Dance Camp in Sammatti, Finland

[psavola]

My school has published its summer program.

 

The adult/non-professional teen summer dance camp dates are 26.7.-3.8. 2003 and the cost 310 euros. Everything is pretty much the same as in previous years.

 

The changes are:

 

1 additional day, making it 8 days long, but one evening free. (The last class finished at 7-8pm in previous years)

 

The ballet levels are this year Beginner 1&2, Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2-3. (The numbers refer to school class levels.)

Only the two higher groups have repertoire classes.

 

Enrollment by 25.5, more information from Anita Remitz +358 50 336 2208.

 

Päivi

[Guest BilboBaggins]

Hi Paivi:

 

Just a quick question -- what technique is taught in this summer program? Is it Vaganova?

 

Thanks,

 

BB

[Guest vila]

Hello Päivi,

 

Everything is included in the price, right (meal and lodging)? One only has to make travel arrangements from Helsinki I believe. Did you have (m)any extra -costs... ? I'm sort of trying to budgetize this and for the moment the airfare is putting me quite back already !

Thanks for any info. I'd so love to go.

[psavola]

BilboBaggins,

 

The Intermediate 1 and Intermediate 2&3 groups have Jane Spackman as a teacher. She was trained in Royal Ballet School in England and teaches the international "mixed style", with RAD and some Cecchetti being the strongest influences. She does not teach the syllabus classes.

 

The beginner 1&2 group is taught by Susanna Calcagano. I do not know which style she teaches. She was mostly trained in Finland, and I understand most teaching in Finland is loosely based on the Vaganova, so that is the best guess I have. And it isn't very good one.

 

vila,

 

The fee covers:

 

4-6 hours of teaching every day. The number of hours depends on which classes you are taking part of, but in most cases it adds up to 6. 3 hours of it is ballet. The first Saturday is "welcome" day. Sunday thorough next Saturday have full classes, but the last Sunday has morning classes only. (plus warmup class and end performance ) Class size in our school is around 15.

 

A bed in 2-person room in a student dorm. Kitchen, 2 toilets and a shower are shared by 4 of these rooms. Washing machines and sauna are available for a small extra fee. (Last year it was 1 euro for a wash and 2 euros for each sauna.) Bedclothes and towels weren't included last year.

 

3 meals, breakfast, light lunch and dinner. Food is very good, but since dinner is served in Finnish style at about 5pm you may want to bring some extra money for buying a snack for eating before bedtime. (There is a local grocery store about 2 kilometers away)

 

The one free evening program (if you go) includes going to see a local arts exhibition which may (or may not) also have a very small entrance fee.

 

Those are all the costs I can think of in addition to camp fee and transportation to and from Sammatti. Last year I recall spending a total of about 10 euros during the camp, most of it in apples from the grocery store and sauna fees.

 

There are also some clothing requirements for the end performance, which may be some extra expense if you don't already own what is required. Last year they asked for a black leotard, black dance skirt (the wispy short kind), pink tights and pink ballet slippers for ballet and black tight t-shirt, black (thick) short skirt, black tights and black slippers for irish dance. I don't quite remember exactly what men were supposed to get, but I seem to recall they had white t-shirts and black tights for ballet, and black trousers for irish. You can call the camp arrangers for this year's requirements, although I think they'll be mostly the same.

 

For ordinary classes our school requires clothing that shows the body. In our school most girls interpret that with tights, leotard and possibly a pair of leggings. There aren't many men, but they seem to have tight t-shirts (or sometimes leotards) under tights, jazz pants or tank unitards. Warm-up gear is not worn for barre.

 

There are two info meetings before camp, 27.4. for new attendees, and 1.6. for fitting performance costumes and other practical arrangements.

 

The URL for the camp flyer (unfortunately only in Finnish) is:

http://www.helsingintanssiopisto.fi/kesa20...irit/index.html

 

Päivi

[Guest vila]

Dear Päivi,

 

Thank you ever so much for your time and detailed answers. I absolutely want to go now (and the whole idea of visiting Finland gets me very excited !!!)so I'd better don on my"master planner" outfit quickly and get organized!

