We will learn about all things theater—from acting to design to scriptwriting. You’ll learn how to build a story and bring it to life, all while making new friends! We will grow and deepen our ensemble through collaboration—working with and learning from each other to share our own individual stories and talents. We’ll always start each day by warming up our bodies and minds with gentle yoga-based stretching, breathing exercises, and mindfulness. We will warm up our actor’s tools (imaginations//bodies//voices) and build our ensemble through a variety of fun theater games and activities. In our first week, we will spend time together exploring our story, its characters and collectively creating a script. In our second week, we’ll bring our story to life through rehearsals and design elements focusing on props, costumes, and shaping what our world looks like. The awesome part about summer camp is that each camp experience is unique to its ensemble and how they envision their story together!

Each camp session is between two and three weeks long, running Monday through Friday (no weekends) from 9 am to 3 pm. Please note that Session 3 is half day, Monday through Friday, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm (we will not break for lunch, but ask that you pack a snack for your camper).

9:00-9:15 Drop-Off
9:00- 9:45 am – Check-in, ensemble warm-up, and goal setting for the day
9:45 – 10:30 am – Theater games to build the ensemble
10:30-10:45 am – Snack and bathroom break
10:45-12:00 pm – Creative storytelling and movement, writing, and rehearsal
12:00-1:00 pm – Lunch club and playground
1:00-2:50 pm – Mindful moment—re-centering for the afternoon, craft projects, and rehearsal
2:45-3:00 pm – Closing reflection & Pick Up

TBD

No, not really, but we do generally incorporate a lot of music, singing, and dancing. Each show is designed around its unique, creative ensemble, and what they would like to highlight and share while telling the story. If we have campers who really love to tell stories through music, song, and dance then we will lean into that for that particular production. Singing and dancing can be really scary for some young artists, so it’s always opt-in. For those that really LOVE musical theater, we do offer several Musical Theatre classes that dive into the contemporary and classic musical genre throughout the year.

For summer camp 2022, we’ll spend our second week of camp rehearsing and filming our script to create a short film to share with families and friends. The film will be shared approximately a week after the last session day. Our film will also include photos and memories collected throughout our time together.

Drop off and pick up will take place at The Theatre School (2350 N Racine Ave). A Creative Root staffer will greet you outside by the main entrance of the building to check each camper in for the day. Campers must be signed out by a parent or guardian (or someone authorized on your google form) before they are allowed to leave camp unless they have written permission to sign themselves out and walk home. The main entrance is located in the middle of the building on Racine (do not enter at the corner on Fullerton—those doors are locked). There is free parking on Racine on the northbound side of the street and there is paid parking along the southbound side.

Creative Root’s camp location includes rehearsal rooms at The Theatre School at DePaul (2350 N Racine Ave) and St. Vincent’s Circle which is a reserved outdoor space with plenty of shade located on The Quad. After lunch, we will take a short playground break at Oscar Mayer School (2250 N Clifton). We will remain indoors if it is raining or too hot to be outside. It’s always helpful to pack clothes for the weather outdoors or air conditioning indoors. Please prepare your camper to spend time outdoors by packing sunscreen, a refillable water bottle, beach towel, or yoga mat if they prefer not to sit on the grass. (Each camper will have a cubby where they can keep items like yoga mats, towels, sweaters, paintshirt for duration of camp.)

Please make sure that your camper is wearing clothing they can move freely in. We move our bodies a lot in theatre camp, as it’s one of our most important actor’s tools! For safety, comfort and enhanced confidence Creative Root recommends that campers do not wear open-toed sandals or flip flops, skirts or dresses (unless wearing shorts underneath), or clothing that otherwise limits movement, comfort, or confidence. Each camper will be assigned a cubby for the duration of camp that they can leave larger items overnight. So if they want to keep a sweatshirt or sweater for inside air conditioning, and also for crafting and prop building, it’s great to pack a paint shirt to bring (like an old, oversized T-shirt).

Creative Root will take breaks to re-energize and refuel with a morning snack and afternoon lunch. Please remember that camp is a NUT-FREE ZONE and we ask that you do not pack any snacks or foods that contain nuts. Creative Root does NOT have snacks or lunch available for campers, so please remember to pack a healthy snack and lunch every day. Weather permitting, all snacks and lunches will take place outside. Unfortunately, there is no refrigerator or microwave for camp use. Lunches and snacks will be kept indoors in air-conditioned spaces, but insulated lunch packs are always recommended.

Creative Root is a peanut and tree nut-free zone. We have so many campers with very serious allergies and it can be very scary when an allergic reaction is accidentally triggered. Please help us out and do not pack any nut-based snacks or foods. If your camper has an allergy, please let Creative Root staff know in-person on the first day of camp as well as on the health form. Also, for many reasons we ask that campers don’t share any food or snacks with one another.

All campers and instructors will be using campus bathrooms primarily located in the Theatre School building and campus buildings located off The Quad. Restrooms are cleaned several times each day by DePaul’s custodial teams. There are also multiple All Gender restrooms located throughout the Theatre School building, including the first floor, second floor, and fourth floor. There are water fountains on campus available for refilling water bottles.

