Building Friendships, Dreaming Big

We jumped right in and had such an amazing first 4 days!! The magic of camp is in the air and the friendships that are forming in just 4 days is amazing to witness! Our first week of StarQuest is spent bonding, creating our camp culture and getting familiar with all that camp StarQuest has to offer – friendships, singing, acting, dancing, bringing out your inner artist and so much more! At StarQuest we focus a lot of our energy during week one to set the tone that will ensure our campers feel inspired, supported and safe so they are empowered throughout camp, in all activities, to rise to each moment and greet it head on! We encourage our campers to set daily intentions, to try new things and to express themselves fully. We take time for mindfulness meditation, we share our positive affirmation of the day and we discuss how it looks to be a kind and supportive friend to others and to ourselves. It is from this foundation that our campers stretch their comfort zones and have a creative blast!

Here’s the Inside Scoop

On the first day of camp, we jumped right in by taking fun group pictures with photo booth props and making group banners. We then had our morning huddle by our creative tree (ask your camper more about our tree) and we jumped right in with getting to know you games and our famous skit in the bag game was a hit! This was a great way to get our campers interacting, laughing, and having fun! We continued the week with bonding exercises, learning about the process of theater (education, auditioning, ensemble work) and of course spending time in acting, dancing, voice classes and auditions and rehearsals for High School Musical JR.

All of our counselors worked with their groups, daily, on gaining trust in one another and achieving comfort levels that allow all the campers to feel nurtured. Our voice, dance, and acting specialists focused on setting up basic skills and foundations, helping our stars gain confidence in their abilities. We also had auditions, casting, started our character and scene work, and learned several songs and dances for High School Musical JR! To top off the week, our appreciation circle today brought all of our campers together to share their gratitude for each other and for the moments they loved most all week!  We also gave everyone a necklace on the first day of camp to remind them we are all a  part of a theater family, our StarQuest family… where you are safe, supported, loved and loving!  Oh and don’t forget the ice cream bar we had today YUM and Lip sync festivities that took place on Thursday at lunch.

Voice

  • Audition prep – learned our audition song and new vocal warm-ups
  • Writers and Choreographers song of the week was “Popular” from Wicked.
  • Directors and Producers song of the week was “Watch What Happens” from Newsies.
  • Learned some basic tips on how to keep our voices healthy.

Acting

  • Discussed class expectations and that “acting is reacting” and played theater games.
  • Conducted an audition workshop.
  • We explored our “Actors Instrument” – our bodies and how they help us “tell the story”.

Dance

  • Dance started off with a bang as we learned our choreography for our auditions.
  • We learned some of dancing “basics” such as chasse, pas de bourree and a chainee.
  • We discussed the importance of warming up our bodies and learned a warm-up routine.

Auditions/Rehearsals

Before we started auditions, the entire camp was guided through a visual meditation to bring in the love and release any anxiety they may be feeling. Couldn’t be prouder of our campers! Everyone did a fantastic job auditions and rehearsals went great this week!

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is an intrinsic component of StarQuest. We meditate everyday to help build our well-being strategic tool box.  We learned how to give ourselves a Heart Hug this week.  Hands on heart… deep breath in, deep breath out and repeat “I am ok, I am safe, I am loved and I am loving” as many times as you need.

Conversation Starter

Ask your camper what our camp contract/agreement says.  Ask them what they said in our Friday morning appreciation circle. Ask them about our complimentary wall. Ask them what wish they made on their star? Ask them about our Worry box.. and if they fed it any worries.  Oh and ask them if they “took what they needed”  from our words of encouragement poster.

Big Announcements, Dates & More

High School Musical JR. | Wednesday, June 30 at 6 pm – Zale Auditorium

Every camper will be given 2 complimentary tickets for their family and friends and this will be available at Will Call on the day of the performance. We want the house to be packed for our campers, therefore, tickets are currently on sale on our website… here is the link. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Tell your friends to come and support Camp StarQuest!

Please remember how critical it is for your children to be here for all rehearsals. Since our time is limited to get this show up on its feet, strive for being present for all of it. At every rehearsal, campers will be learning new numbers.

Here is a link to the all the High School Musical Music   

Please encourage your camper to read their scripts over the weekend and listen to the music!  The more they learn and practice at home the more productive our rehearsals will be. 🙂

This is How We Do It at Camp StarQuest

To see more pictures of our campers and continue to get updates please download the J camp app from the app store, become a friend of our JPAS page and follow us on Instagram.

Can’t wait to see what happens next week at StarQuest!

Shine Bright,

Alise Robinson
Director Camp StarQuest