 

Much thanks again

[Jaana Heino]

As this is a buddy board, am I allowed to whine about something? Namely, the change in the levels of the camp. I've been planning to go, and would have been on the Beginner 2 level of the last camp.

 

But now they've changed the levels, and I doubt I'm ready for the Intermediate 1 yet, at least not on such an intensive pace as the camp has, but I'm not too keen on being stuck with Beginner1's either. Yes yes, I know it would be good for me, etc, etc, but as it's a camp that costs some money extra to my regular classes I would have wanted to have danced as close as possible to my own level.

 

If indeed the "beginner1&2" means that total beginners can come, and I'll be in the same class with them, I'm going to think twice about going. A total beginner class is something I take every now and then, and like it, but a whole camp of them and Irish dance only - I don't know. :mad:

 

Well, I guess I'll hear more in the info meeting 27th April. With my luck I'll decide to go after hearing more, and the camp will be full by then.

[Guest BilboBaggins]

Hi Jaana:

 

First, whining is more than permitted ... that's what "buddies" are for!!

 

Second, I wouldn't wait until the April meeting ... I'd call or email the camp now and find out, so that if necessary, you have the time to consider or make alternate plans.

 

BB

[Jaana Heino]

BB, yeah, I might still call them or email the office. But somehow, when there is a set info meeting, I feel sort of shy asking things outside of it - I mean, can't help I suspecting they have put the info meeting there to avoid getting all these calls and emails asking the same things...

[Guest BilboBaggins]

I agree it's very thoughtful and considerate of them to set up an information meeting, but if it's the end of April, then your ability to look at or consider other programs is very limited. If the meeting had been set for early April ...

 

... so I wouldn't be shy, I'd call or email them and ask, so that you have the time to make other arrangements if the change makes this program not suitable for you. I suspect they'll understand your reason for not waiting ... and frankly, if you do it by email, you're really not interrupting or disturbing their day ...

 

BB (am I being a too aggressive American? ;) )

[Jaana Heino]

BB, nah, I'm being a shy Finn.

 

But it's not as if there were other programs to consider: it's either this camp, or none, for me. It's the only adult camp in Europe I know of, and the US one with all the travel would become too expensive to even consider.

 

(That doesn't mean I will be without ballet whole summer, if I don't go. Weekly classes at the school continue through summer, with different teachers teaching them each for a few weeks.)

[Guest BilboBaggins]

Really ... in all of Europe, there's only the one adult camp? Nothing in France or Russia? That's amazing!!

 

I've learned something today (thank you for that, Jaana) ... but I wish I had learned how many adult programs there were ... not just that there's only one!!

BB

[Jaana Heino]

Well, "that I know of". We can still hope some one proves me wrong.

[psavola]

I suspect they changed the levels from last year because only two of us Beginner 2s were good enough to survive the combined (Beginner 2 & Intermediate 1) classes and do ballet in the end performance. The others dropped off, one by one, to the Beginner 1 class.

 

I'm editing this to add that a few of the Beginner 2s continued to take the barre in our class and left for their own class before center or after center barre, but before adage, pirouettes or jumps. (The classes were scheduled so that this was possible)

 

I managed to cope because I had a familiar teacher, was already a very strong Beginner 2 both physically and technically and I am quick to pick up combinations. I was also willing to do extra work on my own. (We practiced together with the other girl, it was great fun)

 

Jaana, the current plan is for complete beginners to be able to attend. However, the skill level of attendees determines the actual class difficulty. (Meaning if few or no true beginners attend, the Beginner 1&2 class will actually be pretty much a Beginner 2 class, like I hear the Intermediate 2&3 class is going to be fairly Intermediate 3) There weren't any true beginners last year that I knew of, the "Beginner 1" class was started during the camp.

 

Päivi