Dream Big Performing Arts Workshop » Uncategorized

Broadway Kids At Wildwood

LRomano — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:33:49 +0000

I can’t believe our first session at Wildwood is already over! It’s been such an amazing experience and I had so much fun working with the girls. Their final performance was wonderful and they worked extremely hard to put together a great show. They learned their lines, two whole songs and dances and all their blocking in just a few short weeks. And the girls were key in creating this final performance- they chose the songs, the characters, wrote the script and even helped make up some dance moves. This truly was a talented group! They really impressed me with their dedication and energy onstage.

Over the course of 10 weeks, the girls learned so much about singing, acting and dancing. We worked a lot on creating characters and how to make interesting vocal and movement choices. The girls always came in with such creative ideas for our warm-up call and response activities. We also worked on some vocal warm-ups and vocal techniques, which really shone through during our performance- the girls sang loudly, clearly and with tons of enthusiasm. We learned some difficult dance moves such as grapevine, jazz-square and pivot turns. The girls worked so hard to master these moves and looked great onstage. We even learned some cheerleading moves too! I think all these girls are truly "triple threats"!

I’m so proud of how far everyone came from the beginning of the class. Any shyness or hesitation was left behind and their positive energy was infectious. I think we have some musical theatre stars in the making!

Coonley Broadway Kids Kindergarten Class 11/29

Christine — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:40:25 +0000

Yesterday was the final class and Big Performance for the Kindergarteners at Coonley. They couldn't have been more adorable or enthusiastic. It was a packed house- Every student had a parent there to support and many had siblings in attendance to cheer them on as well! The group was visibly excited and a few experienced their first bouts of stage fright (which I felt they overcame more quickly than many adults I know!). The anticipation of sharing our work with the parents turned out to be a hugely successful motivator.

Throughout the term, emphasis was placed on using our bodies to create character, speaking audibly, and listening when another person had the floor- I felt significant progress was made on these fronts. I was also incredibly impressed with the work the students did OUTSIDE of the classroom: Every week after receiving the take-home CDs, the kids would return with greater command of their lyrics making my work easier and allowing them to focus on performing the material. By the time yesterday rolled around, they were singing with such Bravado, I had trouble balancing the CD music so that it could be heard, which was THRILLING.

As the term went on, there was a noticeable increase in willingness to work with new teammates, and to participate in exercises that asked students to publicly "take-on" an emotion or character. These things were particularly evident in the performance yesterday and I COULD NOT have been more proud of their progress and bravery.

-Christine

Coonley Broadway Kids Grade 2-5

Elizabeth — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:45:31 +0000

November 21, 2011

Wow...this group of students really impressed me today. We've got twelve amazing students in this class, and they have been enthusiastic and creative from day one, but today, while rehearsing for our show next week, this group really proved they were performers. We set out early in the session to write the script together using a handful of student-generated ideas and let improv give the scenes dialogue. Everyone contributed to our story, so we all knew exactly what would happen. Everyone got to decide who they wanted to be in the story. Students even contributed dance moves to the songs we choreographed - this production was a real group effort!

But we still had some challenges. Due to a couple of unforeseen absences, we didn't finalize parts or send out scripts until relatively late in the session. Today was our last chance to practice before next week's show. Did we know the show well enough to go into next week's performance confident and excited? We started class with a line run-through to check how everyone's memorization was coming along.

Wow! Everyone not only seemed to have their lines down perfectly, but each actor also knew exactly when his or her line needed to happen and which character he or she was speaking to. It was clear everyone had done some great work at home. The next test: on our feet. Could we remember where everyone needed to be? Wow! With a couple of quick reminders, the action flowed smoothly - and as each song came up, everyone joined in and gave it their all.

The best part - - this class didn't just know their words and moves. No, they took ownership of their play today, and really acted their story. I can't wait to show this piece to an audience next week, and have this group get the applause they deserve - for their hard work, their imaginations, and their acting. I wish everyone reading could come down to our "pizza parlor" next week and see the awesomeness for yourselves. I hope every student enjoys performing next week as much as I enjoyed watching them today!

