Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
May 15, 2008 issue
The Watauga Arts Council is accepting registrations for its summer arts camp featuring the Missoula Children’s Theatre that will take place June 23 to 28. Local children will be given the opportunity to experience interactive, multidisciplinary arts activities with local artists, as well as rehearse and star in a theatrical production of Robin Hood.
The Summer Arts Camp is open to rising first through rising tenth graders, and will operate Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Friday from 9:00 a.m. to showtime; and Saturday from noon to showtime. Performances will take place Friday, June 27, at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, June 28, at 3:00 p.m. All activities will take place at the Watauga High School Auditorium.
Besides rehearsals for the play, the camp features workshops in storytelling, music, improvisation, visual arts and more. The registration fee for the Summer Arts Camp is $110 per child. Sixty-five children will be registered on a first-come, first served basis, and there are still openings. Scholarships are available for families in need.
The Summer Arts Camp is being coordinated again this year by Dianne Hackworth, a well-known storyteller and artist educator. Hackworth teaches storytelling classes at John C. Campbell Folkschool, is an artist in residence in the public schools of North Carolina and provides storytelling workshops throughout the southeast region. Hackworth has been included in the North Carolina Arts Council Artist Directory and is on the South Carolina Arts Commissions Approved Artists Roster and the Tennessee Arts Commissions Arts in Education Artist Roster.
Hackworth is the founder of the High County Yarnspinners, a storytelling organization in the Boone area, and co-founder and president of the North Carolina Storytelling Guild. Under Hackworth’s direction, some of the storytelling events annually presented in the Boone area include the Yarnspinners Festival, Watauga County Schools Storytelling Festival, Fourth Friday Yarns, the Halloween StoryFest and the Tellabration, an evening of storytelling for adults.
The Watauga Arts Council has worked in partnership with Missoula Children’s Theatre for many years to present local children with an introduction to the performing arts. Missoula Children’s Theatre (MCT), the nation’s largest touring children’s theatre, has been touring extensively for 30 years from Montana to Japan, and they will visit more than 1000 communities this year with 35 teams of tour actor/directors. All MCT shows are original adaptations of classic children’s stories and fairytales.
In this year’s musical adaptation of Robin Hood, the time is simply long ago and the place is the magical, mythical Sherwood Forest. The hero, Robin Hood, and his band of colorful characters seek the help of the Foresters, manage to waylay the Aristocrats and set out to rescue Maid Marion and Marion’s Maid. Prince John tries to stay calm as his Sheriff, guards and horsemen botch Robin’s arrest thanks to the aromatic Skunks. Wacky humor and an original score add to this fresh new look at a legendary outlaw in a legendary time.
The production is designed with suitable parts for every age, skill and experience level. During five days of intensive rehearsal, children will learn their lines, staging, songs and dances. Several older students will be cast as assistant directors, and they will focus on technically oriented tasks such as mounting the set, working lights and sound equipment, and assisting with teaching the show to the cast. The two tour actor/directors from MCT play supporting roles in the production.
To register a child/children for the camp or for more information, click to www.watauga-arts.org or call Christy Chenausky at 828-264-1789.