Summer camp enriches lives in Hot Springs

HOT SPRINGS- Participants in the 2013 Hot Springs Summer Arts Camp demonstrated what they had learned in the previous two weeks during a show and exhibition at the senior center on Friday. Visual arts were on display as about a hundred audience members filed into the facility to watch a presentation by the performing arts students.

As family and friends gradually made their way into the senior center, they were rewarded with an exhibition of the visual arts created by their talented students. Finely detailed sculptures and colorful paintings of birds and other animals adorned the tables lining the back of the room.

Richly textured ceramic sculptures and multi-hued watercolors pleased the eyes of audience members as they waited for the performance to begin. Hot Springs Artists Society Board member Deb Myers said the camp was an invaluable community resource for kids.

“Many children will never get the chance to be exposed to the arts,” said Myers. “The camp introduces them to new things and builds a lot of confidence in them.”

As the audience settled into their seats, they were introduced to the cast of the show. Two groups, orange for the older students and yellow for the younger ones made their way to the stage for the start of the four seasons inspired presentation.

Founder of the Missoula Children’s Theatre and camp co-organizer Jim Caron addressed the audience at the start of the show. Caron informed them in addition to pure entertainment the show was designed to illustrate to them the learning process of the camp.

In keeping with the theme, the production began the summer season portion with a rousing song and dance number to the popular tune “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” The jingle is commonly sung at baseball games during the spring and summer months.

Next up was the fall element of the show with a dance number to the late Michael Jackson hit song “Thriller.” The students mimicked the dance number in the video that was inspired by the Halloween holiday. The fall part of the show was concluded with a song entitled “Pile of Leaves.”

Known as “Montana’s Blackfeet Troubadour,” recording artist Jack Gladstone next joined the students on the stage. Gladstone is an award-winning “poet-singer” and lecturer who performs for audiences across the nation.

With the performing arts students singing backup, Gladstone began his performance with his original song “The Circle of Life.” The song featured a description of what it is like to live in harmony with nature and the environment.

Gladstone ended the performance with a song called “The Bear who Stole the Chinook” about the importance of the weather phenomenon known as the Chinook winds on the Blackfoot Reservation.

The next season to be featured was winter beginning with a rendition of the popular holiday tune “Nuttin’ for Christmas.” This was followed by a song and dance number to “Ice, Ice, Baby” by the 90s recording artist Vanilla Ice.

Caron joined the performers for a rousing reading of “The Night Before Christmas.” The reading featured comical interruptions by students asking Caron questions about the poem. The winter portion of the show concluded with “Jingle Bells.”

The next part of the performance depicted to the audience what the kids experienced during the two-week summer camp. Exercises designed to loosen up students and teach them how to move about the stage were shown to spectators before moving on to the spring phase of the production.

A light-hearted ballet piece followed by a singing of “Come to my Garden” illustrated the summer months of the year. The show lasted nearly an hour and a half before concluding with a finale with Gladstone accompanied by the camp cast of youngsters.

According to Caron, the annual summer arts camp in Hot Springs aims to foster an appreciation of the arts in children. Sponsored by the Hot Springs Artists Society, the camp is provided at no cost to families. The stated purpose of the society is “to develop the cultural, educational and creative well-being of our community through the sponsorship of events, workshops and public performances.”