MUSIC WORKSHOP - 2001

Harmony 101
Conducted by: Nick Page

Whether you are a seasoned singer or a non-singer, master song leader Nick Page will inspire you to sound amazing. Along the way, Nick will demonstrate the power of music to enrich learning, community, cultural awareness, personal helath and all that good stuff.

Nick Page is a Boston based song leader, composer, author, and educator who is dedicated to teaching people of all ages that they are capable of great miracles through the simple, yet powerful act of singing. His book Sing and Shine ON! The Teacher's Guide to Multicultural Song Leading is published by Greenwood / Heinemann. Stenhouse publishes his other book, Music As A Way Of Knowing, which is part of a series of books on how to use the arts to teach all subjects in the elementary school classroom. Nick Page's choral music is published by Boosey & Hawkes and by World Music Press. He directs the two hundred voice Mystic Chorale in Boston, MA. Nick's web site is www.nickmusic.com. He was music director at Star from 1979 to 1981 and has been a frequent guest at Star conferences. In fact, he and his wife Nita Penfold met on the Island.

DRAMA WORKSHOP - 2001

Shakespeare From the Page to the Stage
Conducted by David Richman

My emphasis in this workshop would be on the distinction between meter and rhythm, on speaking Shakespeare's speeches "trippingly on the tongue" with passion and clarity; on suiting the action to the word, the word to the action. There is a possibility that the group could present a production of selected scenes, but that would be left up to class members, who may chose to just study rather than perform.

David is a theatre professor at the University of New Hampshire, a wild favorite of students (not that he's so wild, just that students are wild about him). Both a theatre historian and a director, specializing in Shakespeare and verse speaking, he is also a Yeats scholar, with a book recently published on that poet.

WRITING WORKSHOP - 2001

Writing From The Soul
Conducted by: Nita (Bonnie) Penfold

Come participate in a deep writing experience emphasizing playing with words using images, wordbowl cards, objects and writing from the famous and not so famous. Writing exercises will engage you at many levels and help you to write no matter your level of experience. Bring your favorite spiritual poem to the first session.

Nita Penfold has had over 300 poems published in the past 20 years. Her work has appeared in over 20 anthologies including Beacon Press books, Cries of the Spirit, and Claiming the Spirit Within. She has 3 poems in the recently released Split Verse which was reviewed by the New Yorker (July 10, 2000), quoting one of Nita's poems. Pudding House Press published her chapbook, The Woman With the Wild-Grown Hair in 1998. She is Director of Religious Education at the First Parish in Milton, MA and has taught this workshop there and at the Episcopal Divinity School, Ferry Beach Religious Education Week, Star Island Religious Education Week, and for the North Atlantic Retired Ministers Association. She is currently a Divine Ministry Student at the University of Creation Spirituality.

DANCE WORKSHOP - 2001

Creative Choreography:
Exploring the Elements of Dance
Conducted by Kate Walders

Learn the elements of Dance: Space... Time... Body... Quality. With these we will explore and discover our personal choices and styles of movement. We will learn to communicate without the constraint of verbal language and social convention. Help coax each other toward a better understanding of ourselves, each other, and how our culture shapes our physical language and how we interact. Watch as we turn simple, creative exercises into a completed dance.

Kate Walders holds a BFA in Dance form The Ohio State University. She is a certified exercise instructor and currently teaches Dance Aerobics at the YMCA. In addition, she teaches a variety of movement workshops including modern dance, improvisation, creative movement and creative choreography.

Kate has danced with Park Avenue Dance Company, Present Tense Dance Company, Dancing in the Streets, Inc., The Arc that Never Ends Improvisational Company, Victoria Uris, Partners in Dance and The Moving Arts Dance Company and continues to choreograph and perform her own work. Kate's daily joy is spending time with her husband and two children.

VISUAL ARTS WORKSHOP - 2001

Painting Nature's Wonders
Conducted by Joan Gessner

Painting Nature's Wonders, a watercolor painting course that will focus on developing special techniques with paint and paper. Joan will demonstrate how to take the struggle out of composting and painting from nature and insure that you will know the secrets the professionals use to paint those dazzling scenes from nature. In discussing how certain pigments react when placed with other pigments, she will teach you how to maintain clarity throughout your work.

Nationally recognized watercolor artist and former Occupational Therapy Practitioner, Joan Gessner, will offer an adult watercolor class for one week during the summer of 2001 at Star Island Conference on the Arts. Joan, a professional artist for over 30 years has authored numerous commercial wall-covering books, exhibited and lectured throughout the United States on the Civil War and American Indian as well as participating in an invitational program at Duke University. She is the recipient of numerous local and national major awards with her sensitive watercolor portraits of the southern culture including "Best of Show" at the World's Fair in New Orleans. In addition, for many years she taught watercolor painting in Seattle with a noted artist supply manufacturer, Daniel Smith.

Joan's e-mail address is joangessner@usa.net and you can see other samples of her work at www.artistsmuse.net/Gessner.htm