I Know What You Did Last Summer: Deerfield Students Expand Their Artistic Talents

If they are not at sports camps, at work, or traveling abroad, where do some Deerfield students spend their summers? The answer: art programs. Through multi-week programs, Deerfield artists practiced their talents, learned from respected professionals, and left with new-found inspirations and motives which they have brought back with them to school.

DANCE: Nina Shevzov-Zebrun ’12 attended a six-week ballet program in New York City at the American Ballet Theater. At ABT, Shevzov-Zebrun danced from nine in the morning until five in the evening, in classes ranging from ballet technique to pointe variations to jazz dance.

“My favorite part of the program,” shared Shevzov-Zebrun “was that we were able to watch the ABT professional dancers who were rehearsing in the studios.”

Ilse Kapteyn ’12 attended a seven-week-long ballet program with the Chautauqua School of Dance in New York. Kapteyn danced for seven to eight hours a day with about 20 other girls. For Kapteyn, one of the most exciting parts of the program was the opportunity to perform in a huge outdoor amphitheater.

VISUAL ART: Hannah Flato ’10 attended a two-week program at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation. The program accepts about 10% of applicants, and all 60 students get full scholarships. The students at the camp drew and painted for a total of seven hours a day, guided by critically acclaimed artists, who Flato described as “terrifying but wonderful.”

Jacque Hulburd ’10 attended a one-month summer intensive at The Parsons New School of Design in New York. In the digital photography department of the program, Hulburd was in classes for six hours every day. The classes were either taught by guest speakers, or art history lessons about other photographers. “I learned a lot about placement, lighting and detail,” she said, “and about the importance of a picture.”

MUSIC: Nick Whittredge ’10, accompanied by his violin, went to the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music for 20 days. At Apple Hill, in Nelson, New Hampshire, students attended chamber music rehearsals for three to four hours every day. One unique thing that the program does is “take people from conflicted places of the world and put them in a chamber group together,” as Whittredge described. “By the end of the session, they will play a piece of music together. I took away the message of tolerance of others’ music ability and ideology.”

Emlyn Van Eps ’12 attended a four-week musical program at the Luzerne Music Center in New York. Van Eps’s daily schedule consisted of six hours of rehearsals, both private and group. She also was able to attend performances by professional musicians. “I left the camp motivated to continue playing violin and improve myself,” Van Eps said.

Andy Kang ’10 spent two weeks at a music intensive camp at Tanglewood, in Lenox, Massachusetts. Kang spent hours in rehearsals during the day, and was able to attend some professional performances at night. Kang felt that his greatest improvement from the camp was “new confidence and boldness” in his playing.

THEATER: Camille Coppola ’10 went to a five-week acting institution at the National High School Institute Theater Division at Northwestern University. Her daily schedule included movement, text analysis, theater history, set design, and screen writing classes along with rehearsals at night. The group performed ten plays including Columbinus, seen on the Deerfield stage in 2007. Looking back at her experience, Coppola reflected, “I’ve learned there are so many ways of doing one art form.”