BAFA’s Back with Summer Camp, Plays
One of last year’s student volunteers Josie Carter and her team pose with their charcuterie board.
By Ryan Odd
CCN-Contributor
Burkesville Academy of Fine Arts, commonly known as BAFA, will be holding its annual arts camps for children from July 6-23. The organization’s Director of Programming, Rachel McDaris, explained the details of the camp. This camp has two parts. The first camp is an elementary camp for children starting kindergarten to 6th grade.
She said the theme this year is “Art from the Heart” and will be focused on how we can work out and express our feelings through different forms of art and creativity. The elementary camp begins July 6 and runs through July 10, with a showcase at the end, 7pm on July 10 on the stage at Veterans Memorial Park.
Camp will be from 8am to 2:30 every day and will cost $125 per child; however, for every additional child, a $10 discount will be applied. The camp has classes that will teach children about visual art, music, theater, dance, and more, McDaris said.
Alice Kotter, an elementary student from Adair County who participated last year, said that she “learned the Hula dance (and) loved making pottery.”
The best part? Not only do they get to learn about these creative skills, but they also get to do it with their friends and other children their age. Alice went on to say that “while eating lunch, I met a new best friend.”
The second part of the camp is a theater boot camp for children going into 7th grade through college. This camp will be a week-and-a-half boot camp where the children will learn the basics of theater performance and use what they learn to put on a rendition of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” McDaris said.
She said pre-auditions for this show will be July 6-7 and the camp will go from July 13-23, with July 18-19 off.
The camp will go from 9am to 3:30 each day, and the performances will take place on July 22 and 23 at 7pm on the Paul Smith Stage, in Dr. Joseph Schickel-Veterans Memorial Park. This camp will also cost $125 per child, with a $10 discount for additional children.
McDaris explained that limited scholarships are also available for both camps and anyone with additional questions should visit the Facebook page for Burkesville Academy of Fine Arts.
Last year’s BAFA Boot Camp was a production of “Ellis Island Ahead,” a play that tells the story of many different people who immigrated to the United States and came through that island in New York Harbor.
Rayne Hull, a recently graduated high school student who participated in this show, said that the show was “an awesome experience” in part due to “the friendships you make and the awesome play you put on.” This experience is very welcoming to people who have never done theater or performing before, and BAFA and its students alike recognize that it may be difficult at first.
Kristen Winningham, a student from Clinton County, gave some tips on how to adjust to the new environment. She said that BAFA boot camp is “more fun if your pride is left at the door.”
For over a decade, BAFA Camp has been an important part of teaching local children about the arts in Burkesville and the surrounding counties.
When asked about the organization’s mission, McDaris said, “We aren’t just an arts experience provider. It’s deeper than that. What we seek to provide is an experience for each child that not only educates artistically but equips them with good character that will benefit them in every sphere for the rest of their lives.”
BAFA is a not-for-profit organization that, in addition to their summer camp, also puts on plays and musicals periodically throughout the year. All ticket sales, donations, and camp fees are used to put on better shows by reinvesting in show rights, costumes, sets, and more, she said.
Recently, the organization wrapped up a production of “The Sound of Music,” which had a cast ranging from 7-year-olds to adults and featured actors from Cumberland, Adair, and Wayne County. Coming up as well is BAFA’s annual “Riverboat Review,” which has been relocated from River Fest to the Bluegrass Festival in order to provide some relief from the summer heat to both the actors and audience, McDaris said.
