Why I came, and why I keep coming back; A Centauri Arts Camp History
After the summer of 2000, my very first summer as I camper at Centauri Summer Arts Camp, I returned to school year ready for anything. When asked what I did that summer, I stood on my chair and yelled: “I went to camp where they sing on chairs!” From that summer on, I was hooked. A place where I could talk about theatre, Shakespeare, old movies and Beatles songs with other teens? I am dreaming? In the summers that followed I learned monologues, plays, songs, artists, I had never heard of. What was this ‘Bohemian rhapsody’ every one knew the lyrics too? Books, authors, comic books, directors—a whole nexus of culture and art! I couldn’t get enough of it.
My last summer, a camp counselor I had always admired asked if I was planning on applying to staff. I hadn’t planed on it until he asked. Did he see something in me I didn’t? Was I really cool, creative, passionate and funny enough to be on staff at Centauri Arts Camp? My time as a camp counselor at Centauri, was perhaps the best, scariest, most formative time of my life. I was the man behind the curtain; the maker of the magic. More than this, I was surprised at the incredible bond I created with my campers—we were more than just camper/counselor. We were friends. I was 18, and I’d watch my campers perform at the end of the session. And what was this? Tears!? Pride! Thinking back it’s almost comical, but I think that the job of a counselor is the best, hardest, most incredible job in the world. Even as a program director now, I envy the counselors in their roles as sibling, animator and friend.
Now, as a program director, when not at Centauri Arts Camp, I’m out there in the ‘real world’ looking for ‘real jobs’ in my new uncomfortable position as a ‘responsible adult’. Many colleagues of mine ask why I still go back to camp. I’ve worked at other summer camps, and I’ve worked other summer jobs, but there is something magical about Centauri. Something electrifying when you’re lying on your back next to the fire and under the stars. Something tangibly tender when you’re siting with friends on the porch or in the quad. Something almost addictively edible about that exchange of ideas between student and teacher, counselor and camper, and between new friends. The people who thrive at Centauri are in love with ideas, and in love with magic. They are people who love to play, even though sometimes it’s scary to do so. I go back and back to Centauri because I love these people.
I am currently a theatre scholar and journalist interested in textile arts in theatre and in theatre for youth. I was recently asked how I got where I am. I realized that it’s because of Centauri Arts Camp. I learned to act at Centauri. I learned to knit at Centauri. I learned guitar, writing, public speaking, teaching, listening, all at Centauri. How can this one place be the source of practically everything I do in my current career? I’m not sure, but I’m not going to let go of it anytime soon.
