Camp S.O.U.L.™ is an exciting way for your child to enjoy themselves while learning skills to help navigate their way through life. Using the building blocks of performing (memory, rhythm, speech delivery, and improvisation), Camp SOUL™ engages Students using specially designed interactive discussions and physical exercises. The lessons are delivered through a series fun workshops (boot camps) where Participants learn how o think, move, and act spontaneously and assertively, all while performing in front of a crowd with confidence.
Students receive professional training in performing arts from highly qualified instructors who love to educate and inspire. Each camp session includes four (4) to eight (8) fun weeks of theater, music, dance, and creative writing training that ends with a culmination to demonstrate what was learned.
Our curriculum provides youth the fundamentals necessary to succeed in theater. Those tools transform into high self worth, regulated emotions, discovery of new talents, and academic success.
Instituting performing arts exercises on a regular basis helps Participants get used to being in front and speaking in front of others. Observing others learning to make creative choices on stage and having a safe, nurturing environment to rehearse, Participants gain confidence and diminish feelings of stage fright.
Improvisational exercises help Participants think quickly on their feet and work through unplanned mistakes during performances and rehearsals. They learn to how to be flexible by going with the flow as well as improve problem solving skills as they find ways to hide mistakes from the audience.
Drama classes offer the opportunity to let loose and make creative choices. When creating characters and situations, Participants are developing their ability to view things in a new way and from different perspectives. The ability to put themselves in different roles and situations can transfer into the ability to swiftly come up with solutions to real problems.
Not often viewed as a team sport, acting in a scene or play is a very collaborative act. Everyone in a scene is important, if someone forgets to come on stage, misses a line, forgets to move somewhere, looses concentration or etc. the others onstage have to work together in the moment to try and adapt with out the audience knowing that something went awry.
Most theater classes and pre-performance routines include a physical warm-up comprised of stretching, movement, and concentration. These activities help prepare Participants physically and mentally for any role they might play. This could include emulating the way a gymnast, football player, a senior citizen or a preschooler might move and hold their body. Theatre requires singing, dancing and acting simultaneously.
Creating stories and songs and reading from scripts help develop the ability to project (speak loudly) and sharpen articulation & diction (speaking clearly). Participants are encouraged to express themselves verbally, through facial expressions, and using body language, all of which are key in making them a better and more effective communicator for life.
Participants are encouraged to listen to each other’s thoughts and ideas. They take turns and focus in the moment on the activities at hand which heightens concentration skills. Remembering lines and staying in character also enhances the memory.
The Pamela D. Franklin Cultural Center for the Performing Arts, a 501(c)3 arts organization, (socially known as PDFCCPA), embodies S.O.U.L. to make a positive impact in the community.
