LTA SUMMER CAMPS – Now Planning For 2022!
2021 SUMMER CAMPS (2021 Summer Camps are now closed)
It was good to be back and we thank you for your cooperation in helping keep the campers safe. Planning is underway for Summer Camp 2022, which will run the first week of June through the last week of August. We expect to return to our regular camp schedule, with full day-long programs and before and after care. Partial scholarships will be available courtesy of LTA’s Council.
Questions? Email LTA’s Governor of Education Heather Sanderson at bardsplay@gmail.com.
All tuition is due at the time of registration. Cancellations or transfers of camps must be made at least 14 days prior to the start of the camp your child is registered. Cancellations and transfers with less than 14 days notice will be subject to only a 50% refund. All cancellations will be charged a $10 cancellation fee in addition to any Active Network Service fees. If the camp for which you are registered is an in-person camp and conditions (low enrollment, COVID-19 regulations or camp health concerns) warrant that the theatre be closed prior to the start of the session, a refund will be issued. If conditions (low enrollment, COVID-19 regulations or camp health concerns) warrant after the session has started, LTA reserves the right to postpone the camp to a mutually convenient date.
Our Camp Counselor Program is for high school students who want to build their theatrical resume through working alongside professionally trained performing artists and designers in an educational setting. We want to bring local opportunities to high school performing arts students in the area. Our program gives high school students a chance to take on a leadership position in a performing arts setting and is a great way to build resumes and make contacts in the theater community of the DMV area, and potentially beyond.
Counselors will be compensated with a small stipend for each week of work and will be selected from students who participate in our year-round Student Ambassador Program. For more information on that program, and to apply to be a Student Ambassador click HERE.
LTA’s Education Department thanks the community for their continued support of our classes and camps. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve made changes to our operations and procedures to ensure the well-being of our students, teaching artists, staff and patrons.
In making the decision to return to on-site instruction, in the fall of 2020 and the spring of 2021, LTA’s Education Department has carefully considered and planned measures to minimize risks to our students, instructors, and their families. LTA has received the ALX Promise Seal of Approval, recognizing LTA’s commitment to complying with the guidelines issued by the US CDC, the Governor of Virginia, and the City of Alexandria in our response to COVID-19.
The exposure mitigation measures in place for on-site classes (in-person and hybrid) at LTA include:
Newly installed high efficiency air filters, our long-time daily cleaning service has been equipped with and trained in the use of newly acquired sterilization equipment, we have implemented physical distancing-measures, and all students (and teachers and assistants) will be required to have their temperatures taken with an infrared thermometer on arrival. Teachers are also fully vaccinated and background checked.
Rooms will be thoroughly sanitized by our cleaning service each morning and again before and after class by the teaching staff. The wearing of face masks that cover both mouths and noses while on LTA property, both indoors and outdoors, is mandatory. Masks will be provided to those who need them. For information on the ALX Promise Seal of Approval, please see https://www.visitalexandriava.com/alx-promise/. For information on the LTA Safety Re-opening plan please see http://thelittletheatre.com/performances/#newsandannouncements
By enrolling in LTA Education programs, students and parents acknowledge their responsibility for notifying their teacher of any positive COVID test, suspected case of COVID-19 diagnosed by a healthcare provider without testing, or exposure to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Upon notification, the LTA President and Governor for Education will immediately notify the Alexandria Health Department and will comply with all contact tracing and notification policies as recommended by health authorities. Students should not attend class if they are running a temperature above 100 degrees F; are experiencing other symptoms of COVID-19 such as cough, chills, or body aches (including headaches); have been in direct contact with someone suspected of having COVID-19 in the last 14 days; are recovering from COVID-19 and do not have at a written statement by a doctor indicating that the virus is no longer being carried; or are unwilling to comply with any of LTA’s COVID-related procedures.
HEAD CAMP INSTRUCTORS
RACHEL AMES
RACHEL AMES’s passion for the performing arts is second only to her love of teaching. She has been sharing those passions with youngsters throughout the New Jersey and DMV area, where she has taught drama, improv, musical theatre and Shakespeare. Rachel also has experience in directing, choreographing, and costume design. Ames Piano Lessons and Performing Arts has continued to thrive in a virtual setting and we welcome Rachel to our family of loving and creative teaching artists.