-Elizabeth

Lessons Learned at Hawthorne!

VGolden — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:42:26 +0000

Last Thursday was our final sharing day for Broadway Kids at Hawthorne Scholastic Academy! In just 8 short weeks, six students worked together to learn songs, create a story and devise choreography for their own mini-musical.

These six young people took control of every aspect of their class, and the ownership they felt in their work was evident in the sharing! From choosing which songs to learn the very first week of class to choosing which warm-ups to share with family members before the performance, the girls were in control. Not only did they develop planning and decision-making skills, but as theatre artists they learned to collaborate and devise work, becoming more well-rounded artists.

I'm very proud of my "Broadway Kids" at Hawthorne!

-Victoria

Improve with Improv at Lincoln Elementary

JWatson — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:41:05 +0000

We have been acting up a storm with the 3rd and 4th grade improv class at Lincoln Elementary! Every week we explore a new topic in improvisation, from character and setting to plot and relationship. There are always tons to keep track of -- especially because these incredible students are thinking quickly on their feet, without any script.

To get ourselves ready for improv, we've been playing games like "I Am A Tree" to warm up our bodies and "Crossing the Road" to practice establishing conflict. Our other favorite game is "Party Quirks," in which the whole class gets to improvise a group party scene, and the host has to guess what troubles each guest.

Today was our final performance, and it is certainly sad to say goodbye to our session. We have made up so many stories and characters in our time together. In fact, we have gotten so good at telling short stories that we even created a few long-form improvisations with multiple scenes (just like the professionals!)

The creativity and enthusiasm of this class is so contagious. I can't wait to see what's in store next!
-Jacob

Mini-Showstoppers in Andersonville!

Elizabeth — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:34:02 +0000

We are having a great time in our Mini-Showstoppers class this session! Our class of 4 to 6 year olds are always completely ready to play and laugh. We've been playing "princesses and dragons" a lot, with the dragons evenly divided between good dragons and mean dragons. Fortunately, even the mean dragons are usually won over with imaginary pie - thank goodness!

Our class especially enjoys our warm ups at the beginning of each class - we start with a rhyme that goes "I've got a head that jiggles..." and we've recently added an exercise where the names of certain vegetables and fruits have a certain physicality - which is a fancy way of saying we say things like "cucumber" with funny voices and faces. After we warm up, we play a lot of fun games - we like to make objects with our bodies and we love pretending to be animals, especially octopuses, cats, horses, elephants, swans, and cheetahs!

We are working on our own play - which features princesses, cats and robots this week, but has also involved an electric eel, a dinosaur, fairies, and fixing a rainbow. All we know for sure is that everyone will enjoy it, and that we'll be singing the songs "Zipadeedoodah" and "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo", so there will definitely be magic involved. Every week has some magic in it where these students are involved!
-Elizabeth

Broadway Kids at Lincoln Elementary

JSchroll — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:30:34 +0000

Every week I look forward to teaching this class. The students are so enthusiastic about musical theatre and have become great friends and partners with one another over the past few weeks.
Every week we strengthen our IMAGINATION and our BRAVERY - two qualities every successful actor possesses. In order to use these qualities we must warm up our BODIES and our VOICES through games and exercises. Some of the student's favorites are the "Singin' in the Rain" warm up and the "Bibbity Bibbity Bop" game.
Together we have collaborated to write our own play to perform on the last day of class. We selected "Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King and "I Won't Grow Up" from Peter Pan and created our own scenario around these songs. Our play centers around eight sailors out at sea who get caught in a rain storm but luckily find themselves on an island loaded with buried treasure! Last week we created a backdrop for scenery which the students seemed to really enjoy.
I am so impressed with how much the students have learned and grown over the course of the session. I am grateful to have such an enthusiastic class!
-Julie Schroll

