Conquistadors by offering them examples of Inca culture. We made beautiful clay pendants and head-dresses decorated with Inca symbols. We learned a traditional Inca dance, and prepared a retelling of the myth suirrounding the creation of the Inca empire by the Brothers Ayar. Then, we headed into the theatre and presented our cultural discoveries to the Conquistadors as our king, Atahualpa, lay bound at their feet. The Conquistadors, in our version of history, were so impressed with our rich culture that they decided to release Atahualpa and return to Spain. Of course, we had to end by telling the campers what really happened. The Conquistadors took to the stage and enacted the destruction of Atahualpa in a red spotlight, while the banquet host narrated the true history of the Inca conquest over the mic. All in all, it was not only a fun, artistic (and yummy!) cultural banquet, but a thought-provoking one, too.

Other highlights so far this session include a Grease Spirit Supper, Circus Night, Pajamarama, bizarre Science Fair and our annual Music Festival. On the day of the Music Festival, no less that SIX bands visited camp. Four of them consisted of Centauri alumni who are now making their way in the professional music world. Maddy Rodriguez opened the festival, a camper alumni, now doing some great music. One hightlight was a band called The Elwins, who were hugely popular with all our campers. Dozens of them stayed behind for autographs, and to chat with the band. Another was Aline Morales, who gave a Brazilian drumming workshop and performance just before Onoscatopeia, the University of Toronto’s Hart House Jazz Choir! The day ended with a concert by the Sweet Peas and Calvados. Campers burned off their energy in a bout of frenetic dancing before we all wandered off for a relaxing evening program.

Photos and video clips of the Centauri Arts Camp Music Festival are now up at http://www.centauriartscamp.com/media/Galleries/2010 click on SESSION 3!

Today, we`re inhabiting Camp Demi-God in a Greek Mythology Festival., As I write this, campers are getting to know their resident Greek God, building forts and shrines together, making flags and undertaking fun training activities such as archery, mosaic-creation and human chess. They don`t know it yet, but their training (and the information they unwittingly receive) will be essential later on in the festival, when monsters break into camp…

Julie

Session Two: Final News…

centauri — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 23:01:23 +0000

Session Two has simply flown by. We had the largest summer camp ever, with a grand total of 146 campers! The second camp session began with a Viking Banquet in which we were visited by Norse Gods, and hunted for runes all over camp. The evening ended with a burning of a Viking ship down at the campfire pit. Once day later we held our second Artsarama Night, in which campers can choose either to participate in a regular evening program, or to hang out at one of our arts departments, and create their own original art. Artsarama Nights were suggested by a group of our older campers last summer, and the new ‘tradition’ is hugely popular. Almost the entire camp chose a department to visit, and the evening saw the creation of poetry, music, art, clown skits, improv teams and much more.

As the second week of camp progressed, we held a ‘Film-in-a-day’ festival, a whole-day event in which every camper participated in the making of 5 short films… all in a period of 24 hours. Campers could choose to write, direct, operate the cameras, take on a host of other production jobs, work with film make-up and costume, dance for the music videos, create original movies, work on claymation films or act. It was incredible to walk about camp and see entire buildings transformed into film sets and campers young and old taking on leadership roles – with staff around only for supervision. This ‘Film-in-a-day’ festival was our first ever, and we discovered one hitch: even with a team of 10 editors (half of them our film staff) editing 5 short movies in the last 3 hours of the day was an impossible task. Instead, we ended the event with the watching of rough cuts, and final edits will be loaded onto our website at the end of summer.

We celebrated Avatar, raised money for animal charities in our hilarious ‘zooperb’ spirit supper, and before we knew it, it was tech day. With 10 final presentations to mount (including a music concert, 4 theatre productions, stage combat, a film premier, a dance show, poetry readings and a digital photography display!) preparations were as hectic and as fun as ever.

Then… secret ceremony (with many tears of farewell!), dress rehearsal, the final chance to dance on our chairs at meals, and before we knew it, session 2 was over. How do we pack so much into each session? I have no idea. And my blog notes never even include all the crazy fun that goes into dorm hours, free time, water games, theme tuck, bedtime programs and pajamaramas! All I can tell you is that each session feels like a year of exciting events, and symultaneously is over in a flash. And we lost count of the number of parents who thanked us for everything we had done. And for everything Centauri had done for their child.

Summer is more than half over already, and session three is beginning as I write this. The adventures are starting once more!

To see some photos click here

Julie

A thank you letter to camp we just had to share!

centauri — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:38:34 +0000

Thought we would share a lovely letter we just received (edited to remove names)
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Hi Craig and Julie
There’s nothing in Camper Handbooks that tell you how to deal with withdrawal from camp. There’s always advice on what to do if your child will be homesick, but nothing about the child who wants to spend the entire summer at camp. She cried all the way home, and I think that finally, today, she has turned the corner and stopped crying about missing camp.

