CREATE EXPRESS CAMPS are for middle school and high school students, and are an expansion of our signature Performance Group program offerings.
CREATE EXPRESS CAMPS are a bold new venture leveraging our proven approach to Creative Youth Development into a new format – a shorter, condensed CREATE experience – to reach 20-24 students from a single San Diego County middle or high school during a break in their academic calendar.
CREATE EXPRESS CAMPS are designed to be fun, engaging experiences for young people during out-of-school time hours that tap into their talents, love of dance, and creative expression. Camps support participants developing social-emotional resilience through self-reflection, community building, dance, and expressive arts experiences. Students can bring these skills and tools back into their everyday life at home, school, and to their future goals. Camps are intensive 5-day experiences that culminate in a final performance at dancers’ school campus for family, friends, and community members.
The goals of CREATE Express Camps are:
- To use movement, dance, written and spoken word, and creative journaling work to explore one’s voice and authentic expression
- To give teens a rich experience with peer collaboration
- To give teens the opportunity to be reflective about self in the context of the world around them
- To give teens the opportunity to work with local professional and practicing artists
- To connect young people to foster a sense of belonging and reduce feelings of isolation as a young generation
- To break down barriers and preconceived ideas about others who come from different backgrounds and life circumstances
- To increase social emotional resiliency through the arts
- To have students see themselves as artists, leaders, community builders, and individuals capable of making a positive impact in the world
Program days involve:
- Daily Dance Classes (Hip Hop, Contemporary, Latin, and/or Improvisation Techniques)
- Facilitated Expressive Arts work (movement/creative writing/rhythm work/drawing/drama/spoken word)
- Facilitated Peer-to-Peer Dialogue about the creative work, personal narratives, social issues
- Small Group Work led by Professional Dance Teaching Artists to co-create original material
- Informal sharing of creative work with each other/school staff/parents, guardians or friends
Proven/Measurable Outcomes from PEAR Assessment:
transcenDANCE utilizes the Program in Education, After School, and Resiliency (PEAR) assessment tools developed at Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital to evaluate student progress and success from CREATE EXPRESS CAMPS.
Over the last several years, the data collected through the PEAR assessment has shown increased resiliency from student participants in the areas of emotional control, assertiveness, trust, reflection, and optimism. Students showed increased relationship building with peers and adults and an increase in learning interest and critical thinking. Students also showed decreases in the areas of hyperactivity/inattention, conduct problems, emotional symptoms, and peer problems.
Want to bring a CREATE EXPRESS CAMP to your school?
Teachers and school administrators: download and complete an Interest Form and MOU
Students: download and complete your Enrollment and Consent Forms
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do CREATE EXPRESS CAMPS happen?
CREATE EXPRESS CAMPS are held most often at the transcenDANCE studios in National City. Sometimes, Camps happen at school campuses when that is more beneficial to the students.
When do CREATE EXPRESS CAMPS happen?
CREATE EXPRESS CAMPS are scheduled based on school breaks, when students can commit to five full days of transcenDANCE programming. Generally, CREATE EXPRESS CAMPS happen in the Fall, Spring, and Summer. transcenDANCE program staff will work directly with your school to coordinate a Camp date that supports the needs of your students.
How do students get to the transcenDANCE studio?
transcenDANCE will work with your school to coordinate a bus that will pick dancers up at school in the morning, bring them to the studio for Camp, and bring them back to school at the end of the day.
What are the hours of CREATE EXPRESS CAMPS?
Camp classes start at 10am and run until 4pm. Group meeting and drop-off times will vary depending on the length of the bus ride between your school and the studio.
What should dancers bring to CREATE EXPRESS CAMPS?
Dancers should bring a reusable water bottle, comfortable sneakers that they can dance in, a positive attitude, and willingness to learn. transcenDANCE will provide snacks and lunch every day of Camp (make sure to list any dietary restrictions on the Enrollment Form).
What should dancers wear to CREATE EXPRESS CAMPS?
Dancers should make sure to wear comfortable clothes that they can move in. T-shirts, leggings/yoga pants, sweatpants, and tennis shoes are recommended. Students will be dancing all day during CREATE EXPRESS CAMPS, so be sure that clothes aren’t restrictive.