By Rowena Gonden
Bay Metropolis Information Basis
BERKELEY — Arms rotating backward, dozens of younger dancers in matching outfits heat up onstage within the last rehearsal earlier than showtime.
“Shoulders, elbows, cha-cha-cha,” they chant to a sparse viewers scattered among the many seats of the cavernous theater.
“Up, up, up … down, down, down,” teacher Vincent Chavez calls out, guiding his class as they stretch their arms to the ceiling after which instantly in entrance of them, fingers interlocked.
4 dozen kids are returning to highschool with lots to say about what they did this summer season after attending a dance camp on the UC Berkeley campus.
And so they gained’t solely be speaking about strikes they realized, just like the jete in ballet or jazz’s step ball change; Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp — conceived by pioneering New York Metropolis choreographer Alvin Ailey in 1989 — additionally teaches classes designed to set middle-schoolers up for fulfillment in all sides of their lives.
“The mission is to make use of dance as a automobile for self-expression … however on the similar time … you’re additionally studying about skilled and private life abilities,” mentioned camp director Patricia West.
“The “program provides youth the chance … to determine be [their] private finest.”
Held in Zellerbach Corridor on the UC campus, the camp is open to 11- to 14-year-olds within the Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond and Albany unified college districts for gratis.
For six weeks, kids take 4 courses a day, rotating by way of classes in jazz and ballet in addition to African and fashionable dance.
When they aren't difficult themselves bodily, they're engaged in actions geared toward growing the entire individual. The curriculum contains artwork tasks, writing assignments, function taking part in and group discussions, in addition to the recitation of day by day affirmations to assist campers perceive and settle for themselves extra absolutely and talk successfully.
This private growth part covers a broad array of matters, from recognizing the distinction between wholesome and poisonous relationships to being true to oneself within the face of peer stress. Younger individuals additionally discover ways to set objectives, handle stress and resolve battle, in addition to to understand that their selections can have far-reaching results.
“It’s not simply dance — these are life abilities that they’re studying,” West mentioned.
Overseeing the camp is Cal Performances, the college’s performing arts presenter that hosts appearances by world-renown singers, stage actors and dancers.
Amongst Cal Efficiency’s common guests is the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which has entertained Bay Space audiences with weeklong performances on the campus for all however one of many previous 53 years.
And since 2002, the New York Metropolis dance firm has teamed up with Cal Performances to carry Berkeley/Oakland AileyCamp, one among 9 such youth summer season camps in the US.
Cal Performances not solely provides every camper a full scholarship but in addition offers Oakland college students with free round-trip bus transportation to the campus in addition to breakfast and lunch for everybody. As well as, every pupil receives ballet slippers, T-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts, unitards and backpacks.
With the workout routines over, kids don their costumes and organize themselves in a triangular formation onstage.
Nobody wants reminding that when the curtain rises the next night time, they’ll be delivering a 90-minute efficiency in entrance of a whole lot of family and friends.
Loud drumming all of the sudden fills the theater and because the lights come up the dancers’ outstretched arms jerk in unison to the staccato rhythms, their black costumes a dramatic distinction to the intense pink backdrop.
Berkeley seventh-grader Isabel Thumas wasn’t glad when she found her mom had signed her up for the camp with out telling her.
“Actually, I used to be actually hesitant to go,” mentioned Isabel who, though no stranger to bounce courses, disliked the thought of mingling with children she didn’t know.
She additionally was self-conscious about carrying a unitard, Isabel mentioned.
However six weeks later, the 12-year-old had made peace along with her determine after seeing the array of various styles and sizes in school, and there was a brand new word of confidence in her voice.
“I'd say it’s higher than most camps,” Isabel mentioned. “It doesn’t matter what you seem like — like in the event you’re skinny or massive. We’re all equal as a result of we’re human.”
Rowen Weeramantry provides the camp excessive marks for educating “life stuff.”
The Oakland 13-year-old practiced expressing himself by way of summary artwork tasks and writing poetry, which he learn throughout weekly open-mic classes.
As for the dancing, Rowen says his physique is extra versatile now, and he has determined that ballet is his favourite type of expression regardless of its emphasis on precision.
“I really feel lots of people hate ballet as a result of it’s so strict, however Mr. [Vincent] Chavez teaches it in such a liberating approach,” he mentioned.
To study extra about, or donate to, Berkeley/Oakland Ailey Camp, go to https://calperformances.org/group/aileycamp.