Broadway Kids at Bell Elementary

JSchroll — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:29:04 +0000

This class is always loaded with enthusiastic energy for musical theatre! Many of the students have taken the class before and are becoming masters at the fundamentals of every successful actor: IMAGINATION and BRAVERY. In order to access our imagination and bravery we begin every class by warming up our bodies and our voices through games and warmups. Some of this class's favorites are the Machine Game where we build a human machine using each student, and Bippity Bippity Bop which we add new rules to each week.
We have collaborated to write our own play to be performed on the last day of class. The student's selected "Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King and "Bop to the Top" from High School Musical to center our story around. Our play focuses on a group of actors who have flown to Hollywood for a big audition. Together they help each other through the fear of flying, stage fright, and preparing for the big day!
I am impressed with how much excitement and energy this class brings to games and rehearsal each week. They are definitely a fun bunch!
-Julie Schroll

Broadway Kids at Edison Regional Gifted Center

JSchroll — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 03:27:38 +0000

This is the smallest class I teach but the most loaded with creative ideas and enthusiasm to learn. Some of the students have taken the class before and have favorite games that I try to incorporate into the curriculum while introducing them to new games and concepts every week. I stress the importance of IMAGINATION and BRAVERY in actors, qualities that we express thru our BODIES and our VOICES.
We begin each class by warming up through physical stretches, tongue twisters, and games. Some of their favorites are Fruit Bowl (a great game to learn more about each other and our get blood flowing) and Machines (building a human machine using every student.)
We are in the process of writing our own play to perform on the last day of class. The students selected "I Just Can't Wait to be King" from The Lion King, "A Spoonful of Sugar" from Mary Poppins, and "Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" from Annie to base our story around. This week we will improvise scenes around these scenarios and string them together into a rough draft script before next week.
It's a joy to teach this class and I'm excited to see what creative ideas the students will bring to our games and rehearsal in the weeks to come!
-Julie Schroll

You Could Be in Commercials! Camp 7/11-15

CLowinski — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:09:20 +0000

What an amazing week we had doing the You Could Be in Commercials Workshop! We were a small group with GIANT ideas.

The week started with getting to know you exercises and group games so that we all started to feel comfortable working together and exploring our imaginations without reservation. At times we worked with the other class so that the experience expanded further to include all of Dream Big campers this week. Later on during Day 1, the three of us commercial campers sat down and started designing new products that we would love to see invented some day. As the ideas started to pour out of these fantastic boys we were even able to start storyboarding rough commercial ideas for them. We decided that we wanted to build our new inventions out of recycled material so that brings us to Day 2. On Tuesday we enjoyed some warm-ups and games with the other campers and then quickly busied ourselves with choosing from the overload of recycled materials that everyone brought in. We used our designs as reference and our imaginations to see just how these never-before-built products could come to life out of our recycled materials. After making lists and piles it was time for a break, so off to the park we went! Later that day we had the amazing treat of Joshua the Head Puppeteer from the 360 Degree’s Production of Peter Pan. He came and did a workshop with us and taught us how to make a muppet with our hand. He even gave us these little eyes to place on our knuckles so that we could see our hand puppet come to life. It was so cool! After the workshop, Josh stuck around and talked to our commercial class about how Jim Henson started off in commercials and helped us to figure out ways to fly in our own commercial. He also showed us all about Door Theatre, which we had a blast learning and putting into the final showcase. Wednesday was Build Build Build. Who knew so much work went into making inventions real. We used all sorts of materials and colors and had so much fun choosing the inventions that we were going to put together and then working together to make that happen. This was a Fun Day. Thursday was Commercial filming day. We storyboarded more and used lights and costumes and filmed some of our commercials. We even wrote in a part for our friends from the other class. With little time left, we were even able to write some infomercials that we showed live on Friday as well as learned about professional commercial auditions and took a stab at slating and commercial copy. We filmed those too and put them with our other filmed commercials. Friday was a SUPER day. We warmed-up with our friends from the other class, created a little surprise for our guests (Long-Life Potion samples) and did a little practicing. The families arrived and we were so excited and the showing went fabulously. Watching the other class was really great too! They were so GOOD!

We had an amazing week and can not wait to do it again :)

-Cortney