Rising Stars At Grotonwood!
Rising Stars at Grotonwood was a huge success! We had a blast being on Grotonwood's beautiful campus and working with the talented campers who came to join us. All of them made such huge strides this week, and we are so proud of them!
This year, each of our five Rising Stars campers received solo and/or monologue coachings, and some took advantage of the opportunity to perform their selections during Grotonwood's final chapel service on Friday morning. We also ran a singing club, during which campers from Grotonwood's other programs were able to join us as we worked on a song to perform in chapel. This year's song was "Seasons of Love" from the musical Rent.
Above: Kim coaches Tammy on "In My Own Little Corner" from Cinderella, and Ellen and Nick work with Paris on "Doll On A Music Box" from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Below: Sam works on his monologue from the play "The Genius," and Rachel practices her Fanny Brice monologue from Funny Girl
During our post-performance wrap-up session, we asked each camper to share one thing they had learned during the week. Rachel said that she had made great strides with her breathing technique and leaving her dramatic comfort zone, while Paris had enjoyed learning a song that was completely new to her. Tammy reflected upon the immense courage it takes to get up and perform in front of people, and how she had successfully overcome her nerves.
Perhaps one of the most insightful reflections came from ten-year-old Arya. She said, "What I learned this week was that practice doesn't make perfect, it only makes much better."
When she said this, I was completely blown away. She had just succinctly summed up something that many people don't realize until much later in their journeys as performers: nobody is perfect. No performance is perfect. We work our hardest and strive to be the best we can be in that moment, and that is, literally, the best we can do. Even if we sing a wrong note, or mess up a word - if you feel that you did your best, then that is enough. That is success. Afterward, we practice even more and get much better still, but we are never perfect. And that is okay.
And actually, this ties in perfectly with Grotonwood's camp theme for the summer: "Love Your Selfie, #gracefilter." God loves us and accepts us for who we are. Our best is what He asks of us, and every day He gives us the grace to become even better.
Here are some photos of the singing club working on "Seasons of Love":
(All of the photos in this post were taken by our lovely intern, Rosie. Thanks for being awesome, Rosie!)
Don't move your shoulders when you breathe!
Step-touch, step-touch!
Nick, our incredibly talented accompanist, coaches three campers on their solos in "Seasons"
Doesn't little Levina have the most infectious smile?!
For more photos, check out the album on our Facebook page!
Of course, this week would not have been possible if it weren't for the incredible staff team we had. We'd like to extend a huge thank you to Nick, our incredibly skilled and talented accompanist, and Rosie, our amazingly awesome intern, for all of their hard work this week. You guys are the best!
We'd also like to thank all of the Grotonwood staff for welcoming us to their campus and offering so much support in getting this project off the ground. Fred, Danielle, Amanda, Sam, and all of the other staff - thank you so much for all of your help!
We hope to see you all next year!
