|
Eighth-grader Correll Barca-Hall was beaten to a pulp. He took multiple punches to his stomach, kicks to the torso, jabs and blows in the head, hits to the face and thuds to the floor. But remarkably, Correll walked away from the fight against multiple attackers without a scratch, bruise, scar or tear.
Correll and classmates Courtney Scallan, a Los Gatos High School junior, Max Peters, a Los Gatos High freshman, and Elaine Knudsen, a C.T. English Middle School seventh-grader, learned from instructor Kyle Fox and stage manager Jason Cassidy how to fight like a WWF wrestler without injury, during a stage-combat exercise. The students are part of the approximately 30-member group enrolled in the Loma Prieta Community Foundation's Theatre in the Mountains Performing Arts Children's Conservatory.
The five-week summer school theatrical program, from June 21July 25, for participants ages 8 to 20, is taught by Bay Area theater professionals. Set in the Los Gatos mountains off Summit Road, TIMPACC is a performing arts school that not only stresses high-quality theater education, according to executive director and instructor Laurel Dentoni, but is committed to building values of respect and self-esteem in all its participants.
The program, founded in 1998 by Dentoni and director and actor Jeff Hicks, was designed for working parents. Students are enrolled in a broad selection of classes all day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., ranging from hip-hop dancing and improv acting, to stage craft, accents and dialogue, stand-up comedy, scene painting and special-effects makeup. The students are also provided with optional box lunches, and there is an additional activity time, for parents who can't pick their children up until 6 p.m. Parents become involved in the program through volunteer work such as costuming and set painting.
This year's lineup of instructors includes Dentoni, Lissa Ferreira, Alison Hasha, David Manley, Kurtis Matthews, Jason McDowell-Green, Ronnie Patania, Jordan Rosa, Desiree Welke, Kyle Fox, Christine Herrera and Katie Worley.
Dentoni, a cancer survivor, dreamed of the program seven years ago, telling herself, "I'd better do this now because I may not be able to do this later." While going through chemotherapy, Dentoni watched her program start in an uphill battle and flourish with success.
"The vision was to have intensive classes taught by Bay Area professionals," she said. "We wanted the students to really learn something."
In 1999, more than 70 children enrolled, and Dentoni had to limit the number of participants to 60 to ensure all participants received individual attention. She's watched students overcome stuttering and stage fright and strengthen their own confidence on stage.
"I love this place because there are so many exciting things to do," said Aurora Dallolio, a student participating in the program from Bologna, Italy, who is staying with a family in the Los Gatos mountains for the summer. "I find TIMPACC really stimulating."
Students take courses all morning and rehearse for a final production during the afternoons. This year's performance of Grease is scheduled for July 22 at 7:30 p.m., July 23 and 24 at 8 p.m. and July 25 at 2 p.m. All performances take place at the Loma Prieta Community Center, 23800 Summit Road.
The instructors and students, both newcomers and veterans alike, described the program as being like a family. So by the end of the summer, the participants get to know each other so well that even a little fighting—or stage fighting, that is—becomes fun.
For more information, to purchase tickets to see "Grease" or to enroll in courses, visit www.theatreinthemountains.org or call 408.353.9999.
|
Photograph by George Sakkestad