DANCE CAMPS

SOCAPA's Summer Dance Camps focus on Urban Dance, primarily Jazz, Hip-Hop, African and Breaking, with an underlying emphasis on jazz technique. Dance Camp classes are geared towards learning choreography and preparing routines to be featured in music videos shot by students in the Music Video Production program and the three Culmination Music Video projects shot by SOCAPA instructors. In this way, students in our Dance Camps leave the school with a DVD portfolio featuring a number of their performances in a variety of projects.

SOCAPA's Summer Dance Camps are divided into two sections based on the experience level of our students. Students applying for Section A are required to submit a taped audition with their registration materials. In addition, SOCAPA will have a placement class on the first day of the camp. We reserve the right to place students in whichever section we feel is appropriate for their skill level.

Section A: Intermediate to Advanced Dance (minimum of 4 years of dance training). MUST SUBMIT AUDITION TAPE. Tape should include demonstrations of a double or triple pirouette on both sides, and one leap (e.g. jete, second, or switch). Students may also include examples of recent performances or choreography.

Section B: Beginning to Beginning-Intermediate Dance (minimum of 1-2 years of dance training). No audition tape necessary.

On Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, our Dance Camp students will take classes in Jazz, Hip-Hop, African and Breaking. Some classes will concentrate on rhythm, individual expression, and utilization of the whole body, while others will focus on character-development through movement, as well as developing style, stage presence, and confidence.

On Thursdays and Fridays the Dance group will perform in the many music videos being shot by our filmmaking students or they will be directed in their culmination Music Video by one of their instructors.

SHOWCASE FILM FESTIVAL
On the final Friday night of each three week program, SOCAPA holds its "Showcase Film Festival" followed by a schmooze-fest party. All the dance performances, along with the many student films, are shown on the giant silver screen. We invite all the staff, faculty, visiting artists and even a few agents and producers. We encourage you to invite your fellow dancers, friends and family. Diplomas are handed out at a short ceremony before the festival.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR
We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once.
--Nietzsche

We at SOCAPA believe that you should work hard and play hard. Discipline and drive are two of the most important attributes of all successful artists, but hey, what's a summer without the beach? Every evening, Monday through Friday, we plan an activity for the students, whether it be a barbecue, a cool-off swim, a theatre, musical or dance performance, or a film screening. On the Saturdays that are not devoted to performing, we take the students on an excursion outside of the campus area. On Sundays students can sleep in. In the afternoon, they are given free time to choreograph, rehearse, and do their laundry.

As an example, some of the extracuricular activities from last summer's Urban Dance Program in New York City were a trip to Coney Island Amusement Park, a performance by the Pilobolus Dance Group, the Off-Broadway show De La Guarda, shopping in SOHO, elective classes at the Broadway Dance Center, a live taping of MTV's TRL (SOCAPA students did shout outs), the Unity Sessions Hip Hop Concert in Prospect Park, a performance of Shakespeare in the Central Park (Much Ado About Nothing), and a Bilal concert in Fort Greene Park. Dance students also attend the visiting artist screenings hosted right on campus and get the opportunity to meet guest actors and filmmakers after we screen their work. Some of last summer's guests include actor Brendon Sexton III (Empire Records, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Hurricane Streets), actor Dwight Ewell (Chasing Amy, Flirt), filmmaker Peter Sollet (Raising Victor Vargas), actor Sarah Clarke (tv show 24, Thirteen) and screenwriter Andrew Marlowe (Air Force One, End of Days, Hollow Man).

For the aspiring young dancer, SOCAPA is by far the best choice. We offer small classes and teachers with recent and ongoing professional experience. The full-time teaching staff of SOCAPA includes award-winning dancers and experienced educators. Drawn from some of the top universities and dance programs, including the Ivy League, NYU, and Columbia, the instructors at SOCAPA guide the students through the three-week program with delicacy and skill.