NJPAC Presents Free Virtual Poetry Program for Kids

Words hold the power to transform the world around us and music shapes the ways we move through our world. What happens when these two worlds collide?

NJPAC invites you to come to find out! Participate in their FREE City Verses Virtual Summer Camp - Breathe: Expressing Life through Poetry and Jazz

A part of the Arts Center's City Verses jazz poetry initiative, created in partnership with Rutgers University-Newark, this camp will offer high school students the opportunity to explore jazz and poetry and learn how to create new work that incorporates elements of both genres through a collaborative composition process.

Taught by Rutgers Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) poets and NJPAC's jazz faculty, this camp will develop the creative voices of young artists in a two-week intensive workshop through live virtual instruction. Students between the ages of 13-18 are invited to register. Greater Newark area students are encouraged to register (Bayonne, Belleville, Bloomfield, East Orange, Elizabeth, Harrison, Hillside, Irvington, Jersey City, Kearny, Maplewood, Newark, Orange, Paterson, and South Orange).

WHAT IS JAZZ POETRY?

Jazz Poetry is a uniquely African American art form which, "like the music itself, encompasses a variety of forms, rhythms, and sounds; from early blues to free jazz to experimental music, jazz poets use their appreciation for the music as poetic inspiration."

To be eligible for consideration, the student must meet the following qualifications:

Between 13 and 18 years of age

Musicians should have previous experience playing an instrument or in vocal performance. Students should have experience or interest in music composition and have an interest in collaborating with poets.

Poets should have an interest in original composition and a desire to write in collaboration with musicians.
Students who are selected for the City Verses Summer Camp will:

Participate in 3 hours of workshop/lecture style sessions Monday-Friday in the following format

Week 1 - Composition Intensive

Week 2 - Jazz and Poetry Composition Collaboration

Week 1: Introduction to the cross-disciplinary collaboration process of jazz poetry. Majority of time will be spent with faculty and students in their specific medium (jazz or poetry), learning the building blocks of composition within each area.

Week 2: Building off of the fundamentals highlighted in Week 1, students will be paired in small groups to explore and create their own original work, guided by faculty.

At the end of each week, students will be invited to participate in a casual, open-mic style performance among their peers and instructors.

Daily schedule:

10-11:15 - Morning lecture

11:15-12:15 - Break and independent study

12:15-1:30 - Afternoon workshop

City Verses Summer Camp Timeline:

Timeline subject to change due to the COVID-19 outbreak

July 20, 2020
July 31, 2020
August 3, 2020
August 10, 2020
August 3 - 14, 2020
August 14, 2020

Registration due
Orientation
Week 1 (jazz or poetry intensive)
Week 2 (jazz and poetry collaboration intensive)
Full camp
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