Verb Ballets partnered with University Hospital’s Center for Women and Children to offer a multi-disciplinary arts camp for the residents’ children organized by The Center for Arts Inspired Learning. The arts camp was available free to children in K-4th grade and took place at the Dunham Tavern Museum. Desmond Davis, Verb Ballets’ Education and Outreach Coordinator, led campers in creative movement games and in learning a variety of body percussion movements, rhythms, and vocal recitations.
The campers also had the opportunity to work with Angelica Pozo, a visual artist, Siaara Freeman, a poet and actor, and Baba Jubal, a drummer. The participants performed during the CLEVELAND WALLS! International Mural Festival in MidTown for family and friends. The performance included movements with body percussion to a poem about self-awareness. Campers also performed call-and-response recitations to encourage self-actualization, a vocal performance of children’s book author Jack Prelutsky’s poem “I’m Glad I’m Me,” and a creative dance to Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World.” Each artist worked to bring messages of inclusion and self-empowerment to the project. The arts camp at the University Hospital’s Center for Women and Children was a wonderful time to celebrate community in Cleveland’s neighborhoods.