DONA DAVIS
DONA DAVIS earned a Masters of Education from Lesley University in the Creative Arts in Learning program. She recently received a Certificate in Puppet Arts from the University of Connecticut where she studied puppetry history, puppetry materials, shadow puppetry, and hand puppetry. Dona taught at St. Stephens and St. Agnes School and other schools for twenty-two years, bringing arts into her classroom at every opportunity. She also ran drama clubs and puppet clubs at her schools. She is one of the artists featured on Artstravaganza Day at St. Stephens and St. Agnes School. Dona loves nothing more than helping children express their creativity and having fun with them.
KATHERINE M. DILLABER
KATHERINE M. DILLABER is a JMU graduate, with a B.A in Communication Arts & Educational Certification, plus graduate studies. Post college, she performed at “Tecumseh”, Ohio; ‘Land of Oz’, N. C.; Busch Gardens, Williamsburg; and local theatres. Since 2013, she participates annually in the Broadway Teachers Workshop, NYC, working with Broadway’s top artists onstage & backstage. Workshops explored the theatre craft as it pertains to school & community productions. Other experiences include a techie backstage and a theatre instructor where she has directed numerous children’s productions. Her professional education, theatre positions, and years of ballet training (Cecchetti method) are constant resources for classes.
CAROL JEAN CLARK
CAROL JEAN CLARK attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in NYC for musical theatre. After performing, recording music, and producing benefit concerts with Broadway stars in NYC, she now lives and works in VA performing, directing, music directing, and choreographing. She is also on the board of a local theatre company and works with several others in the area. Carol teaches private vocal and piano lessons as well as audition prep and acting coaching. In her free time she rides horses, plays pool competitively, and spends time with her horse, two dogs, two turtles, and a dove.
KEELY KIRK
KEELY KIRK began her improv career with Mental Floss, a Miami-based improv/sketch troupe. She went on to be a principle performer for over ten years with Laughing Gas Comedy Improv – Miami’s longest- running improv theater company. Keely relocated to the epicenter for improv, Chicago, and trained with iO (formerly Improv Olympics) and Second City. Currently Keely teaches, develops and delivers fun, fast-paced, interactive training and unforgettable events using theater improvisation techniques. Through her company, Playing OUTSIDE the Lines LLC, she has provided team building workshops for businesses, law firms, accounting firms, schools, as well as numerous Fortune 500 companies. She consults with businesses and training facilities in the Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia area. In addition to teaching, Keely also performs with various improv groups around the country.
ELIZA LORE
ELIZA LORE is currently living and working in the U.K., where she works for The Pauline Quirk Academy and Redroofs Theatre School. Before moving to London Eliza worked as Assistant Director at Frinton Summer Theatre. Eliza trained at Drama Studio London and is an alumni of England’s National Youth Theatre. Here in the U.S. Eliza has performed at Synetic Theatre, First Stage in Milwaukee and The Little Theatre of Alexandria. Eliza is certified in both Unarmed and Rapier and Dagger Stage Combat.
HEATHER SANDERSON
HEATHER SANDERSON studied classical theatre at RADA in London and prior to moving to Alexandria acted extensively in the San Francisco Bay Area. As “Miss Heather”, she is known locally for instilling a love of theatre – in particular Shakespeare – into the hearts of children. Her youth Shakespeare troupes have performed in D.C. and in the U.K. and her privately coached monologue students have performed at the Shakespeare Theatre, the Ford’s Theatre and numerous community and children’s theatres in the area. Heather may be familiar to fans of British television programs through her Tea with Heather segments on Maryland Public Television’s Afternoon Tea.
LINDA WELLS
LINDA WELLS is a private vocal teacher/coach, working primarily with children and teens. She has appeared in many musical theatre productions locally and elsewhere including The Music Man, Sweeney Todd, The Sound of Music, 1776, The Most Happy Fella, Side by Side by Sondheim, Brigadoon, George M!, Fiorello!, Guys and Dolls, and Godspell. Linda is also a professional church soloist and pianist. She was the Children’s Vocal Coach for The Little Theatre of Alexandria (LTA)’s Scrooge: The Musical, and the Musical Director for LTA’s A Christmas Carol (ten times) and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (twice); for Aldersgate Church Community Theatre’s Mulan, Jr.; and for Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre’s Narnia.