"Life is just the
filler of time between Augustas, I wait all year just for it to
come back around." ~ Teen Week student
"I always heard talk of Augusta,
but it wasn't until I went that I truly got it. It's a
family and community all its own, with everyone saying hi
to everyone, where you end up knowing just about each
person you see, and you realize that, when you leave, you
will miss all of them." ~ Teen Week student
With a
talented staff of four, this week-long class teaches movement
and dance for pure enjoyment and personal expression in a
non-competitive atmosphere. Teenagers will explore their
creative potential through dance, improvisational movement and a
mutual sharing of ideas. The folk traditions of Appalachian
flatfooting, step dance, African dance and hambone will make
this life-changing experience unforgettable. Teen
Week is held concurrently with Bluegrass Week and Folk Arts
Week, so teens will also be able to hear lots of music, go to
even more dances, and join in the jams that happen all over
campus.
Eileen
Carson Schatz,
founding Director of Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, has
toured internationally, including as guest choreographer and
performer in Riverdance in London and with the
Smithsonian Institute in Japan. She has received an NEA
Choreography Fellowship, an MSAC Individual Artist Award, an
Annie Award from the Arts Council of AA County, and was selected
Artist of the Year by Young Audiences of Maryland in 2006. She
has performed and taught residencies in Maryland schools for
almost 30 years, and she is a recent graduate of the Teaching
Artist Institute.
Elizabeth
Melvin
specializes in Caribbean, West African and Latin American musics.
She studied Cuban percussion under master drummer, Lorenzo
Peñabel, and was invited to play marimba with Senegalese
musician, Djimo Kouyate, in the West African group Mamaya.
She has performed with the world beat groups Mama Jama,
Jambulay, Caribbean Art Jazz Ensemble, and
“Goombay: The Caribbean Experience.”
Heidi Kulas
grew up in a dancing family in Greenville,
Michigan. She has toured rigorously across the country
performing as a clogger, Irish step dancer and modern stylist.
She was a principal dancer with the international touring
company, Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, directing
their Junior Company and Arts-In-Education programs.
Joe Herrmann
has been a talented multi-instrumentalist for over 30 years. He
founded the Critton Hollow String Band with his wife, Sam
Herrmann, in 1975, and has played at festivals, concert halls,
and dance camps throughout the United States and Canada. He
also played with the Fiddle Puppet Dancers for 16 years
and toured with them in the U.S. the U.K., Canada, and Japan.
