Area organizations offer creative and performing arts summer programs for kids of all ages

For kids with a creative streak, the summer can be a great chance to expand their horizons and learn new skills. In the Southwestern Pennsylvania region, many arts organizations are offering programs for the summer of 2024 that will entice and engage students, from 2-year-olds all the way up to seniors in high school.

Pittsburgh Opera’s Bravo Academy

Now accepting registration from rising sixth- to ninth-graders, Bravo Academy will run for two weeklong sessions, July 15-19 and July 22-26. The camp will run in the mornings each weekday, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Rebekah Diaz, director of community engagement and IDEA initiatives at Pittsburgh Opera, said that the summer program is about more than just singing. “We want to make sure that all the kids involved would see what happens on the other side of the stage,” she said.

That includes learning about costume, lighting and scenic design, as well as other aspects of putting together a performance.

“We’re trying to get as much of the different elements that go into the art form as possible,” Diaz said. “There’s not just singing, there’s a lot of theater involved, a lot of dance, a lot of creativity involved. It hits a little bit of everything.”

Since it’s for middle school-aged kids, the program will be mostly introductory, but Diaz said they can accommodate many skill levels.

“We’re open to whatever level someone is in their journey,” Diaz said. “We’re happy to have them come here.”

She explained that the professionals running the camp will do their best to tailor the experience to each individual student’s needs. Ideally, the camp would have between 10 and 20 attendees in each of the two sessions, so there is room to adjust for strengths and interests.

Bravo Academy will be held at the Pittsburgh Opera’s headquarters, the Bitz Opera Factory in the Strip District. While Diaz will head up the camp, classes will be taught by professionals and experts who work with the opera.

Bravo Academy costs $200 for one week and $360 for students who attend both, and Diaz said that there are payment plans and some scholarships available to make the program as accessible as possible to anyone who wants to attend.

“We’re trying to give a lot of options to make sure kids can come. We don’t want to turn anybody away,” Diaz said.

On the last day of each week, Brvao Academy will hold a showcase so that participants can show off what they’ve learned and created.

This will include displays of physical objects, like props and set dioramas that were produced throughout the week, followed by a performance. In between an opening and closing group number, the students will have the chance to perform pieces in smaller groups or as solos. Families are welcome to attend, and the showcases will also be live-streamed.

For more information or to register a student for Bravo Academy, visit pittsburghopera.org/education/bravo-academy.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will hold several different “Camps for Creatives” in its Arts and Education Center Downtown. All told, their five different programs accept kids ranging from 3 years old to rising high school seniors.

Each camp is a week long, Monday through Friday, and meets from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except for the early childhood education camp, which ends at 2:30 p.m. Each camp is $350, but the Cultural Trust offers financial aid.

The first camp of the summer, starting July 8, will be for rising sixth-to-eighth graders and focuses on theater production. “This is for students who want to work on the tech stuff … it’s the perfect camp for crew kids,” said Kalee George, manager of arts education programs at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Starting July 15 will be two programs. The first is “Art From All Angles,” a creative camp incorporating science. This is for kids going into grades three to six, and will have plenty of field trips to look at how everyday structures incorporate art and science in their design. “This is for kids who don’t quite know what their niche is, they’re still exploring and figuring it out,” George said.

The second camp running the week of July 15 is “Stories from the Great Outdoors,” the camp for the youngest students. They are accepting (fully potty trained!) 3- to 5-year-olds for this camp that uses many art forms to help little ones learn storytelling. “It’s kind of amazing how they can come out of their shells and tell stories and create things in ways you wouldn’t expect from kids that young,” George said.

The big kids get their turn the week of July 22 with “Costumes, Cosplay and Capers!” This year, the Cultural Trust is expanding its usual high school-level costume class to include other elements like props, makeup and cosplay. Participants even get to check out the costume shops at theaters like the Benedum.

Lastly, also starting on July 22, the first- to third-graders will be “Global Arts Explorers.” This camp will be an adventure into creative and performing arts from all over the world. “We’ll have a lot of different artists doing capoeira, African drum, Spanish dance, all kinds of different things,” George said.

All of the camps, especially “Art From All Angles,” will involve field trips around Downtown, including to different theaters and galleries. “We have so many wonderful teaching artists, as well as our staff, who make sure all of our field trips are safe,” George said.

She warned that camps are filling fast. Registration is available at trustarts.org.

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

For dance-oriented youngsters, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre will host programs for a variety of ages.

Their children’s division, which is for ages 2 to 6, has two sessions with three Saturday classes in each session. Session A runs from June 15-29, and Session B runs from July 6-20. Students can participate in both sessions if they choose.

