Members of the show choir workshop at Creative Connections rehearse "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. More than 160 students from DODDS-Europe high schools took part in this year's weeklong event that features workshops in the visual and performing arts. Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
OBERWESEL, Germany — If there’s a downside to spending almost a full week out of school making art with like-minded students at a rustic retreat overlooking the Rhine River, it’s this: It doesn’t last long enough.
More than 160 students from military schools across Europe are participating this week in “Creative Connections,” a series of intensive workshops in the visual and performing arts taught by DODDS-Europe art, drama and music teachers.
Students arrived at the Oberwesel youth hostel Sunday night and have four days to practice and create before Thursday night’s art show and stage performance.
“Every night I do a feedback session with the kids,” said Hope Matthews, the fine arts coordinator for Department of Defense Dependents Schools-Europe. “They all said the only problem with Creative Connections is it just lasts one week. ‘We need two weeks.’
“They love it,” added Matthews, who is the Creative Connections project officer.
Student interest in exploring the arts in depth hasn’t waned since the program’s inception more than 30 years ago, organizers said. This year was no exception: More than 500 applications were received, with a panel of DODDS judges choosing 12 to 16 participants for each class. Students said they were required to submit samples of their work, an essay about themselves and their interest in Creative Connections, and teacher recommendations.
They could apply for one of 11 workshops, from guitar and strings to calligraphy, oil pastels and show choir.
“Participation at Creative Connections is the equivalent of a semester’s worth of art, packed into four and a half days,” said Lynn Soeby, Creative Connections performing arts coordinator and a music teacher at Sigonella Middle/High School in Sicily. “This is their opportunity to be amongst students who are like them; they’re enriched by this experience, by making art, creating with their peers who love to create as much as they do.”
The chance to collaborate with students who love to break dance or spin a pirouette, belt out a Broadway tune, or perfect their watercolor techniques was especially valuable for participants from some of DODDS-Europe’s smaller schools.
Ian Boggs and Jan Myckle Olivar, juniors at Naples High School in Italy, were the only boys in the dance “creative choreography” workshop. Both applied because of their interest in hip-hop and break dancing. Boggs became hooked on dance in eighth grade after he saw a YouTube video “of a guy doing dubstep,” a genre of electronic dance music.
Boggs said there are probably only “two other people” at their school who share their interest in dance. At Creative Connections, they’re channeling their love of dance into other styles, such as ballet and jazz. “You can express yourself,” Boggs said.
Matthew Phillips, a junior at Alconbury High School in the United Kingdom, returning to Creative Connections for a second time, seemed to relish the chance to express himself. During Tuesday’s drama rehearsals, he drew loud laughs from his fellow thespians for his part in his group’s dream sequence. Phillips’ dream — or nightmare — was going to school naked, an awkward situation in real life that Phillips aced in make-believe, running off the stage in horror while trying to cover up.
This year, the drama students were divided into three groups and had to write and act their own scripts around the theme of story-telling.
Phillips returned for a Creative Connections encore to be with other students who share his interest in drama and performing, he said.
“I’m meeting new people to create art and perform because I don’t get the opportunity to perform at Alconbury a lot,” he said.
For Graciela Vazquez, a freshman at Vicenza High School in Italy, being at Creative Connections is a chance to play an instrument she first dreamed about as a young girl.
“I watched this movie on the Disney Channel when I was really, really little, 8 or 9 years old,” she said. “The girl on the movie was playing the upright bass. I thought it was really cool that a girl played an instrument that big.”
When it came time to choose an instrument in sixth-grade band in Georgia, Vazquez chose the upright bass.
Vicenza doesn’t have a school orchestra — or an upright bass. Vazquez had to practice her music — given to students in advance — for Creative Connections on a bass guitar.
The upright bass she was assigned was from Ramstein. It arrived Monday.
“So far it’s been amazing,” she said. “There’s a lot of talented people here.”
Creative Connections is also hard work. Students can’t just sit back on their talent; they’re expected to come in prepared, ready to jump into their chosen art with focus and determination. The instructors, meanwhile, have their work cut out for them as well, as they look for ways to challenge an already talented group of kids.
“They’re good, that’s why they’re here,” said Jessica Spencer, an art teacher at Alconbury High School who is an assistant for a mixed-media art workshop at Creative Connections. “But how do we push them personally forward? Sometimes we get tears; sometimes it’s hard. It’s heart and soul. It’s intense.”
Members of the show choir workshop at Creative Connections rehearse "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. More than 160 students from DODDS-Europe high schools took part in this year's weeklong event that features workshops in the visual and performing arts. Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Students in the strings workshop, under the direction of Liberty Intermediate School's Cary Sands, rehearse the theme from "Schindler's List" at Creative Connections, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. A musical performance is planned for Thursday evening. Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Incirlik, Turkey's Alyssa Price works on a piece in the calligraphy workshop at Creative Connections, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. The weeklong event drew more than 160 students from DODDS-Europe high schools. Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Students in the guitar workshop at Creative Connections rehearse Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. The musicians played a number of different styles of music, from classical to rock. Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Baumholder, Germany's Joshua Barker displays his talents in the mixed media workshop at Creative Connections, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. More than 160 students from DODDS-Europe high schools took part in this year's weeklong event that features workshops in the visual and performing arts. Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Patrick Loynd of Brussels mixes his colors in the watercolor workshop at Creative Connections, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. More than 500 applications were received for this year's Creative Connections. Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Pumpkins in various sizes and colors were one of the motifs in the oil pastels workshop at Creative Connections. Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Members of the drama workshop at Creative Connections rehearse a piece they wrote themselves, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
John-Michael Spatt, left, a Naples, Italy, senior and sophomore Devin Vanzant from Patch High School in Stuttgart, Germany, discuss the edit of a clip in the video production workshop at Creative Connection, Tuesday, 18 Nov. 2014. Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
In the drawing workshop at Creative Connections, students work on a number of projects, including what they were calling crazy portraits of themselves. Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
Students in the dance workshop rehearse in a morning session at Creative Connections, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. More than 160 students from DODDS-Europe high schools took part in this year's weeklong event that features 11 workshops in the visual and performing arts. Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes (Michael Abrams/Stars and Stripes)