We’re at camp so let’s connect with those around us! Keep those cell phones in your backpacks so you’re not distracted or disengaged. We ask that phones only be used for emergencies or important check-ins with guardians. We ask that campers always check with their instructor before using technology. To remove the temptation we ask that campers leave all other devices (iPads, tablets, gaming devices, fidget spinners) at home or in the car. This is an interactive and collaborative theater arts camp, which is a great opportunity to take a break from our technology!

Creative Root works towards always holding an inclusive space. Let us know how best to support your camper in order to create an environment where they can be their happiest, silliest, most imaginative, and brilliant selves!

You can sign up by following this link! (Don’t wait too long, camps fill up fast! And Early Bird pricing for camps ends May 29, 2022)

We’re so sorry that the session you signed up for didn’t work out! Let us know if you would like to switch your registration to another session and if there is still availability, we’ll make that happen. If not, we can absolutely offer a full refund prior to the first day of camp. We do not offer any refunds once programming has started.

We sure are! Creative Root is an auxiliary program of The Theatre School at DePaul specifically designed for the community! All of our classes and camps take place at the state-of-the-art Theatre Building (2350 N Racine Ave).

Yes, if you can’t come to us, we’ll do our best to come to you! We work in schools and with community organizations all year long offering both in-school and after-school programs. For more information, contact [email protected].

Yes, we want as many people to have an opportunity to exercise their imaginations as possible. For camps, we offer an early bird discount and discount for active DePaul staff and students. Discounts cannot be combined. And we do offer a limited amount of partial or full scholarships for our camps and class programs. To inquire, please reach out to Mechelle Moe at [email protected]

DePaul’s Tax ID Number is 36-2167048. You can also find this on your receipt once you’ve registered.

We completely understand the desire to stay and watch the fun! We know that you could be just as nervous as your child might be or just want to show support, but sometimes that impacts the focus and participation in the room. We ask that parents or guardians drop their children off and do not stay for observation. Most classes and camps end with some sort of culminating event or performance and we’ll happily ask you to join us as an audience then!

You can email Creative Root directly at [email protected] and we’ll get back to you right away!

The foundation of all Creative Root programming is based on the principal of ensemble—our practice to be aware, respectful and kind to one another as we collaborate and create theatre together. On our very first day of class or camp, each ensemble will create their own agreement together so that everyone can offer and share what they need in order to be their best, most confident, creative self and collaborator.

Creative Root works towards always holding an inclusive space. Let us know how best to support your child in order to create an environment where they can be their most happy, silliest, imaginative and brilliant selves.

At Creative Root, we want to make sure that every student feels safe emotionally, physically, and creatively while working together. This includes being a respectful artistic collaborator and mindful of how we use our words and physical actions while working together. Creative Root celebrates leading with kindness by actively listening to all ideas, making space for others, taking turns during an exercise, using safety and awareness with our bodies, observing personal boundaries, being a positive, supportive ensemble member and offering feedback that is constructive. We all shine when we take care of each other!

We will learn and grow together! Our instructors and staff are equally excited about sharing their knowledge as they are about learning from each and every camper. It is a top priority to provide a fun, collaborative and safe environment for our campers to create in. We will do our best to transparent about what we are doing and why as well as sharing our daily schedule and goals. Remember that staff and instructors are also a part of the ensemble, so being a respectful artistic collaborator with them is just as important as it is with your peers. We also encourage campers—and parents—to ask questions and share how things are working (or not) for you.

We have a collective goal to explore theater through a variety of lenses (movement, writing, singing, designing) and let that inspire the art we make together—all guided by our experienced instructors. Theater is a team effort, and we invite and encourage everyone to fully participate in the creative process in order to develop a piece of theater that is entirely unique to that ensemble. And while casting and performing is one aspect of the process, at Creative Root, we don’t believe it’s the most important and we don’t want it to define our entire experience. Who knows, maybe you’ll discover something new you love that you never knew about before! We hope so!

How lucky we are to get to have classes and camp at the amazing Theatre School building and DePaul campus! We ask that campers always respect the physical spaces that we work —rehearsal rooms, the lobby, The Quad, bathrooms, and the playground. Also, for your students’s safety, we want to make sure we are always using the spaces for what they were designed for and that we leave no trace! (Except for all the positive, creative energy we put into the universe!) Staff and Instructors will always let campers know what are able to, or not able to do, in our work and play spaces. Or if you don’t know, just ask!

We are very mindful of the age span for each group and how that impacts programming for our campers. *The minimum age is six for our two & three week full day camps. Some accommodations can be made–for example if you have a birthday a month shy of the deadline. However, we do require that campers have completed kindergarten in order to participate.

Each group has one lead teaching artist and one college intern in the room at all times. (One adult per every 10 students.) There is an administrative floater who assists with groups as needed. Please note that staff are trained theater professionals and are NOT certified in special education or mental health counseling. If your student requires an aide during the school year or one-on-one care, unfortunately our camp is not equipped to handle those needs. Please feel free to reach out if you have additional questions!