Photo by student photographer Delia Jones, age 13.
SUMMER SHAKE-UP THEATER CAMP
Student Demonstrations & Performances
Friday, June 1, 2018 - 11-11.45 AM
J.E. Gregg Auditorium
400 West Lincoln Street, Marfa, TX
For the sixth year in a row Marfa Live Arts taught Marfa ISD’s Camp Summer Shake-Up. This year, acting coach Luke Wallens, dancer/choreographer Nina Martin, and artist Emma Rogers led the four-day workshops. The educators are supported by student interns John Aguero (15) and Leah Acosta (13).
Together they directed twenty-six participating 3rd through 8th graders through a comprehensive improvisational theater workshop including acting, vocalization, and movement exercises. These young actors will engage in activities such as Meisner Technique exercises, vocal warm-up, body movement, script reading, improvisational work, and character study. Additionally, to help with understanding how the theater works behind-the-scenes, students learned the essential roles of stage managers and light and sound technicians. The workshop also included art instruction through the creation of puppets, graphic design of poster and program, as well as guided instruction on how to promote a theatrical event online and through social media outlets. Student Delia Jones assisted documenting the week's program.
STUDENTS:
Lily Aguera, 8
Mae Bamburg, 9
Noah Barden, 9
Charlotte Browning, 10
Macy Carlson, 10
Lauise Culbertson, 10
Camilla Diaz, 8
Josiah Dodson, 8
Xander Dodson, 11
Zech Dodson, 10
Mia Dominguez, 11
Clegg Fowlkes, 9
Colette Fowlkes, 9
Amya Gomez, 10
Davan Jones, 11
Ashley Marquez, 10
Raven Martinez, 10
Zaley Porter, 12
Anika Salgado, 12
Zoey Salgodo, 9
Janayah Villa, 11
EDUCATOR BIOS:
Luke Wallens is an actor, improviser and playwright who has studied drama at Colorado College and has a MA degree in Collaborative Theatre: Playwriting Strand from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. He came back to the US and entered into the world of improv in 2011 in Austin, Texas. He has performed in Hideout Theater's Flying Theater Machine (currently Hideout Kids) and Move Your Tale's What's the Story Steve? He has been teaching improv since 2013 starting with classes at the Hideout Theatre and Coldtowne Theater semester classes and summer camps. He currently teaches classes for the Hideout's Building Connections improv classes for special needs kids and Outreach Programs for at-risk youth. He has also taught acting/improv and group story-telling for ZACH Theater, Just Imagine, Joshua's Stage and the Paramount Theater's Story Wranglers.
Nina Martin is a choreographer and master teacher. Performance credits include Lower Left Performance Collective, David Gordon Pick-Up Company, Mary Overlie, Deborah Hay, Martha Clarke, Simone Forti, PBS Dance in America Beyond the Mainstream program dancing with Steve Paxton, Nancy Stark Smith, Lisa Nelson, Danny Lepkoff, and Randy Warshaw. Martin has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts through six choreography fellowships in addition to the Joyce-Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Meet the Composer/ Choreographer Grant, and Texas Commission on the Arts. Presently she is an associate professor at TCU School for Classical & Contemporary Dance. Nina joined the Marfa Live Arts Board in 2003 and currently serves as the President.
Emma Rogers studied Art History and Arts Management at the University of San Francisco, graduating with honors in 2013. In 2015 she moved to Marfa to work as an Education and Programs Intern. She has worked as an arts camp counselor in Portland, Or, Istanbul, Turkey and Chinati Foundation. At present she is a freelance photographer and multimedia artist who is currently setting up a community dark room. Rogers has worked with Marfa Live Arts producing events and assisting artists since summer of 2017. She was most recently the Production Assistant for Marfa Sounding: Tarek Atoui—a series of sound installations and concerts during Memorial Day weekend. And last October she was the lead producer of Presence/Absence IV featuring local artists Stephanie Huang and Wilderman.
Marfa Live Arts and Theater Camp at Camp Summer Shake-Up are generously supported by Marfa Education Foundation and Texas Women for the Arts. Education programs organized with the collaboration of Marfa Live Arts’ Director Jennie Lyn Hamilton and Marfa Independent School District’s Superintendent Oscar Aguero and Community Outreach Coordinator Ann Marie Nafziger. Special thanks to JD DiFabbio, camp organizer and Marfa Live Arts Deputy Director. Media support from Big Bend Sentinel.
