Ana Trinidad on SetGiving local families a break with mixed up fairy tales and Shakespeare for kids.

SILVER CITY, NEW MEXICO, February,  — "Spring Break Drama Camps return this year for students grades 1-12," says local performing arts teacher, Wendy Spurgeon. "Last year a group of 12 elementary school aged students participated in a week of practicing acting and stagecraft, culminating in a final presentation for parents called, ‘Around the World in Stories'.  Natalia, a 4th grader from Stout Elementary told her teacher, ‘I can't wait for the next drama camp!  I really think acting is my thing.'" 

Three camps are being offered this year through Spurgeon's new youth and family service, The Actrix Studio LLC.  "Unfortunately for parents with kids in different school districts, the school breaks don't always line up.  The lead teachers and I wanted to offer drama camps during the different school breaks to support those kids and families."

The first Drama Camp is March 11-16 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, and covers the Spring Break for Aldo Leopold Charter School Middle and High School Students. "Shakespeare for Kids" is the curriculum being led by lead teacher Ana Trinidad at El Sol Theater on Bullard.   This camp is packed with innovative activities that bring the Bard to life. Written by a team of Shakespearean educators, scholars and actors, the lesson plan focuses on four major plays: Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet , and Midsummer Night's Dream. Students learn the plots of all four plays. They learn to decipher Shakespearean dialogue and  they put on a show at the end featuring excerpts from each play. Ana Trinidad is an Actor, Youth Educator and Media Literacy educator and has worked in youth education since she was 19.  

Hallie HarrisThe second set of Drama Camps are March 25-30 and serve Guadalupe Montessori and Silver Schools students over their Spring Break.  Ms. Trinidad will lead grades 1-5 with a "Mixed-Up Fairy Tales" theme.  Students create their own fractured fairy tales in this high-energy series of drama lessons.  They learn to work cooperatively and deepen their understanding of story structure...while having a lot of fun!  Meanwhile grades 6-12 from the Silver Schools district will enjoy a fresh take on the "Shakespeare for Kids" curriculum led by local performing artist and improve leader Hallie Harris. 

This set of concurring drama camps will take place at The Hearth NM, a new retreat center emerging from the old Presbyterian Church on Swan St.  Hallie Harris has been teaching theater arts to kids, grown folks, and people in between since 2013. She was lead teacher of last year's camp and has coached youth and adults through classes and private lessons.

"Another issue many families face is not feeling like they can quite afford this kind of quality experience for their students," says Spurgeon. "To help mitigate that stress, we've added an event sponsorship tab for members of the community to help cover partial or full tuition for a student or family in need.  Payment plans are also available, as we don't want money to be the reason why a family doesn't take advantage of this excellent program. Let's give these families a break!"

Enrollment is now open at https://wendy.link/break  and the link to sponsor tuition is https://wendy.link/sponsor

 TheActrix Studio is a Limited Liability Company dedicated to serving Youth and Families through school break camps, after school and weekend play-shops, and 1:1 Growth Mindset Coaching.