JCC Maccabi ArtsFest

Participants spend their week at ArtsFest working with Artists-in-Residence (AIRs). Each AIR is a professional, paid artist in their chosen craft. Not only do AIRs possess the talent and drive necessary to achieve success in the professional realm, but each AIR also possesses the dedication to Jewish continuity through art, a passion for community involvement, and the moral obligation to help teens find their inner artist's "voice".

Arts Specialties, Baltimore

Acting/Improv

The Collaborative Art The most important aspects of acting, whether with scripted material or improvisation, are trust and risk-taking. They cannot exist without one another. We will have a compressed amount of time to establish a true ensemble, where each of the participants feels fully empowered to bring their best stuff to the table. A sense of adventure, fun, and deep generosity of spirit are mandatory.

Together, we will organically develop a theatre piece, with only a pre-selected theme and your imaginations as our guides. We will only be limited by time, which will also provide great motivation!

The importance of vocal and physical warm-ups will be included in our daily work. To create our performance piece, we will use exercises and games designed for the competitive improvisation technique, TheatreSports, as well as standard techniques for comedy used in everything from comedia del arte to the Marx Brothers and Jim Carrey.

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Creative Writing/Journalism

Hear all About it Writers will have an opportunity to sharpen their journalistic skills as they “cover” ArtsFest and the Games throughout the week. They will also be able to hone their creative abilities in the form of poetry and prose. Their reviews, profiles, human-interest features, poetry, prose and columns will appear in the August 13, 2010 edition of the Baltimore Jewish Times, as well as being on the Jewish Times’ website.

Dance

Speaking Through Movement During our four days together, students will immerse themselves in the excitement and inspiration of creating an expressive performance piece. We will join for daily modern dance class, warming up, strengthening, and deepening our bodies range and physicality. We will continue with rehearsal and composition focusing on developing our dance. Our goal is to choreograph an artistic, meaningful, physical, and cohesive piece. Over our four days together, you will strengthen your physical and performance skills, deepening your technique, expression, artistry, and energy. With our final performance we will know the satisfaction that comes from working with an ensemble, which has clearly focused on their task and brought their goal to fruition.

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Film/TV Production with MPT

Go behind the Scenes Want to experience working on a “professionally” produced video? Using state-of-the-art equipment and technology, you will be guided by our state’s best – Maryland Public Television’s award winning team of producer, editor and videographer will guide you in this unique video making experience. In an intensive four-day program, we will conceive, write, direct, shoot and edit a short video that will be screened during the final showcase.

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Jazz Ensemble

Get in the Groove    Explore world music and a multitud eof jazz music genres from accross the globe. The main focus will be ensemble performace and establishing a strong sense of rhythm. We will bridge between cultures and musical traditions in a supportive and growth-oriented environment. You will enjoy working individually, but also in sections and as a large ensemble.

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Musical Theatre

Lets Put on a Show Musical Theatre is an incredibly challenging genre that combines singing, dancing, and acting skills. Over the course of the week, students will work to improve vocal and dance technique and utilize theatre games and exercises to make connections to the material being worked on. Students will then apply their new knowledge and understanding of the genre to the musical number that will be staged and performed at the end of the week. This is an intensive week where students will not only gain skill but will also work as a unit, collaborating with their peers to create a musical theatre piece.

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Rock Music

Welcome to the School of Rock   We'll discover what makes a band really rock, as we discuss and perform music from a variety of popular artists, styles, and periods. We'll also examine the art of songwriting, performance techniques, and the changing world of modern Jewish music. ArtsFest 2009 will feature expanded performance opportunities for the rock/pop specialty. Suitable instruments include guitar (electric and acoustic), bass, keyboard/piano, drums and percussion, horns (trumpet, sax, trombone), and rock-oriented strings (electric violin, viola, cello). Singer/songwriters are especially welcome.

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Sports Broadcasting

Be a Part of the Action   Is it your dream to talk baseball, football, hoops or any other sport? With the guidance of a 20 year TV and radio sportscaster, you will discover the ins and outs of what it takes to be a professional broadcaster. You will learn everything from how to write a script to shoot an event to anchor a sportscast. Experienced pros will be brought in to share their experiences. This will include real on hands on work, as well as the chance to get in the field for some on-site experience.
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Visual Arts

Life is Art   The visual arts program will highlight Jewish ethics and community-based public art. You will be working with me and a group of international teen artists to create a permanent public mural in Baltimore. Jay encourages you to check out his non-profit site, www.rebuildingthruart.com, to get a sense of his community-based public art projects. Through our vibrant installation, you will learn how community-based public art can transform individuals and places. Your willingness to work with others, your commitment and your desire to create something bold, key components in the mural making process, is more important to me than your skill level. The week will be intense, filled with learning, energy, creativity and fun – and we will be making a difference.

