Milwaukee, WI - It's a different song and dance this summer as Black Arts MKE is hosting its first ever summer camp.
The camp is geared toward introducing young people to the performing arts.
“I like to paint and draw. I’m not really good at those things, but I like doing them and I just like to perform a lot,” Tabitha Andrews said.
But this isn’t just any camp — it’s a four-week performing arts musical theater summer camp for Milwaukee youth ages 12 to 18 —and through grants and donations, it’s totally free.
“We are a city that values the arts and we understand that in order to have arts in the future we have to invest in the young artists today,” Sheri Williams Pannell said.
And you can’t do that by sitting on the sidelines. Williams Pannell may be the program’s director, but she’s also just as involved as her campers.
“If they see me, well at my age, dancing and singing and acting and writing and being totally thrown in the experience, they will too,” Williams Pannell said.
The goal is to challenge these young minds to choose a story to adapt into a 45-minute musical theater performance. Over the course of three weeks they’ll write the script, songs —and they’ll even audition. They’ll also create the set and even some of the costume pieces and spend the fourth week putting on a show.
Facilitated by Bronzeville Arts Ensemble and Black Arts MKE performing teaching artists, performing arts summer camp includes meals and performances for the campers, their families and the community.
Participants will have an opportunity to perform five times during the final weeks. The performance dates are:
- Wednesday, July 31st (twice)
- Thursday, August 1st (twice)
- Saturday, August 3rd
For more information, visit their website.
