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March 28, 2024

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Nashville Children’s Theatre Hosts In-person Summer Drama School

Summer theatre camp offered for ages 4-18 from June 1 to August 6.

The Nashville Children’s Theatre (NCT) is offering its first season of in-person drama camps this summer after switching to virtual instruction over a year ago due to the pandemic.

“We are thrilled to be able to welcome students back to NCT for summer camp this year,” said NCT’s Executive Artistic Director Ernie Nolan. “We don’t know who has missed camp more over the last year, us or the students.”

NCT, like much of the world, transitioned to virtual education options when in-person was no longer possible. It hosted more than 200 classes over the last year and taught approximately 1,800 students.

“While we were overjoyed to be offering classes virtually over the last year, we are ready to get back to in-person offerings with virtual supplements. There’s nothing like learning and working in a collaborative space safely,” said Nolan.

Summer classes will focus on the following skills:

  • Mini Theatre Voyagers – Ages 4-5
    • This class allows students the opportunity to play with their favorite stories and picture books through theatre, individual crafts, music, and dance. This class focuses on the process of creative play, exploration, and expression.
  • Junior Theatre Voyagers – Ages 6-7
    • In this class, students will adapt a storybook into a play by adding sound, movement, dialogue, and creative staging. This class focuses on teaching the primary tools of an actor — voice, body, and imagination.
  • Theatre Voyagers – Ages 8-11
    • Students will have the opportunity to work as playwrights, actors, directors, and designers. They will adapt a play from a fairy tale, myth, or legend from beginning to end, stage it, and rehearse it throughout the week.
  • Advanced Theatre Voyagers – Ages 11-16
    • This class will focus on teaching the principles of acting through scene work, encouraging students to use their bodies, voices, and imaginations to step into the shoes of  scripted characters by performing in scenes from popular plays.

With the introduction of in-person classes, NCT is following CDC guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Students and staff will be required to wear cloth masks covering their mouth and nose when not eating and drinking, and they will be allowed to have “mask breaks” throughout the day when outside and socially distant. Additionally, class sizes will be reduced, and campers will stay with their designated class for the entirety of the day — no mixing of classes or combined activities. Additional guidelines can be found at www.nashvillechildrenstheatre.org/policies.

One-week day-camps for students aged 4-16 run for all ten weeks of the summer starting June 1, 2021. Camps cost $325 per week with a discounts for the 4-day Memorial Day week. Virtual classes will also be offered. More can be learned at www.nashvillechildrenstheatre.org/summer-camps-2021.

 

About the Author

Michael Aldrich

Michael Aldrich is Nashville Parent's Managing Editor and a Middle Tennessee arts writer. He and his wife, Alison, are the proud parents of 4-year-old Ezra and baby Norah.