A cloud of smoke and a red backdrop behind them, a group of children in matching blue T-shirts was met with the applause of family and friends after they performed Bon Jovi’s iconic “Livin’ on a Prayer” Thursday night.
Edwardsburg Public Schools ended its eighth annual summer music camp with a live performance of music from different decades throughout the past century. Through the nine-day camp, participants practice the music and choreography for the final performance for three hours a day until the day of the show. The camp is open to students in fourth through eighth grade.
Director Michelle Gruver and Assistant director and choreographer Catherine Wood organize the children to put on the final show with the aid of several high school students who mentor the children.
“I had a middle school choir director that put on these types of shows when I was a student and I just want the kids in Edwardsburg to have that same kind of opportunity,” Gruver said. “Some students can’t fit choir or band into their schedules due to other interests, and I wanted them to have an opportunity to still be connected to the music program.”
The theme of this year’s music camp was “through the decades,” which differs from previous years when organizers themed the camp around Disney songs or showtunes.
Audience favorite number included Adam Young’s “Fireflies” where each child held an electronic candle, lighting up the stage, and Jonathan Cain’s “Faithfully,” in which high school mentors sang the song and the younger children reenacted a middle school dance.
Many of the children weren’t familiar with the older songs used at this year’s camp, which included tunes from The Andrews Sisters, The Beatles, Elton John, Elvis Presley and Madonna. To help acquaint the children with the style of music and dance from decades past, Wood showed the children videos and older clips which feature the different styles of dance.
“Certainly, the kids like the popular songs better,” Wood said. “But they still have fun with the older songs as well.”
With only nine days to prepare for a 40-minute program, the pressure is on both the adults and the children to stay focused and create an entertaining show.
“It’s pretty intense. Every one of those days, it’s three hours straight of just singing and dancing. The kids had to learn nine songs,” Wood said. “The kids are working non-stop that whole time, but when you have that many kids that love what they are doing, it makes the process easier.”
This year, the numbers for the camp were lower than usual, due to how late the school year ended, which meant many children had immediate sports commitments, Wood said.
Despite this, the camp still had around 50 participants, a number that Wood is happy with.
“We still ended up with a very strong program that we have constantly had for all eight years,” she said.
The short time frame and lower-than-usual number of children made for a few stumbles along the way to the performance, but Wood and Gruver are still proud of what the children were able to accomplish.
“It’s not going to be perfect, which we don’t expect,” Wood said. “But have some tremendous talent. The kids really pull it together and put on a tremendous show for the audience.”