VA Campus: Falls Church Session 2 Newsletter
A Note from the Camp Directors
Dear Camp Levine Families,
We can’t believe Session 1 is already wrapped! We’ve had such an awesome time creating a “Tapestry of Traditions” at Camp Levine this session! We’re thankful for you sharing your camper with us this summer. We are in awe at all that our campers have accomplished in three short weeks. It’s been a pleasure watching them explore and enjoy the creative freedom that music and arts inspire.
Our Camp Levine team is great, but it is the support of our Camp Levine community that make it all possible.
Whether this is your camper’s first or fifteenth summer at Camp Levine, we hope that through our theme “A Tapestry of Traditions,” we have provided a fun and engaging artistic experience and camp memories that will last a lifetime.
We wish you a great rest of your summer hope to see you next year!
Best,
Jazmin Goodson, Director of Camp Levine
Catherine Hammes, Co-Director of Camp Levine
A Note from the Site Director
Dear Session 2 Families,
Thank you for sharing your children with us over the past three weeks. Seeing them grow musically, make new friends, try new things, and overcome challenges has been a fantastic experience as a Site Director. We know summer is a valuable time each year, and you have many options in our area. We are incredibly grateful that you decided to share a piece of your family with us this summer. I know I speak for all of our faculty and staff when I say your children have left a lasting impression on us over the past three weeks. We hope you have a great end to your summer and know that you always have a home here at Levine.
Musically Yours,
Paul Bratcher, Site Director @ West Falls
Morning Classes
Morning classes at Camp Levine are music an instrument focused. During the morning classes our campers grades 1-6 experience Instrumental Music introductions and instruction, General Music, Art, and Games & Sports. Read below to hear from our teachers about what your campers did during Session 2!
Before Care
Allyson Ger: Campers who arrive early have enjoyed building fanciful worlds with mini legos and a marble run. Camper have also had fun playing Uno with the teen apprentices.
Music+ (General Music)
Mary Crumrine: It was such a pleasure to work with your children this session! Campers in each group were very inquisitive and engaged in learning and creating together. We explored folk songs and games from many cultures through singing, dancing, and playing xylophones, drums, and hand percussion.
On the recording, you will hear and see the Duduks (1st/2nd Grade) perform “Bate Bate Chocolate”, a rhyme about making Mexican mole sauce, first by chanting and playing a hand clapping game, then by performing it on nonpitched percussion. They also sing the Chinese folk song “Silver Moon Boat”, accompanying themselves on xylophones and performing improvised scarf movements to represent the moon’s path across the night sky.
The Bagpipes (3rd Grade) learned the French folk song “Savez-vous planter le choux?”, creating movements to go with their singing and performing a three-part ostinato accompaniment on xylophones. This group also enjoyed playing “A Qua Qua”, a children’s singing and beat-passing game from Jerusalem. On the recording you will see an adaptation of this game that includes the campers’ own beat-keeping movements.
The Rondadors (3rd/4th Grade) selection is “Que Llueva”, a song with variants found in many Latin American countries. The campers created a tableau, or frozen picture, with their bodies to illustrate the song, which then gradually comes to life as the song is sung. Then the tableau transforms into an ensemble of pitched and unpitched percussion parts reminiscent of the sounds of a rain forest!
The Didgeridoos (4th-6th Grade) learned to sing the French canon “Entendez vous le carrilon?” in which the four voice parts sound like the merry continuous ringing of tower bells. They also created and performed a xylophone arrangement of “Dipidu”, a greeting song from Uganda.
Games & Sports
Elieen Verderosa: Since we were blessed with a large space to play this summer, campers stayed indoors for sports almost every day. It didn’t hurt that they had to take their shoes off and play in socks. The room allowed us to move safely and enjoy active games that involved throwing, dodging and tagging. We also created games using cones, yarn balls, balloons, pool noodles, juggling scarves, hula hoops and of course the parachute. Even though a new game was introduced every class, many campers would have been happy playing snowball every single day!
Piano
Allyson Walker: Campers in piano focus have learned a folk song from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a popular video game theme based on a Russian folk song. We’ve used rhythm exercises and a rock song to practice playing together. Campers have studied keyboard geography and technique. They’ve also learned to decode a color coded music score and play in a piano ensemble.