The youngest students have a “Family and Me” class where a family member is in the dance studio with them. Those classes focus more on movement than ballet and are half an hour long each. “Family and Me” sessions are $110 each. Other children’s division classes are $140 and 45 minutes long each. No dance experience is necessary for these programs.

The Student Division is for ages 8-11 and requires a free placement class to determine the student’s skill level. The summer workshops for the student division are six classes long over two weeks, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Each class is two hours long. The total cost for the workshops is $310.

Raymond Rodriguez, dean of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, said that learning ballet helps with success in all areas. “This art form, I believe, trains people for anything they want to do in life. How to work individually, how to be creative, how to build your confidence. It just builds well-rounded individuals, I believe.”

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s classes and workshops are taught by professional dancers, even some ex-principal dancers from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

To learn more and register, visit pbt.org.

Pittsburgh Public Theater

Pittsburgh Public Theater Downtown is offering summer camps and sessions for children in kindergarteners through 12th grade.

For kids grades K-2, there are several sessions of “Let’s Act,” a three-day, two-hours-a-day session that introduces young children to acting. “It’s based on movement and building a little bit of confidence,” said Dominique Briggs, summer sessions consultant for Pittsburgh Public Theater. Those sessions will be for about 10 students each.

For grades three to six, there are a variety of half-day camps, ranging from three days to five days long each. There’s also an acting class for that age, as well as sessions about costuming and puppetry. This age range also gets to take advantage of the partnership between Pittsburgh Public Theater and Downtown’s Arcade Comedy Theater with a comedy improv class.

For seventh through 12th graders, sessions are also three half-days and have some specific themes. For example, they will hold a “Fight Club” taught by Pittsburgh Public Theater’s stage fight coordinator. That age group also gets to do Arcade Comedy Theater improv, as well as acting classes and audition prep workshops.

“This is Pittsburgh’s public theater, we want the community to be able to have the opportunity to work with our teaching artists and dive into this amazing world of theater,” Briggs said.

Costs for the sessions vary depending on length and age group. There are limited scholarships available to make the sessions more accessible price-wise.

Visit ppt.org for more information and to register for Summer Sessions.

Westmoreland Performing Arts

Westmoreland Performing Arts will hold four camps this summer. There will be two three-week sessions of their day camp “for teens and tweens,” one from June 10-30 and one from July 8-28. These are for students aged eight to 18, split into two age groups. Each group will put on a stage show at the end of their session.

Campers will spend each morning in classes for all of the different performing disciplines — like acting, voice and dance — and then spend each afternoon working on the show they will put on at the end of the camp. Performances of those shows will take place at the Westmoreland County Community College theater.

Those camps are held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday.

“It’s not limited by skill level,” said Anthony Marino, artistic director at Westmoreland Performing Arts. “We try to celebrate every ability a kid has.”

The shows put on by these camps have included “Grease: School Edition,” “Tuck Everlasting,” “42nd Street” and other favorites.

“We try to do one new one and one older one,” Marino said.

Their two other camps are one week long each. They are the “Shooting Stars” camp, for children aged four to eight, and the “Big Dreamers Broadway Squad” camp, which is for kids “with special needs and amazing abilities.” They also put on a performance at the end of the week. For the “Big Dreamers” camp, that is often an original production.

According to Marino, the three-week camps average about 70-75 attendees, while “Shooting Stars” gets about 10-15, and the “Big Dreamers” have around 18 normally.

The two three-week camps are $525 and the one-week camps are $175. Information on scholarships and financial aid can be obtained by phone or email.

To learn more, visit westmorelandperformingarts.com.

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Alle-Kiski Music Day Camp

The Alle-Kiski Music Day Camp is returning from July 22-26, and students will learn much more than music.

“We are more of a creative arts camp now … it’s a broad array so the kids get a chance to try a bunch of different arts. It’s a sampler,” said Caitlin Painter, the camp director. Included are drama, dance, visual art, music, chorus and more.

Age range for the camp starts at 5-year-olds who will turn 6 by the end of the calendar year and goes up to seniors in high school. According to Painter, most kids fall in the 5-to-14 range. “Depending on what the age range is, that’s how we split up our groups,” she said. Typically, about 30-40 students participate.

The camp takes place at United Methodist Church in Natrona Heights.

Painter was a camper at the Alle-Kiski Music Day Camp starting at age 10. “I went until I graduated, I became a teacher at the camp, and then eventually the founder of the camp passed it down to me. I’m just trying to continue her legacy,” she said. “By coming to this camp, although it’s only a week, it gives them that opportunity to try something that they may not get to try elsewhere.”

For more information, visit akmdc.org.