ABOUT CARPE DIEM
In short, we're a theater day-camp that runs for the month of July! We currently run our programs for two different age groups:
SUMMER STARS | Campers entering grades 7 through 10
CARPE DIEM KIDS | Campers entering grades 2 through 6
Our SUMMER STARS and CARPE DIEM KIDS rehearse separately for the first three weeks of camp. In addition to rehearsing their mainstage productions, they are offered opportunities for cabaret performances and theater master classes. The final week of camp, tech week, brings all of our campers together to collaborate, along with our COUNSELORS, to produce their shows in tandem. It is this collaboration that has made the bonds of our Carpe Diem Family so strong for the last 10 years.
COUNSELORS
One of Carpe Diem’s many strengths is its cycle of leadership; kids who have grown up in the camp have the opportunity to enter the COUNSELOR PROGRAM when they enter 10th grade, and remain counselors until the summer after high school graduation. As a result, they have three summers of theater leadership experience before even going to college, an opportunity rarely found in other theater programs in the Capital District.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR CARPE DIEM?
The mission that will guide us moving forward is to empower children through accessible programs that provide opportunities for performance and high-quality education in theatre, arts leadership, and collaboration. This is inspired by the way camp has organically functioned for the past 10 years. In this time, we have observed that theater has given the Carpe Diem campers the tools to express themselves and be confident in who they are. They continue to break down barriers within themselves and others, and create the bonds of family. They gain the confidence to voice their creative ideas, take risks in their performances, become mentors to one another, and use the skills they learn in camp to overcome obstacles in their lives.