Morning Sing
Mary Crumrine: At Camp Levine it is tradition to start our day singing in community. Campers had a blast learning folk songs and dances from around the world as well as the Camp Levine Song and the Camp Levine Chant. Our first-class instrument focus teachers provide the accompaniment. What a treat to have a live band every morning! The songs you will hear on our recording include: Funga Alafia (West Africa), Kaero No Uta (Japan), Skye Boat Song (Scotland), Kalinka (Russia), Sun Sun Babae (Cuba), the dance La Raspa (Mexico), and Mama Don’t ‘Low (American South).
Guitar
Douglas Rogers: The Guitar focus group quickly mastered “Kojo no Tsuki” a Japanese Folk Song meaning “Moonlight over Castle Ruins.” Some groups even mastered a d minor chord, which is a 3 fingered left hand chord that is quite challenging. They are able to play the entire of melody of the piece and also provide chordal accompaniment and a bass line. Also we will perform a Spanish Waltz in e minor, which featured advanced shifting up to the 7th fret and harmonics! The guitar sampler groups are familiar with the music of Francisco Tarrega, Pat Methany and Leo Brouwer. They learned the strings of the guitar, how to push down the strings with their left hand, and how to strum. They enjoyed playing through a short melody called “Bugler’s Tune.” The focus groups are looking forward to the debut performance of Waltz by Calayatud and Kojo no Tsuki in the video recording this week.
Percussion
Web Grant: The percussion focus groups and I had a wonderful time during the camp. They learned gratitude for their hands and feet, the practice pads, drum set Etc. They learn the basic rudiments of drumming, rhythmic patterns, a paradiddle Groove on the drum set as well as a rock beat. It was my great pleasure to share my joy of percussion with them. Thank you to all your parents for sharing your children with me. Web Grant
Art
Mikala Howard: In art we connected with our group and ourselves through the creative process. Projects were loosely structured so that our campers were free to immerse themselves in their own (and each other’s ) creative worlds. Our projects included creating puppets, and their contexts, abstract acrylic ink blots (that we analyzed together in the studio), mosaics, dream catchers, and our largest project; creating backdrops and props for the drama performances. We got creative, made messes and wonderful ideas.
Trumpet
Donny Albrecht: The trumpets have learned how to properly hold their instruments, care for them, and use them with correct posture. They have learned all 12 of the chromatic notes on their instruments as well as rhythms that are as complex as eight notes. They have learned a total of 16 different songs! Some of them are even learning the complexities of jazz! Aside from their training in rhythm and musical time, they are all learning how to work together as a team to create beautiful music!
Afternoon Classes
Afternoon classes at Camp Levine are musical theater focused. During the afternoon classes our campers grades 1-6 experience Dance, Drama, and Choral music classes. These 3 classes collaborate to produce a musical theater performance at the end of the session. Read below to hear from our teachers about what your campers did during Session 2!
Drama:
Maria Khoobyar – The first week, campers explored sound, self expression, movement, characterization, scene work and story telling. We also began auditions for our plays. The second week and learned about the elements of a story and staged and rehearsed our short plays for performance week.
The younger group learned a small amount of stage combat, as we all learned safe stage falls together. And they also learned how to remember blocking for a play as individuals and as a group. And how to deliver lines in a play so the audience can see.
The Rondadors enhanced the play with intricate staging and prop work. And the didgeridoos fine tuned the dramatic acting skills in the retelling of the Nigerian folk play.
Dance:
Eileen Verderosa – Because the dance room was also the sports room, the campers came to class ready to move! Before they began to choreograph their performance piece they practiced moving to the beat, and exploring patterns found in dances like the Cupid Shuffle, Cha Cha Slide, and the Chicken Dance. Each group focused on a different style of dance. Through communication, trial and error and lots of practice each group created a unique dance they were proud of. While the Bagpipes and Duduks moved their hips in Samba style to represent Brazil, the Rondadors created fluid movements with Chinese ribbons to create a celebratory dance to a song from China. The Didgeridoos enjoyed the athletic style of African dance. Their use of grounded movement and repetitive footwork caught everyone’s eye as they danced to the original version of Waka Waka.
Choral:
Mary Crumrine – In this afternoon class, campers prepared music to sing for our music theatre production. They also learned fun warmups that develop healthy vocal habits. Our music was selected to connect with the three folk tales presented in our show. The Duduks and Bagpipes learned “Shake the Papaya” (Jamaica), “Fruit Canon”, and “Sambalele” (Brazil). The Rondadors and Didgeridoos learned the songs “Silver Moon Boat” and “Gong Xi” (both from China), Zangelewa (Cameroon), and Sansa Kroma (Ghana). All groups learned the opening number “A Musical Tapestry” as well as our finale “What a Wonderful World”.
