Isabel Smith is a ninth-grade student at the Los Angeles High School for the Arts.  She began piano lessons when she was four years old, and now studies piano improvisation with Richard Grayson.  She has also been studying the violin for the last five years with her teacher, Sam Fischer, at the Colburn School of Performing Arts. 

Isabel loves all aspects of musical theater, especially tap dancing and singing, and performs in school and community productions whenever she gets the chance.

This summer, I went to the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program two-week Song and Dance session for students in grades 9–12. The staff said that their main goal wasn’t to put on a good show, but rather to have every single student leave the camp with at least one thing that they hadn’t learned before. I know that everyone left camp with much more than one thing. I couldn’t have learned more and I was so happy to have received this extensive training.

Everyday, we would wake up at 8 A.M., have breakfast, and then physically warm-up for about 45 minutes. We would then separate into different leveled tap and jazz classes for about two hours, learning both technique and choreography for the show. Our dance classes were really hard. Some people were used to taking three hours of dance a day and it was really hard to keep up with them. But it was a good challenge and I definitely felt more flexible and more competent by the end of the camp.

The part of the day I enjoyed most was when we separated each afternoon into three randomly-grouped voice master classes. We rotated between three different teachers which was fun and interesting because each one had different views and ideas about everything to do with singing and performing. During our voice classes, someone would stand up and perform a song, and the teachers and students would give both constructive criticism and positive feedback.

In order to help prepare for these classes, each student was given about three half-hour private voice lessons during the two-week session. I think everyone found this portion of the camp most helpful because it provided technical vocal instruction as well as performance tips.

At about 5:30 we would have dinner. After dinner, we had a choral rehearsal during which we worked on a medley from “The Secret Garden” by Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman.

When we returned to our dorms around 7:30 or 8:00P.M., counselors would get everyone involved in some fun activity. We had karaoke night, casino night, improv night, and they even arranged to have a truck take us through a haunted village that was actually pretty scary.

Two days before the final performance for parents and friends, we had auditions for solo and duet numbers. My roommate and I decided to choreograph a tap dance to “Bigger Isn’t Better” by Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart from Barnum. We were so happy when we found out we made it into the show.

In addition to solos and duets, the teachers organized quite a few group numbers so that all the students had opportunities to appear on stage many times. Some of the group song and dance numbers included scenes from “Hairspray,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” and “Anything Goes.” The costumes and the audience provided everyone with extra energy for an amazing two-hour show; exciting for students, audience, and staff.

I would definitely like to attend Idyllwild Arts Summer Program again sometime.

Do you have a question for Izzy about her summer camp experience? Have you attended a great summer music camp? Would you like to write about your experience? Drop us a note.