In an ever-increasing digital world, where is your #VOICE?
This is the question we posed to our students this year. While brainstorming ideas for this year's focus, the theme of this question and the weight of the word "voice" kept coming back to us. While it is certainly a broad word in the sense of definition, that's precisely why it was so appealing to us! Obviously voice in the most basic meaning is crucial to drama. We stress projection every year! "Speak loud enough so your Grandma in the very last row can hear you!" Yet, if we dive deeper into the meaning of voice, we can find many other applications to our program. The voice of our characters, for example. What our characters have to say, why they are saying it, how they are saying it... these factors all aid us in creating three-dimensional and believable characters. However, the most significant focus of #VOICE this year is the voice of our students. How do they communicate themselves to peers, to people online, to the world itself? Drama Kids has always been a space for our students to express themselves freely, but this year we want to encourage our students to process their emotions, #VOICE their opinions, and express themselves like never before. Everyone's #VOICE can be heard... The beauty of Drama Kids is that every child can shine on our stage. We recognize that not all of our students are dramatic and boisterous outside of our classroom. They may not speak the loudest, but that doesn't mean what they have to say isn't important! It's not just projection that we're focusing on this year. Listening to your fellow peers and empathizing with what they have to say is equally important. That's what #VOICE is all about! We share the spotlight, encourage creative thought, and collaborate together so that everyone's #VOICE can be heard. Yes, even the quietest student finds a way to stand out at Drama Kids! So, how can our more extroverted students benefit from #VOICE? As we mentioned earlier, #VOICE isn't just about speaking the loudest and proudest. We're on a mission to challenge our students to think critically about what they have to say. Mindfulness is something that we often overlook in Drama Kids. In improvisations, we say "Don't think! Just do!" But this mantra doesn't apply to every form of acting - or life, for that matter! Some of our students may feel their most comfortable hiding behind big, boisterous stage energy - which we will never discourage. (It makes for great characters after all!) However, we're never shy about encouraging our students to step out of their comfort zones. This year we're asking our students to think critically about their emotions, why they are feeling them, and how they want to express their thoughts and feelings to the world. With these lessons, we're hoping our extroverts will discover a brand new way to stand out amongst the crowd! So, what exactly are we doing in class? As we previously stated, #VOICE can be applied fairly broadly... so how are we putting the philosophy of our theme into actual, tangible action each week? Well, our Lower Primary students are getting a crash course in emotions! Inspired by the film Inside Out, we are getting emotional. Not only are we teaching our students how to express a character's emotions believably, we are also stressing that it's totally okay to feel these emotions themselves as well! We all get angry or sad sometimes, and it's important to be able to process these feelings and give #VOICE to their emotions. Why do we feel angry? How is the anger affecting us? How should we express these feelings without hurting ourselves or others? Not only are these lessons great to remember when building a character, they are even more important offstage! It is our hope that our youngest Drama Kids will carry these lessons throughout their lives. Our Upper Primary students are diving deep into character development! They are learning to give voice to their characters through their own choices. One ambiguous line could be said a multitude of different ways, depending on the character's personality and state of mind. Our students get creative control to figure out what speaks the most to them, and how they want the audience to view the characters they are creating. For our Acting Academies, we come back to our original question... "In an ever-increasing digital-world... where is your #VOICE?" We are diving deep into the philosophy of #VOICE with our teens and tweens. While we are able to communicate with more people than ever before on a daily basis, do our Drama Kids feel that their voice is getting lost in this new age of information and connectivity? Is the persona we promote online our true selves, or are we following what is trending and what is viral at the time? We are tackling these questions head on, and learning the importance of our true #VOICE! Drama Kids is a creative space where our teens can detach from their phones, think critically, and speak freely. It's what #VOICE is all about! So, what do YOU think about this year's theme? #VOICE your opinions on Facebook! Share with us how much your Drama Kid is learning and growing, and stay tuned for even more information about this year's theme in the coming months!
