Participants in "Beyond Hum-Drum,” a workshop using percussion instruments, pound out the rhythm by beating a broomstick with a drumstick. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
Participants in "Beyond Hum-Drum,” a workshop using percussion instruments, pound out the rhythm by beating a broomstick with a drumstick. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
Instructor Tom Donaldson listens as Kelly Birch from Lajes High School, the Azores, plays a piece she composed in the "Play it by ear: Melodies, Harmonies and Arrangements" workshop. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
Evan Fillman of SHAPE High School, Belgium, participating in the "Video Production" workshop, focuses on the works being made in the "Sculpture: State of Mind" workshop. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
Christine Handley, a 10th-grader from SHAPE High School, Belgium, paints in the “Sculpture: State of Mind” workshop. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
In the "Multi-Dimensional Drawing" workshop at Creative Connections in Oberwesel, Germany, Sarah Gill, a student from Incirlik High School, Turkey, takes measure of Chelsea Blandford of Brussels High School, Belgium, before sketching her. (Michael Abrams / S&S)
Editor’s note: This week, 150 students from Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Europe have gathered in Oberwesel, Germany, for Creative Connections, a weeklong art seminar. The following article is one student’s take on the seminar.
A view of a castle overlooking a river. Busloads of excited students. Assorted luggage of every shape and size outside a building. A large, brightly colored sign helpfully directing the milling crowds toward the reception.
Welcome to Creative Connections, a weeklong DODDS-Europe art seminar that takes place annually at a youth hostel in Oberwesel, Germany. Entrance to this seminar is based on student competition, along with a teacher recommendation and, for visual arts students, a sample of artwork.
Certainly, the seminar is not for your average student: The work-intensive workshops run from 8:45 to 11:30 a.m., and resume from 1:15 to 5 p.m.
Students may have to compete to gain entry — only 150 of the almost 300 applicants are accepted. But once everybody arrives, there are no traces of rivalry to be found.
The air is thick with friendly greetings and compliments. As no more than two students from one school are allowed in each workshop, new friendships are swiftly made. Of course, surrounded by people who have the same interests and passion for art, it would be a chore not to get along.
Ten workshops, five each in the visual and the performing arts, are offered for the crème de la crème of DODDS arts students.
In the performing arts, “Way off Broadway” focuses on combining song and dance with a medley of tunes from a popular musical, this year from “Cats.”
“Movement, Concepts and Choreography” teaches the students how to communicate an idea through dance.
The “Beyond Hum-drum” and “Play It by Ear: Melodies, Harmonies and Arrangements” workshops are for the instrumentalists. Their music provides a background for all other classes, adding to the atmosphere of creativity.
The “From Page to Stage” workshop is where aspiring authors write, direct and act.
On the visual arts side, “Mixed Media” allows students to learn to use media that they may not always consider for their works. “Spherical Thinking” involves complex six-point perspective paintings created on spheres, and “Multi-dimensional Drawing” involves the art of making two-dimensional drawings look three-dimensional.
The students of “Sculpture: States of Mind” transfer their personal conceptions of various emotions into three-dimensional wall hangings, created from foam core.
Last, but not least, the “Video Production” class tries to capture all the hustle and bustle of artists in their element, providing nightly clips of their movies in which everyone is a star.
Daily, students are seen clutching sketchbooks, splattered in paint, sporting necklaces of Styrofoam popcorn strung together, or wearing furry cat ears. Songs echo from rooms or are openly performed in hallways, whether the singers are in “Broadway” or not.
Rhythms are drummed on tabletops, dancers try out their complicated steps, while the visual artists sketch idly outside.
Forget Paris. This is where the Bohemians gather.
Christine Handley is a sophomore at SHAPE High School, Belgium. She is in the “Sculpture: States of Mind” workshop at this year’s seminar.
