IMAGINARY WORLDS WORLD BUILDING THROUGH MUSIC
SCI-FI AND OTHER FANTASY GENRES -- HOW WE CREATE THEM AND WHY WE SUSPEND OUR DISBELIEF
An Overview of the Curriculum Designed by Internationally Performed Composer, Co-Founder Anne Deane Berman, PhD
Music leaves so much unsaid. When we listen to music, we create the images as our minds wander. We become the world builders. This summer, DIGIVATIONS CAMP DEMIGOD INSTITUTE Co-Founder Anne Deane Berman, PhD along with Faculty will teach an all-camp series which encourages demigods to use the innovation, philosophical and STEM concepts they learn in Co-Founder Dr. Steve’s Innovation Classes to create improvisatory soundscapes, original songs, instrumental compositions, and interactive sonic environments.
Campers will explore ways in which music can bring meaning and magic to words and images, and as an underscore to our daily camp lives which include adventurous quests, magical star gazing and quiet moments in the hammock garden. Dr. Anne’s method not only enhances students’ musical skills, but also develops a sense of creative individuality in extra-musical pursuits. Every student who comes to Camp Demigod will be exposed to the music curriculum as one of the fundamental classes along with Innovation Class. Nearly all students will compose one short piece in the medium of their choice. These new works will be based on the campers’ innovative design thinking, creative writing, art works or theatrical character expressions and will be given performances by the faculty, fellow students, or through computer. Another goal of the music curriculum will be to open campers’ ears to the sounds of the natural world around them, thus exposing them to perhaps the most fertile and underused source for new music: the world in which we live.
WORLD BUILDING IN MUSIC LITERATURE:
Music can help us understand a different perspective on the world we’re building; it can color the way we imagine and see it; and it can shape the reading or dramatic experience. When science fiction and fantasy writers consider the task of world building, music gives meaning to aspects of a fictional setting: technology, magic systems, climate and topography, fantastical creatures, nations and monarchs, race, culture, dress, religion, economy, and so on. We will touch on different composers who use music to enhance the characters and places of a world: Ancient Greek music (Camp Half-Blood), classical (Wagner’s operas, Stravinsky’s dance music “Rite of Spring”), jazz (Miles Davis), musical theater (Ahrens & Flaherty- Cartoon world in Seussical, to the afro-carrbean feel of Once on this Island, to 1920's America in Ragtime. Also, a popular favorite will be looking at the works of Lin Manuel Miranda), experimental (Steve Reich and Laurie Anderson) and popular (the indie band Vertigo Drift and Legend of Zelda’s Kōji Kondō), who all create an expanded universe of sound through collaboration with visual artists, writers and filmmakers. Campers will also learn how the background music in games can help to create player immersion (or not).
Students will bring their original characters and worlds to life through music, sound, art, movement, words, etc. Linear sound design for dramatic effect and basic concepts of form in music will be discussed. Depending on the skill level and interest of the Demigod, the result could be anything from a sound world that is graphically notated and performed by the campers, music that are described by the Demigod to the faculty who improvise using the camper’s vision of their world or character, to traditional notation that is either performed by the student or faculty/staff. The final result may be a finished piece that can accompany a drawing of their character or their world that they create with the help of Art Faculty. Their music may drive text or a story line with the help of our Creative Writing Faculty. All the elements might come together in a multi-media performance.
All students receive a basic introduction to Musicianship, Instrumentation, Graphic and Standard Notation. Depending on time, camper expertise and interest, more experienced students will delve into Experimental Acoustics and Basics of Digital Audio Signal Processing, Computer Musicianship, Writing for Voice, and Interactive Video Game Scoring using their own computer.
The Camp Demigod Institute experience encompasses self-exploration in an environment which attracts like minded people from throughout the world. Our Demigods immerse themselves in experiential activities; positive, innovative, kinesthetic and disruptive world changing projects; and imaginative and creative design thinking and making. Demigods also share physical challenges in nature, whether they are climbing Demigod Lodge’s private mountain shared only with the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, water rafting, tubing or paddle boarding through the Wenatchee River, creating survival tools such as bows and arrows and other tactical weapons, playing capture the flag, QUIDDITCH, or other field games in a serene and private setting or developing self-confidence through our theatrical combat and martial arts programs.
We have designed Camp Demigod so that your child can enjoy multiple weeks with different themes and common core of STEM+ARTS+MOVEMENT.
Participants, regardless of age, positively challenge each other, and engage in a full array of personalized programs which are cutting edge, relevant and designed to enhance each persons’ capabilities in innovation, the arts, humanities including story and play writing and theatrical performance and combat. While each Demigod challenges themselves, they are inspired by each other, Counselors-in-Training, world class faculty and external visiting experts from a variety of professions. Demigods learn leadership and mentorship through example and by doing.
Camp Demigod builds on core family values, and through both personalized and group learning and action, each demigod creates their own guided personal experience with both peers and experts. These experiences are priceless as demigods’ build lifetime friendships with others, enhance self-confidence, learn and demonstrate respect for self and others through a diverse array of intellectual and kinesthetic pursuits, and positively develop their integrity, ethics, and internal drive and passion in pursuit of excellence acquiring leadership and mentorship talents.
Another fundamental benefit of the Camp Demigod experience is that each demigod finds their inner voice and improves their ability to express themselves. These achievements involve Demigods engaging their multiple senses and refining their unique talents as writers, artists, musicians, theatrical performers, athletes, innovators, makers, and imagineers.
More About Fandoms:
DIGIVATIONS Camp Demigod’s Camp Half-Blood and Camp Fandom are a blend of world building through innovation, role playing and speculative fiction (sci-fi/fantasy and steampunk) which we also refer to as the "Innovation Bakery." These Camps are based on the principles that kids have an enormous reservoir of creativity and innovative ideas which they look forward to sharing with other like-minded individuals who hold common interests.
At Harry Potter Camp, Demigod’s escape into the wizarding world of Harry Potter and learn about the potions, flying and magical beasts of JK Rowling’s series. Campers learn the chemistry of and make potions, the physics and fantasy behind magic including theories of flight and the "right stuff" behind the Nimbus 2000, as they play Quidditch. We introduce basic concepts of genetics to learn about the different traits and qualities of the beasts that wonder the Halls of Demigod Lodge’s Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (including werewolves, dementors and banshees). Along with the sciences, the art of making wands and the lessons behind spells will be important. Campers will also make costumes and write their own Harry Potter story chapters.
Camp Demigod's Campers palettes’ range from science fiction and fantasy, often referred to as speculative fiction, to steampunk where 21st century technologies are re-imagined in the 19th century. They are also passionate about quests and stories which allow them to take journeys through different cultures and times, and fields which define human origins, behavior and thought embodied in anthropology, archaeology, and ethnographics, to name a few.
Perhaps one of the most striking common threads our Camp Demigod Campers share is that they have amazing imaginations which allow them to mash up several different themes, intertwine current and futurist thinking with Victorian and other historical settings and inspirationally fuse original ideas with those flowing from literature and media. This provides a basis for infatiguable discussion and often a flow of expressive works in the form of improv, creative writing, music, games and film, among others. These discussions and creative works often lead to a championing of unique experiences for which Camp Demigod serves as a crucible and catalyst.
All this boils down to FUN for our Campers since Camp Demigod provides a unique haven where kids are afforded an opportunity to express themselves among peers while learning, collaborating and creating life long bonds. Significantly, Camp Demigod serves as a well spring of new social networks, and corresponding future Mentors and Leaders.