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Technology has led to many welcome advancements in our society, but it has also had some rather unintended impacts on overall health and well-being. One of those impacts is the development of “text neck.” The term “text neck” was created by a U.S. chiropractor and is used to describe repeated stress injury and pain in the neck as a result of excessive watching or texting on handheld devices over a sustained period of time. Unfortunately, this is a condition that is seeing constant growth throughout the world and is something that may be impacting our children. Kids & Cell Phones We may joke that a child’s phone is an extra appendage on his or her body, but there are some numbers that can back this up: The average age a child receives a cell phone is 12.1 years old. 56% of children ages 8 to 12 have a cell phone. 21% of children 8 or younger use smartphones. 60% of families who provide a cell phone to their child did this between the ages of 10 and 11. Parents and experts alike have become increasingly concerned by the amount of time their children are spending on smartphones, but they aren’t alone - teens themselves are concerned about their phone usage, too. A study from the Pew Research Center found that 60% of teens (between ages 13 and 17) reported that spending too much time online was a problem their age group faced, as nine in 10 teens went on to dub it a “major” problem. Some 54% of the teens felt that they spent too much time on their cellphones, and 41% said they overdid it on social media. Common Sense Media found that teens are spending nearly nine hours a day on average using media like online video or music, while the average was six hours a day for those ages 8 to 12. Ways to Combat “Text Neck” Knowing that this condition could lead to a less comfortable and even painful future for your child, it is important to also know how to combat “text neck.” One of the easiest ways to help prevent the future discomfort that may come with this continued neck strain is to limit your child’s screen time. Going over some ergonomic techniques can also prove beneficial. These can include holding the phone up higher at eye level and resting a tablet on a thigh or table. It is also smart to set timers to remind yourself and your children to switch positions when reading or watching something on the phone. Eye Contact in a “Text Neck” World In a world where eyes are commonly averted down to a smartphone or tablet, eye contact can go a long way for a child. Here are a few ways you can help your child improve eye contact: 1. Use role play to model bad behavior to your child. Have him or her say hello to you, but respond by looking off to the side and not making eye contact. 2. Have them look between the eyebrows. Some children may find eye contact uncomfortable and awkward regardless, which is when you can suggest they look at the person right between the eyebrows instead. It can appear to be eye contact and not make shy children uncomfortable. 3. Go over scripts. If a child is uncomfortable with talking to or meeting new people, having a script in the back of his or her mind may help. You can go over common greetings and small talk topics with your child. Don’t forget to have your child memorize this routine: look the person in the eye, smile, say hi and use the person’s name. Drama Kids International is proud to offer a curriculum that is specially tailored to helping children break out of their shells and become more comfortable in a variety of different social situations. For more information and to enroll your child in a local Drama Kids class, please visit us at www.dramakids.com. "We love making movies!" The DKI Film Academy is in full swing, and our young filmmakers are hard at work writing the screenplays for their features! While our students already have one film under their belts, it is important to remember that they aren't just learning the art of film. They are learning to express themselves mindfully, think critically, and most importantly... they are finding their #VOICE through this exciting medium! When we dreamed up this class last year, we knew we wanted to offer something truly amazing to our students. After five years of producing our beloved #ProjectSilverScreen session we realized that, while it was an absolute blast to work on, it was incredibly limiting. There wasn't much time for our students to think critically about their films. What we were able to create in such a limited time was nothing short of amazing... but the idea of devoting an entire class to filmmaking reenergized our passion for the project tenfold! The DKI Film Academy brings our dream to life. A class where students can explore the fundamentals of filmmaking beyond acting. A class where students have time to think about what they want to say, and how they want to say it. A class where our Drama Kids' #VOICE can forever be imprinted in this moment of time through their films. We are already so inspired by what our future filmmakers have created, and the discussions they have sparked within our classes. Watch our behind the scenes footage below to get a taste of the "action!" Our students have learned and experienced SO much in their first full month of classes! From developing and filming their very first short movies, to starting the screenwriting process of their features, our Film Academy students are getting more one on one filmmaking experience than we've EVER been able to offer! Not to mention the QUALITY of our films are better than ever before! Check out some of our newest original movies below to see the amazing and inspiring work of our Film Academy students! And remember - it's not too late to join! If your student wants in on the fun, there is still time to enroll! Join the DKI Film Academy today!
TWO CONTESTS, TWO CHANCES TO WIN!Do YOU want to win a free Drama Kids t-shirt? Our Halloween Photo Contest is BACK, and this year we are adding a brand *NEW* Caption Contest! Yes, that's right. This year you have two chances to win! Give #VOICE to your Drama Kid's Halloween character by snapping a picture of your child in their costume! The photo that receives the most reactions on our FB page will win a free t-shirt... and the winning photo will also be turned into a caption contest! On Halloween day check the page to see the winner, and to enter in your funniest caption for a chance to win a t-shirt, too. The caption with the most reactions wins! All you have to do to submit a photo to our Halloween contest is to post a photo of your Drama Kid on YOUR Facebook page, and tag us @ Drama Kids of the Capital Region so we can see it. (Be sure to make this photo "public" so it's not hidden from us!) You can also email us a photo the old fashioned way if you would prefer at [email protected]) The deadline to submit a photo to our contest is Monday, October 28th. Once we have received all of the submissions, we will post an album of the submissions on our official Facebook page. Whichever picture in our album gets the most LIKES and reactions wins! The contest ends at 12 AM on Halloween - October 31st! On Halloween morning we will be posting a *ONE DAY ONLY* caption contest for the winning photo! The person with the most reactions on their caption comment by November 1st wins. |
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