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The
Summer ST-ARTS Program
Sponsored by the Winthrop University College of Visual and Performing Arts and the participating school districts from York and Lancaster counties, this program, which serves 275 gifted and talented students in the arts in grades 6-8, will convene on the Winthrop campus from June
5-23, 2006 for its
eighteenth annual program. The participating school districts are Clover, Fort Mill, Lancaster, Rock Hill, and York. A professional faculty of over 45 artists/teachers in the four visual and performing arts (dance, music, drama, and visual arts) is drawn from a pool of nationally known performing artists, the SC Arts Commission Artists Roster, master teachers from public and private schools, and the Winthrop University faculty. This diverse faculty directs the students through a multi-faceted curriculum from 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. daily during the three-week program.
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Special performances are also an integral part of the summer program, and have included the Battery Dance Company of New York, the Anthony Morgan Dance Company of New York, the Troika Balalaikas of Atlanta, Silent Partners Mime Duo of Asheville, the Charlotte Shakespeare Company, the Tarradiddle Players of Charlotte, Jazz Dance Theatre South of Atlanta, Chopstick Theatre of Charleston, Wicklothian (a Celtic music duo), Transactors Improv Company of Chapel Hill, Viva Klezmer! Of Charlotte, Irish Celtic music by Flora MacDonald Gammon, local artist Daniel Bright, and the Brosseau Danceworks of Charlotte. Several of our guest performers are or have been in residence at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston. This last year, renowned African drummer and dancer, Mohammed da Costa (Guinea) was our artist-in-residence working with our dancers and African drumming students.
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Participating students spend the day in a variety of instructional opportunities in their "major" arts area, taking full advantage of the state-of-the-arts facilities on the Winthrop campus. A portion of the afternoon is spent experiencing a "minor" art. The emphasis of the program is to guide the students through the process of conceptualizing and creating art. Curriculum is designed and evaluated in accordance with the South Carolina Visual and Performing Arts Framework. The program concept and curricular design have been cited by the State Department of Education as a model of how an institution of higher learning and a consortium of public schools can work in a cooperative venture to provide a comprehensive arts program for talented arts students within the local school districts. The program was nominated in 1993 for the prestigious Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Award for excellence in arts education.
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| Since its inception in 1989, the Summer ST-ARTS Program has served over
6,000 middle school students. Many of our graduates have been selected to attend the Governors School of the Arts in Greenville, and have gone on to continue their studies at major universities throughout the region. |
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