Performing Arts 2023
Check out a 2023 summer brochure.
Registration is now open. Register online.
Programs for Performing Arts 2023
Chairperson: Joe Hetko
T01 Guitar: Beginning & Intermediate
Week: 3 Grades: 5 & up
Wouldn’t you love to be able to play the guitar, or if you already can,
wouldn’t you like to play more? In this class we learn how to make music on the coolest of all instruments – the guitar! We play basic chords, learn to read various kinds of notation and make music individually and as a group. Guitar players looking to take their playing up to the next level will also love this class! We’ll learn new chords, tunes and techniques, and increase our overall knowledge of the guitar. Complete beginners and people with quite a bit of experience are welcome to join the fun.
Note: You do NOT need to have a guitar to join this class, but if you have one, do bring it!
Instructor: Joe Hetko
T02 Be a Magician!
Week: 5 Grades: 3 & up (ages 8 & up)
Here’s your chance to learn magic from one of the top magicians in the Capital Region. Magician Jim Snack will draw from his bag of tricks to teach sleight of hand, close-up magic, and illusions. Each student will master several tricks with cards, coins, rope and other readily available objects to present at the Open House. The workshop is for ages 8 and above.
Instructor: Jim Snack
(T03)Marionette Theater students perform: “Battle of the Trolls!”
Week: 2 Grades: 5 – 8
The woods trolls and the mountain trolls battle for the Heldebergs! Join the struggle! Build your own marionette troll and perform the story of the ancient trolls of the Heldebergs for the whole Workshop. Will you make a terrifying troll or the most beautiful princess? Puppet painting, costuming and puppet performance skills are all part of this adventure!
Instructor: John Koethen
T04 Wonderland at the Workshop
Week: 2 Grades 3 – 8
Follow ALICE & the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole as we explore our own version of Wonderland! Create Characters and costumes to populate this topsy-turvy world where Nonsense runs rampant.
Mad Tea Parties and Games galore. We will invent our own style of Flamingo Croquet with a mini-golf mash-up! Riddles, Rabbits, Hares, and Hats. Mushrooms, Tea Cups, and Cheshire Cats! Turn WONDERLAND top over Tea Kettle in this Upside-down Adventure!
Instructor: Scott Payne
T05 Wizards Workshop 101
Week: 4 Grades: 3 – 8
Your OWL has arrived! Don’t miss your opportunity to attend Hogwarts in the Helderbergs. Potions, Magic Charms, and Mystical Beasts (and where to find them) are just a few of the subjects that students will enjoy in this crash course in theatrical conjuring. Apprentices will construct a Wizard’s wardrobe, magical apparatus, and other accessories of Abracadabra! Grab your broomstick and get ready to play wizard games. Imagination and Magic creatively combined!
Instructor: Scott Payne
T06: Wizards Workshop 2.0
Week: 1 Grades: 6 & up
“HAPPEE BIRTHDAE HARRY!”
Celebrate all things “Wizardly” in this Advanced Class of Wizard-ology.
Alchemy, Ancient Runes, Advanced Potions, Care of Mystical Mythical
Creatures, Wand Lore & Spell Creation, Muggle Studies, Transformation, Predictions & Prognostication.
Defend yourself from Dark Arts! Explore the Forbidden Forest!
Prepare to enter an immersive Magical Realm.
Instructor: Scott Payne
T07 Acting Antics
Weeks: 3, 4 Grades 3 – 8
Theater games are a fun and engaging way to develop acting skills, improve communication and collaboration, and explore creativity. In this class, students will participate in a variety of games aimed to develop important on-stage skills, such as improvisation, character development, rhythm, projection and enunciation, and storytelling. Students will learn to think on their feet, react in the moment, and create compelling and believable characters.
Instructor: Emily Farrell
T08 WHO DONE IT? YOU DO IT!
Week: 5 – 6 (2-week course) Grades 5 – 8
What’s better than a good comic mystery “who-done it?” Nothing! Unless you write it yourself!
In this two-week adventure, you and your fellow mystery writers get to do
it all! You will all write the play, design the sets, costumes, and props, then rehearse and perform the play for an audience. With twists and turns, and comedy, you are sure to wow the audience and keep them guessing till the end!
Instructor: Steve Suriano
T09 Mid-Summer Fantasy Faire
Week: 3 Grades: 3 – 8
FAIRIES, and HOBBITS, and ELVES! Oh My!
Jesters, Jugglers, and Jousting!
May Poles and Morris Dancers!
All sorts of Fantastical Folk are welcome to CELEBRATE at our Mid-Summer Fantasy Faire!
Instructor: Scott Payne
T10 Haunted Heldebergs 101
Week: 5 Grades: 3 – 8
Ghosties, and Ghoulies, Long-Leggedy Beasties, and Things that go Bump in the Night.
What is it that SCARES you??
We will explore all things Freaky and Fearsome, as we transform our space into a classic Haunted House!
Are YOU Brave enough to face your FEARS??
Instructor: Scott Payne
T11 Haunted Heldebergs 2.0
Week: 6 Grades: 6 & up
Are you anxiously awaiting HALLOWEEN?
Do you celebrate the Strange and Unusual?
Let’s explore Poultergeists, Spirits, and Tormented Souls.
Oddments & Oddities, and the just plain WEIRD, as we
Create a Mansion of MAYHEM and Mystery!
…NOT for the Faint of Heart.
Instructor: Scott Payne
T12 Let’s Play Ukelele!
Week: 4 Grades 5 – 12
Wander the Heldeberg hills and trails with one of the most portable and versatile musical instruments. This class is suitable for both complete beginners, and folks with some playing experience. We’ll learn to play tunes, chord progressions, and work on right hand techniques to bring variety to your playing.
Note: You do NOT need to have a ukelele to join this class, but if you have one, do bring it!
Instructor: Joe Hetko