“I will not use the word ‘can’t’ to define my possibilities.”
Students in AileyCamp Atlanta at the Fox Theatre make that statement in unison each day as an affirmation. The campers are immersed is one of the landmark theater’s four outreach programs, each designed to teach voice, dance or other performance skills to young people in metro Atlanta.
“I learned so much about performing and grew not only as a performer, but as a person,” says Tatiana Wechsler, who took part in both Camp Broadway and Rising Stars. Wechsler, now 19, says the programs gave her the drive to continue training at New York University, where she’ll be a junior in the fall. She’s looking at a future, hopefully, in theater, film and television.
Here’s a quick look at each of the four Fox programs — AileyCamp Atlanta, Camp Broadway, Rising Stars: A Musical Theatre Intensive and Artistic Workshops.
AileyCamp Atlanta
The storied Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater sends one instructor from New York to the Fox each summer to team with several local instructors and teach its technique — a flexible and demanding combination of ballet, jazz, modern and West African dance instruction — to about 100 students ages 11 to 14. The Fox is the first facility in the South to present an AileyCamp, and the six-week-long schedule is unapologetically intense. Students dance from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and take five classes a day. Despite its intensity, instructors approach dance as a vehicle that can promote creative communication and build self-esteem through nutrition, conflict resolution, drug-abuse prevention, decision-making and goal-setting classes.
AileyCamp targets students with academic, social, and domestic challenges — criteria that often determine whether or not a student will drop out of school. The camp caters to underserved young people who have little opportunity to develop artistic interests by providing positive adult and peer role models. This summer’s session runs June 4 to July 13 (applications are no longer available, but you can always plan ahead for next year). The fee is $1,500 but campers accepted are not charged. The fee is paid for by the Fox and its supporters.
Camp Broadway
This weeklong camp teaches aspiring stage performers professional dance and voice techniques. The singer-actor-dancers, ages 11 to 17, also get firsthand insight into the professional audition process, with tips on dealing with the scrutiny of producers, and establishing stage presence and confidence. Students graduate by seeing a Fox show, performing two Broadway songs and combining forces to create an original short play. The camp runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and each class has about 22 students. It costs $500, which includes lunch each day and a ticket to a touring Broadway performance at the Fox. This year’s camp runs June 25-29.
Rising Stars
Kids ages 13 to 17 develop solo and ensemble performing skills with this two-week program. Instructors with Broadway and feature film credits teach acting, music, dance and audition workshops. Dance instructor Jeffrey Scott Bailey, for example, was onstage in Dreamgirls, A Chorus Line and Grease in New York, has done a number of commercials and was seen in the movies Hannah Montana and I Can Do Bad All By Myself.
The Rising Stars performed at the 2012 American Camp Association’s National Camp Conference at the Hyatt Regency in February and at a “Stars of Tomorrow” event held in the Fox’s Egyptian Ballroom in March.
The outreach programs, Bailey says, benefit the community beyond the Fox, not just the performers taking part. They reinforce a young artist’s work ethic, self-worth and respect for the company, he says. They become leaders who can pass on what they’ve learned to the next group of aspiring artists.
The camp runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and each class has 15-20 students. Tuition is $650, which includes lunch each day and a ticket to a touring Broadway performance at the Fox. Some subsidies are available. This summer’s program takes place July 9-20.
Artistic Workshops
The Fox also hosts educational programs that work in tandem with the theater’s productions. In April, high school students saw Les Misérables and “I Dreamed a Dream” — the title of a song in the show —was used to prompt a discussion about their dreams and goals. Students discussed the music and lyrics, looked at the plot in comparison to contemporary events and created their own poetry, essays and short plays that were performed in their communities. S
Details on the Fox Theatre’s Outreach programs and how to participate or sponsor a student HERE or call 404.881.2100.
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Susan Finch is a travel, arts, and lifestyle writer whose work appears in national publications and guidebooks. After living in NYC for more than a decade and working for a Broadway marketing firm, she recently returned to Atlanta and is rediscovering her love for the city.