I have never seen her so emotional. She had a fantastic time this year at Centauri, and we thank you and your staff for running such a wonderful place for arts-minded kids. She continues to talk about all the fun activities and the amazing food, and has been in touch with some of the campers via email. She loved every minute of camp and she’s already planning for next summer.
Thank you!!

——————————————————-

I love my job!

Nature at Centauri Summer Arts Camp…

centauri — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:56:01 +0000

Some of you may be thinking that because we’re not located in Nothern Ontario, we’re lacking in nature here at Centauri – well, nothing could be further from the truth! Our property includes a river, two ponds, a meadow, woodland and a marsh area, so wildlife abounds. On one pond, we have a pair of muskrats, and some of our photographers recently had a close encounter with them. The other pond is well stocked with fish, and therefore is a favourite haunt of a pair of herons. We regularly see dozens of Canada Geese sitting on the banks, as well as frogs and toads as big as a fist! In the morning, the field behind the dorms are full of red wing blackbirds – easily over a hundred of them, if you count their young. Meanwhile, on the roofs of the dorm buildings there are dozens of tree swallows. We have a red tailed hawk that regularly perches on the top of the trees, flocks of bright yellow goldfinches, and a silent cluster of deer that stand along the treeline at dawn. Last session, two mourning doves nested in the eaves of Brant. The campers got to watch them feed their babies. The little ones have flown the nest now, and the parents are busy preparing their nest for the next clutch.

So this may not be Northern Ontario, but we certainly have a lot of nature to appreciate!

Julie

Session 2, 2010 photos

centauri — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:16:36 +0000

New photos have just been added for session 2, 2010, including photos of the Viking banquet!

www.centauriartscamp.com/media/Galleries/2010

Session Two is now Underway!

centauri — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:08:22 +0000

We have another fantastic group of campers. Our first night evening program was the kind of event that goes down in camp history – Double Dare! Dorms competed against one another in water games for the first half of the evening, and then assembled on the field to watch the winners – B3 – complete various food-related challenges in order to win prizes for themselves and the entire camp. The challenges were completely gross – which had the entire camp cheering and groaning in seconds, and was a great way to build camp spirit. The ‘human caesar salad’ involved a slip-and-slide covered in lettuce and salad dressing. At one station, campers had to head butt eggs. At another, campers became ‘human sundaes’ with ice cream, chocolate sauce, sprinkles and whipped cream poured ove their heads. The B3 ‘performers’ and the rest of the camp had a fantastic time. At the end of the evening, the winning dorm had secured breakfast in bed for themselves, and the entire camp can look forward to a prize of smores at a bedtime campfire.

Last night we had a combined spirit supper and evening program in which we celebrated ‘GLEE’ All dorms worked on numbers to perform, and the finale was a special presentation by all our program directors.

Everyone has settled in well, and camp is harmonious right now. The weather is warm, but not baking hot. We’re looking forward to a day trip to the theatre in two days, and to a water park tomorrow. This afternoon’s elective workshops include Special Effects Makeup, Stage Combat with Found Weapons, Improvisation, Musical Theatre Dance, Short Story Creation and Photography/Film. There’s never a dull moment!!

Session One, 2010 goes out with a BANG!

centauri — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:08:02 +0000

Presentation Day was fantastic, with shows happening all over camp – stage combat (superheroes) in the rock garden, a fantastic, interactive art display in two locations, as well as the premiere of our session one films, and multiple stage shows. Our campers went home very happy… we lost count of the parents who stopped by to say a huge thank you before leaving with their child. Camp was quiet that night, with all of us conserving our energy for the start of the next session – yet the phone did not stop ringing with parents attempting to re-booked session one campers for later in the summer! Session One was a fantastic start to the season and we’re now looking forward to session number two!

Check out the photos and videos at www.centauriartscamp.com/media/Galleries/2010

Julie

Summer Camp: a Different Way to Be Connected!

centauri — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 02:50:36 +0000

There’s a new challenge facing overnight camps these days. For our teens, it’s harder than ever before to leave behind their technologies, and immerse themselves in social interactions that are ‘face to face’ rather than over the internet. The average teen in North America sends and receives 200 text messages a day, something they can’t do at camp. They are constantly in touch with the mini-dramas occurring in the lives of their friends – who has split up with who, and which friends are arguing. ‘Turning off’ this constant barrage of ‘issues’ in their peer groups is a challenge when they come to overnight camp.

So what can we do to help, as camp directors, camp staff, parents and guardians? The direct social interaction that camp offers is more important than ever before. All we can do is reassure our kids that their friends will still be there when they get home. And hope that social media and text messaging do not become a reason for them to lose out on all the fabulous experiences that sleep-over camp can offer.

Any thoughts from our families? Please share them. We often hear kids tell us it’s hard to be away from the mini-dramas they share in on Facebook. But sleep-over camp can offer so much more than a summer spend interacting online. When I watch our campers share together in an arts workshop, an important group discussion, a night star-gazing, a moment celebrating new achievements, or a meal of singing and dancing together… well, you get the idea.

Julie