My name is Emily, and I am organizing the BCCA Summer Camp this year. I met many of you last weekend at the KIDS Fair at Brookline High School, and I was thrilled by your interest in our programs. This letter is a quick update about our current summer camp plans, as well as a call to action as to how you can make our innovative camp a huge success!

Camp Schedule
We are still in the planning phase, but here is our initial proposal.

BCCA's strength is its great diversity of artistic offerings for all age groups. Therefore, we would like to create camp sessions that will involve a number of our offerings in the categories of dance, health and fitness, martial arts, music, and theater. Each camp session will be two weeks in length and focused on a theme. For example, there could be a two-week martial arts/health and fitness camp followed by a two-week music camp. This format allows your child to participate in multiple camps.

Our camp sessions will run from early June to late July (maximum of four sessions, based on demand). The hours are still to be determined but will most likely be a half-day block.

Camp for Ages 3-6
Alphabet Fitness is an innovative creation of one of our instructors, Karen Voght. The program uses gross motor skills to introduce and reinforce reading readiness. At least one of our summer sessions will be centered around this exciting program. Additionally, we would like to offer other sessions that play off of some of our current classes, such as Ants in the Pants Dance, Yoga for Kids, and Keys for Kids music program.
Descriptions off these classes and more are availabe on our web site.

Camp for Ages 7-13
This camp will be an exploration of different types of cultural and classical dance, offered over the course of 2 different sessions. The BCCA currently offers classes such as North and South Indian dance, Scottish Highland dance, African Rhythm, and Flamenco. In the first session, campers will sample these cultures and others through movement, dance and music. In the second session for this age group, we would like to nurture our classical dancers with a more traditional dance camp including ballet, tap, and jazz taught by some of the best instructors in the Boston area.
Additional sessions will be added as we start to receive feedback from parents like you.

Camp for Ages 14-18
For our most mature campers, we'd like to offer a fresh, new hybrid of different types of performance art. We have excellent instructors who are eager to design creative programs for teens that blend dance styles ranging from Breakdancing to Bellydancing to Salsa. In addition to dance, our martial arts offerings include Kung-Fu, Kick-boxing, and Capoeira. We would like to have several sessions that collectively bring together several of these styles of movement and dance that will give exposure to the novice and advanced alike.

Performance Theatre
Many of you expressed interest in a drama camp, and as the services of the BCCA are always expanding, we hope to be able to offer a 2-week Performance Theatre Camp this summer. I am in the process of coordinating with our growing theatre staff and I will update you about this as soon as possible. Because I do not have a targeted age group for this camp session yet, please send me information about your child's age and interests if drama camp might be a good match for your child.

I Need Your Feedback!
At this stage of the planning process, we want to tailor our camp to your needs. I encourage you to make suggestions, whether it be about program content or scheduling. For example, what half-day time block would best fit your schedule? What themed camp, for what age group, would your child be most interested in participating? Feel free to e-mail questions or comments or call me at home at the number listed below.

Lastly, I encourage you to use the Forward email option at the bottom of this newsletter to forward this message to your friends (who then have the option of joining the BCCA Summer Camp mailing list). The more advanced interest I receive in the camps, the greater success they will be!

Sincerely,

Emily Gold
BCCA Summer Camp Coordinator