I am looking for dedicated students with some kind of artistic skill, the ability to think, and who have a passion to create. All participants are the driving force for ideas. You will be encouraged to help define and develop the major motifs of the mural based on this year’s theme. Art skills that students will learn include: collaboration/team work; making art on a large scale through mural techniques; sharpening individual technical skills such as color mixing, scale, composition and form; how to do a series of studies for a major work; creating a professional work from concept to completion; how to work within a deadline; how to tell a visual story based on abstract concepts.

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Vocal Music

In Perfect Harmony You love to sing. You love music. The stage calls to you. You imagine yourself performing a song and bringing your dreams to life. What is that ‘special something’ about you that makes you a unique and memorable performer? How do you connect with your audience and with your fellow performers? How do you choose your repertoire? What is your message? Is there a song that defines you?

For four days, we’ll work together, exploring the answers to all of these questions and many more. As a solo artist and group performer, working within many different genres of music, you’ll be challenged like a professional – to set and reach new goals- beyond what you thought you were capable of – on the road to your master performance – the final day of ArtsFest. Follow your dreams. Come and experience your metamorphosis as a vocal artist.

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Arts Specialties, San Rafael

Acting

The Puzzle of Acting How do we combine the various disciplines of acting to create a seamless portrayal? You will create a character, either from scratch of from literature, that challenges you in different ways. Our emphasis will be finding the voice, speech, and movement for each character, including their psychology and inner being. The final work will be a collaborative performance of these characters interacting with one another in a brand new piece of work.

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Culinary Arts

The Way to the Heart There is not one person in this world that doesn’t love food! Explore your passion and love for food as you learn about basic food science, the art of catering¸ knife skills, meal-planning, and healthy eating, with an emphasis on bread making and entertaining. In addition to mastering the skills of cooking, you will also cater the VIP Reception and cook for your fellow ArtsFest participants throughout the week.

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Dance

Process to Performance Calling emerging dancers or choreographers. You will participate in the development of a movement vocabulary using problem solving, and a variety of choreographic devices. The vocabulary will be based in, but not limited to, ballet and modern techniques. We will explore partnering, weight sharing, improvisation, musical phrasing, fall and recovery, and the physicality of dance. We will focus on how to work as an ensemble, performance and stage skills, building consistency as performers, and how to make dance look real.

Portraits of Reality Artists joining the digital photography specialty will journey to various beautiful Marin County locations and be taught to capture images that express something about themselves. Through learning, composition, and post production techniques, photographers will learn how to express their personal experiences through the art of digital photography. A montage of our work will showcase on the big screen at the final performance for all to see!

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Jazz Ensemble

All that Jazz We will work in sections and as an ensemble to play a range of Jazz standards, including swing, bebop, cool, and contemporary jazz styles by composers such as Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker. You will study theory and improvising techniques to use for soloing. Then we'll put it all together for a final performance.

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Musical Theater

Lets Put on a Show Do you sing and dance around your room? Bring that love of musical theater and work with others just like you. In addition to preparing numbers from musicals you love, you will explore your personal creativity by writing original pieces. We'll also learn a song from a well-known Israeli musical (no Hebrew experience needed!!!). Through vocal excercises, movement, improvisation, and theater technique, you will have a chance to enhance you performance skills and create amazing professionally choreographed routines for the culminating performance.

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Rock Music

Becoming a Band (a successful one) Ever wish you had other talented players to jam with? Want to experience what it's like to be a performing band? Learn what it's like to write, rehearse and perform songs in a rock n' roll band format. We'll look at what's made pop and rock music what it is today, examining a variety of styles and techniques from classic to contemporary rock and everything in between. We need drummers, guitarists, bass players, piano/keyboardists, and singers. Horns and other rock friendly instruments welcome as well.

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Visual Art

Bits and Pieces Mosaic is the art of assembling small pieces of glass, stone and ceramic tile into a pattern or picture. You will explore this ancient medium and the tools and techniques used in its creation. Over the course of our time together, we will collaborate to create a large-scale piece, and we will also work on individual pieces including canvas and freestyle painting, which we will take home at the end of the week.

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Vocal Music

Sing to the World We will sing our hearts out with passion and beauty, drawing from contemporary American pop music, as well as from some world music, including music from Israel. There will be an intense focus on ensemble vocal material, with special attention paid to harmony and pitch. You will have some opportunities for solo work as well. We will do daily vocal calisthenics to become better singers, as well as priming for our performance.