Off Topic Dance camps?

[MaryA]

It's that time of year again (even though it's only December) when people are starting to talk about camps. My gymmie LOVES Woodward, though many of her teammates are going to the PSU gym camp this summer, so she has a decision to make. However, each and every summer I am frustrated by the lack of an equivalent "Woodward" experience for my dancing DD. PSU offers a dance camp too, but it is jazz/hip hop and DD is more of a ballet/modern kind of girl. It seems like most fine arts camps I come across last for multiple weeks and cost lots and lots of money (so if we start with the assumption that Woodward is "affordable", you can see just how much money we must be talking about here... thousands of dollars). I know there are some fine arts camps in Michigan, but I'd like to keep it a little bit closer to home (we live in PA) and again those tend to be multiple week camps. I've even looked into the Graphic Arts programs at Woodward, but most of the participants (if you look at the pictures) appear to be boys (not thrilling to my almost-12-year-old daughter... not yet at any rate) and mostly seem to use skateboarders and BMX bikers as the subjects of their graphic art projects (also not thrilling to my ballerina).

Does anyone know of any week-long (could be 2 weeks if it was reasonably affordable) sleep-away camps within a few hours of PA that might be a good fit? It wouldn't even HAVE to be a dance camp... poetry, fine arts, graphic arts, even academics (engineering maybe?) would be OK... she's tried a YMCA camp but found the experience too "campy" for her... she didn't want to have to sing silly songs before she gets to eat or be forced to participate in backward clothing day or whatever. She's not prissy, but she has a pretty low tollerance for anything that she might consider "embarassing" which includes a lot of the traditional camp stuff. And she only wears skirts. And she only eats white foods. I actually think Woodward would be a good fit for her (lots of freedom about how to spend her time, what to eat, etc.), except that she doesn't do anything that Woodward does. I don't suppose Woodward is likely to build a ballet studio anytime soon...

Thanks!

 

[gymboymom]

I was going to say Blue Lake but that is the one you are referring to in Michigan.

 

[MaryA]

Yes, I was actually a counselor at Blue Lake "back in the day". There's also Interlochen. They aren't un-drivable, but it would be a painful drive to have to do round-trip twice in two weeks. What I remember most about BLFAC was that it was freezing cold when we woke up in the morning and blazing hot by noon.

 

[maryRS]

My cousin's daughter did the Sixers camp. She was a serious ballerina but in her last few years of highschool she did get real into the hip hop/jazz.
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There is an overnight dance type camp somewhere in New Jersey - I want to say Lawrencesville but I could be wrong. My cousin lives in NJ and I know her daughter did an overnight thing that was a typical camp type experience (like IGC woodward etc) but was dance. I know she did something in Philadelphia with a more ballet type thing, but I think it was pretty intense, not campy at all, just dance - it was a week and very expensive.

Not a lot of help but maybe someone else will be!

Yes, I was actually a counselor at Blue Lake "back in the day". There's also Interlochen. They aren't un-drivable, but it would be a painful drive to have to do round-trip twice in two weeks. What I remember most about BLFAC was that it was freezing cold when we woke up in the morning and blazing hot by noon.

 

[MaryA]

I think I found the website for that camp in NJ, but it looks like the NJ one only does hip hop and jazz. There are other "chains" of the same camp in other states that do ballet, but those are all far away. My concern with a real "hard core" dance experience is that she's not at a "hard core" studio. She dances about 8 hours a week, plus is class assistant for both 4-year-old and a 5-year-old dance class, but nobody from her dance studio goes on to be prima ballerinas. They're just there for fun and for the love of dance.

 

[gymdog]

Coed Pennsylvania Summer Camp - 65+ Daily Summer Camp Activities - Overnight Sleepaway Summer Camps - PA Summer Camp

The one week "mini camp" session for this camp says $800 and they seem to have all sorts of dance, art, and even circus arts.