One last hello from Latin American Culture and Dance Camp!

What an amazing week! We thank you all for supporting our camp and having your children participate. We enjoyed getting to know them. We sincerely apologize for the accidental Covid exposure at camp and we hope that any who got sick are feeling better.

Here is a link to some pictures from the week that you can find photos of your kiddo and download:

  Summer Camp Photos

We would love to hear any feedback you have about camp (positives and ways to improve) . Please respond to this email with any thoughts you would like to share. We hope you will join us again for next summer's camp. 

We invite any who are interested in trying a dance class with Ballet Folklórico de Colores to come try a class for free on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4:00. Please see the attached flyer for more information. 

Here are some items left behind on Friday. You can stop by the school during dance class times to claim them. 

Thank you, again, for supporting our summer camp and we hope you all enjoyed the experience.  

Hello again!

We have a lot of crema left over from our fresas con crema so we are thinking we can make a nice Friendship Fruit Salad to share for our Friday evening performance. So, we ask those who would like to participate to bring any kind of fruit that you already have to camp on Friday: apples, bananas, oranges, mangoes, coconut, strawberries, berries, pineapple, whatever you would like to give. If you have time to cut it up, that would be helpful. We will mix it all together and have crema on the side at the Friday evening performance. 

Friday's plan: Come about 4:45  so we can get the kids ready and start at 5:00 with our songs and dances. We will eat fruit salad and for those who are interested, we can play some rounds of El Lobo. 

Thanks!

Jessica K. 

Hello Summer Camp Families,

I'm sorry to inform you that our sweet mom that was volunteering today in the morning tested positive for Covid late this afternoon. She was helping some of the girls dress in the Peruvian costumes for pictures and then was mainly out of the room after that. She felt totally fine this morning and then felt bad suddenly around noon. But, some of the kids in the morning were directly exposed. So, please monitor your kids for symptoms. We had been washing hands and disinfecting tables like always.

We will continue to have camp. She was going to be our teacher for NIcaragua tomorrow, but Sergio and I will teach the best we can. The rest of the week will hopefully go on as planned except let's change our potluck to a family picnic where everyone brings their own food. 

We understand if you are nervous about sending your child to camp and please reach out to me with concerns. 

We are sending prayers and positive, healthy vibes to this mom and her family as well as all our campers and families. 

We have been having a blast with your kids learning about México and Perú. They are eager to learn and try new things. You all have wonderful children. 

Thank you and we apologize for concerns. 

Jessica Kitterman

Hello BFDC Latin American Culture and Dance Campers and Families, 

We can't wait to see you on Monday! I just want to share a few reminders for camp:

1) Arrival: You can drop off your kids up to 15 minutes early every day so we can get everyone checked in and start on time.  Please park in the south parking lot of Puente de Hozho School (3401 N. 4th St.).  Look for our yellow Ballet Folklórico de Colores sign.  Go to the back door by the playground and come in that back door to room 28.2) Please have your child bring a reusable water bottle labeled with their name everyday. (a.m. session: 9:00-12:00, p.m. session 1:00-4:00) 

2) Face masks: welcomed and optional. 

3) Spanish: Our camp will be conducted mostly in Spanish. Don't worry if your child doesn't know Spanish. We have made all the learning very visual so your child can understand a lot of what is going on. Your child can still speak to us in English, if needed, and we will encourage them to use any Spanish they can. It will be a fun, language learning experience. If this will be your child's first Spanish language immersion experience, you might just want to talk to him/her about coming with an open mind and positive attitude. You will be amazed with how much Spanish your child can learn in a week!  We promise to not make it scary! 

4) Camp is 3 hours. The first 2 hours will be dedicated to learning about a new country everyday, including an introduction to the country, a song, some crafts and of course, food! The last hour will be a dance class with Ballet Folklórico de Colores' dance instructor, the fabulous, Sergio Padilla. We will be learning some dances from México and Nicaragua this year. 

