The image to the left was taken during the camp session in Kanab, Utah that ran June 15th-17th, 2016 with a theme highlighting what fun it is to be kid.
We began the camp by explaining attributes that good actors have, including: expression, exaggeration, and annunciation, to name a few. Putting on a little skit called “Cindy and the Wolf” demonstrated this lesson as we performed twice for them – once lackluster, and another time with the quality acting previously described. The children told us that when we were distracted and unenthusiastic about the performance, the audience did not enjoy watching it.
The class learned about the fun that acting can be with stage make-up, costumes, and interesting characters to portray.
We taught them how important each of these topics were so that they could display their true character for the audience on performance night.
We taught choreography and sang to the following songs: Pinocchio’s “I’ve Got No Strings” and Peter Pan’s “I Won’t Grow Up”.
To see more pictures from the dance practices, see “Pinocchio Gallery.”
The children learned all about puppets to help them truly get into character for the Pinocchio dance. We showed them two of Jennifer’s marionettes, the “Puppet Show” video clip from The Sound of Music, and discussed with them the different kinds of puppets and how they work.
The kids also practiced and performed three skits entitled: “Three Silly Goats Gruff,” “The Pig Who Cried Wolf,” and “The Prince Frog” from Justin McCory Martin’s Fabulously Funny Folktale Plays, Scholastic Teaching Resources.
The class even created some fun animal masks to learn that they could be anything they wanted with the magic behind theatre productions.
In both sessions we showed all about stage directions and how different spots on the stage show how some character’s roles are more important than others. For example, a king would stand downstage center, and it would not be appropriate for a peasant to be “upstaging” – standing in front or closer to the audience than this important character. The image below shows the kids playing a game following stage directions.