Ovations Dance Academy Of Tampa Accepting Students For Summer Camp

TAMPA, FL — Enrollment is now open for Ovations Dance Academy of Tampa's2023 Summer Theater Camp in Tampa and Dunedin for participants ages 5 to adult.

On May 30 to June 2, join Ovations Stage and Film Workshop with award-winning Broadway director Stephen Nachamie at the Tampa studio. Students age 8 and up should have their song prepared and monologue ready for assessment by Nachamie.

A professional touring actor and New York transplant, Ovations founder and artistic director, Orlando Peña, brought his love of theater and New York studio to Tampa in 2021.

He explained that he and Nachamie worked decades ago in Bellport, New York's, Gateway Playhouse. Among Nachamie's many accolades is being the associate director of "She Loves Me" on Broadway.

Students will get a firsthand look at the theater industry and work to develop and expand their performance skills.

"He will talk about the industry, how to audition, coach them on performing their song for an audition and for monologues, and he will either coach them or give them material and guide them on his process," said Peña.

Two workshops are open for performers ages 8 to 13 and ages 14 to adult.

"I think there's a real need for serious acting and technique classes for adults. This is my way of tapping into the community of Tampa and seeing what people want and are looking for," Peña said.

On June 5 to 16, Ovations is hosting a Salsa Camp and a Circus Camp for ages 4 to 14 in Tampa and Dunedin.

Latin instructors Orvest Law and Mari Garcia will immerse the class in the moves of salsa. In contrast, Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus and Cirque du Soleil performer instructor Grace Brett will teach workshop activities, including plate spinning, juggling, stilt walking and acting/pantomime.

"With the salsa and circus, my goal is to allow students to experience different flavors of art forms," Peña said.

On June 19 to 30, Peña has a unique Disney program scheduled in both locations. Ages 5 and up will explore the world of princesses, princes, villains and other favorite characters through songs and dances in musical theater. Older students will serve as mentors for the younger campers. On the last day of class, students will showcase what they've learned to their parents.

"Every studio promotes, oh, Disney camp is fun, safe and they'll act and dance. To me, it's quite boring and generic. We will look deeper at the characters, like talking about Pocahontas or Cinderella. We will look at what obstacles they had to deal with and share with the kids what they had to overcome. While we're not playing therapist, we'll ask questions like what's the challenging activity you do throughout the day or something you have difficulty dealing with? How did Pocahontas or Cinderella handle it compared to how would you handle it to come out as a winner? Yes, these characters are beautiful, but we want to dig deeper, study the character and explore the beauty within," Peña said.

Ovations Dance Academy will continue with regular ballet, jazz, tap, Broadway tap-style, musical theater and hip-hop classes in the afternoons. These culminate in a community performance. For adults, Ovations teaches ballet, musical theater, tap and jazz.

Summer camp classes and workshops are available individually or discounted as a camp package. All instructors have been through stringent background checks.

"My main goal with the summer camp is to teach kids how to communicate, getting them out of their cellphones and out of their heads," Peña said. "Here, it's not about competition or winning that big trophy for the studio. You might be a great singer or actor, but nothing will come through unless you put your heart into it. This work is the art of giving, not getting an award. It's about the love of why I'm here — sharing the love of the theater."

Ovations Dance Academy of Tampa, located at 13847 W. Hillsborough Ave., Tampa, is open from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Sunday. The Dunedin camp location is at Academie Da Vinci Charter School for the Arts, 1060 Keene Road.

Learn more about classes and register for camp at both locations here.