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Telling a story through a series of stage "pictures"

From there, attendees learned the basics of blocking (levels, balance, body position, etc.), choreography (jazz square, grapevine, three-step turn) and how to teach music. Towards the end of the day, they brought all of their new skills together to adeptly perform a number from The Music Man.

The Bootcamp ended with a group reflection, the teachers sharing the knowledge they had acquired throughout the day. Here are a few of the takeaways:

“Learn to start small, build your confidence as you go.”

“Make it easy on yourself whenever you can.”

“Give kids ownership of the scenes and blocking.”

“Try to keep it (rehearsal) moving!”

JumpStart teachers, staff and instructors

Patty New, the art teacher at Aiken New Tech High School, was especially inspired by the training, later sharing, “I'm feeling very supported at the moment. I haven't returned to earth after the empowering Bootcamp experience!” 

Audition Prep: The six JumpStart schools are busy preparing their rehearsal schedules for the year, beginning with audition workshops. Audition workshops give students the chance to read the script, hear the music and get more comfortable with the idea of performing in a play. 

One school, Gamble Montessori, is ahead of schedule and just held auditions for Annie JR. This is Gamble's second year in the program and Dee Anne Bryll was so excited to see their progress. Dee Anne reported that the auditions were very organized with a fantastic student turnout. The young actors were well prepared and confident. The teachers shared a number of successes they have noticed. For example, one girl who performed in last year's show, Once on This Island JR., had previously been failing classes, but so far this year, she has an A!