Check out photos of our campers from Session 2! They had an awesome time exploring the seasons through music and the arts.
From the Teen Apprentices
Duduks (1st-2nd grade): Hello Parents! Our camp Levine time is coming to an end, but not without lots of fun! Here is a quick summary of everything that we’ve been able to do at camp and we hope you enjoy.
For starters, the Duduks have been enjoying arts and crafts throughout our time at camp. We have been making a variety of different types of projects and art pieces with the help of our wonderful Levine teacher; Ms. Mika. The kids all have different preferences on what specific project they find the most intriguing, but for the most part, the majority of our campers found puppet making the most entertaining. They seem to like our interactive activites the best. The Duduks’ behavior in arts and crafts has been, for the most part, excellent; they are always eager to clean up! Somedays, our campers feel a little bit antsy, but we always make sure to get them back on track to following given directions. Arts and crafts with the Duduks has been very fun and exciting!
In our music+ class the duduks have been traveling through cultures and instruments. We have played hand games while singing songs such as “Bate,Bate,
Chocolate!” Feel free to ask them to teach the game to you, for they’ve become experts on it. Next we’ve also learned a calming ancient song originating from south east Asia, known as Moon Boat. The Duduks have incorporated their dancing and instrumental skills to learn the song on the xylophones! We hope you’re excited to see there song performances in the music+ recording.
The duduks are very excited when it comes to sports and games. They are very eager to get the assignment going. The duduks are also great at following instructions. Overall, the Duduks are good at sports and games.
Over these few week all our Duduks have been fully engaging in Drama! As we have continued through the making of our production of our play Zambalele all of the duduks have been fully engaging in many ways, for example a lot of campers help their fellow camper’s memorize their lines and sharing scripts. Although our musical has been keeping all of us very busy we have also played multiple games our campers have been engaging in as well! One game that matches all our campers common interests is guess the leader. It’s an engaging guessing game that requires sharp skills and active listening. This is just one of the many games that the campers have been fully engaging in and loving it. In conclusion in drama, whether it’s helping their peers or engaging themselves in the activity; the duduks have been expressing their inner Shakespearean!
The duduks have been dancing their hearts out with Ms.V! So far the Duduks have been choreographing their dance as part of the musical for Sambalele. As seen in the name of the play, the Duduks have been learning a samba inspired dance to show the Brazilian themes in their play. Additionally, the campers have learned how to dance incorporating counting and singing! Finally, in vocal/coral classes, the duduks have been learning lots of suprise songs and rounds to sing at the final performance! Many of the songs focus on the lovely fruits found in the tropical setting of the play.
We hope that your duduks are having a good time at camp Levine, and that you enjoy the performance!
Sincerely,
The Duduk Teen apprentices!
Bagpipes (3rd grade): Hello camper families! The bagpipes have had lots of fun at camp practicing their instruments, making fun crafts in art, and playing games with their friends! The campers got to express their creativity during improv in drama and they got to have roles in the play. One of the bagpipes’ favorite activities was snowball fights in sports and games! They also liked learning to juggling with scarves. The rising 3rd graders got to create puppets in art class and make stories with them. In music plus they are working on their plant the cabbage song, which is in French! In it they both sing, and play the xylophones. In dance they are learning samba moves to do while singing the songs we are learning in vocal choral, like shake the papaya down, and sambalele. All the hard work they have put into their instruments, will also be in the performance as well as their dances, acting, and singing! We love being your kids TA’s and we hope to see you all next year!
Rondadors (3rd-5th grade): The Rondadors is a group filled with energy and excitement. They love participating in every class, whether it’s throwing a snowball in sports and games, or finding the perfect dance routine. Every camper shows great creativity during art, and are always supporting their peers by showing both encouragement and admiration. However, the Rondadors shine brightest in drama, using their actions and words to bring the play together while also never failing to make everyone laugh. Overall, it’s been a wonderful session filled with new memories and new friends, and we hope to see the Rondadors next year for even more fun!
Didgeridoos (4th-6th grade): It’s been great to be the TA’s of the Didgeridoo group at Camp Levine. After all the kids started to get comfortable, they began to enjoy their activities. In art, they enjoy doing each project and going off the rails making hats for TAs. Many of the campers are loving drama! They discuss the play outside of class and all take a lot of pride in styling their costumes each rehearsal. Additionally, in dance, it’s great to see them all cooperate and to come up with different movements. Both of us can’t wait to see what the campers will come up with in our last week of camp!