5) Friday night family potluck and performance: We will have an end of program family potluck on Friday at 5:00 pm at Puente de Hozho playground.  First, we will have the kids perform the songs and dances they learned at camp on the Sport Court. (Sergio has to run off to a Quinceañera so we have to do this first.)   We will then have our potluck. Please bring a latin inspired dish to share .  If you are not comfortable with a potluck,  please bring a picnic for your family.  Please also bring a blanket for your family to sit on the grass on the field. We will also have a small market with some items for sale. 

6) The schedule for the week: 

México: (Monday-June 20th)

Teacher:  Micaela Valdez

Activity/ craft: Sol Azteca

Food: Sopes, Fresas con crema

Song:  De colores

Dance class with Sergio

Perú (Tuesday-June 21st)

Teacher: Rossio de Pilar Sheets

Activity/ craft:  make leather bracelets with llama accent, photos with llama 

Food: empanadas peruanas, galletas: Cua Cua, Inca Kola     

Game: El lobo

Dance Class with Sergio

Nicaragua (Wednesday-June 22nd)

Teacher: Daniela Webb

Activities: Make güegúense masks of el macho ratón, learn the history and prepare to perform a Gúegüense play for Friday’s performance

Food: fresh coconut, ranitas, plátanos maduros    

Dance Class with Sergio

 Panamá  (Thursday, June 23rd)

Teacher: Leyda Abbott

Activity:  Color pages:  pollera y montuno, Paint guacamayas, bird whistles 

Song:  Aves

Food: arroz con coco y gandules, chicha naranja

Dance Class with Sergio

Chile  (Friday, June 24th

Teacher: Luis Melo

Activity: Make guirnaldas for Independence Day (Chile and the U.S. have the same flag colors.) Games with Mr. Melo

Food:  Completos chilenos 

Dance Class with Sergio

7) Ballet Folklórico de Colores offers Mexican Folk dance classes year round and performs all around Northern Arizona. If your child would like to take classes with us, our campers can receive a 50% discount off the first month. Ask Jessica or Sergio for more information. 

We can't wait to share this amazing week of language, culture and dance with your child and family. See you on. Monday!

Thanks,

Hello BFDC Latin American Culture and Dance Camp Families, 

We hope your kids have had fun and learned a lot this week at camp. We have enjoyed getting to know your kids and seeing them become more comfortable with Spanish, dance,  and new foods.   

As a reminder, we will have our end of camp picnic tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m. on the school field out back. Please bring your family's picnic dinner and a blanket to sit on. If you can come a bit early, we can get the kids ready to start close to 6:00 with our program. As soon as we can be ready, we will sing a few songs, dance a few dances: La Walicha from Perú, and Carnaval. The easiest way to do costumes is:

• the girls can wear a swimsuit or leotard of any color with shorts on top. We  will give them a skirt to use. 
• the boys can wear a white shirt and white pants that we have that they can put on over their clothes. 

While you are eating your picnic dinner, some of the Ballet Folklorico de Colores dancers that have helped out this week at camp will perform a few dances. Then, we will end the night with breaking a piñata. We will have a small flea market with some items for sale for cheap so you might want to bring a few dollars.

Next week, I will send you a link to a folder with pictures from camp so you can see what we have been doing all week. 

If your camper would like to continue taking dance classes with Ballet Folklórco de Colores, we will give you a camp discount of 50% off the first month. Classes are $45/month for 2 classes a week. We have dance classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00- 4:00 in Puente de Hozho's dance room. 

Finally, we would love to hear your and your child's  thoughts about camp. If you have a chance, please respond to this email and tell us what they liked, what they didn't like so much, maybe how their feelings changed about Spanish, dance, etc. We would love to hear anything you want to share. We may use some quotes in future promotion of the camp. 

Sorry for the long email. I hope it makes sense since it is late at night. 

Thank you all for supporting Ballet Folklórico de Colores Summer Camp and we hope you all enjoyed it.

Sincerely,,

Jessica Kitterman

BFDC, Co-Director

Hello BFDC Latin American Culture and Dance Campers and Families, 

We can't wait to see you on Monday! I just want to share a few reminders for camp:

1) Arrival: You can drop off your kids up to 15 minutes early every day so we can get everyone checked in and start on time.  Please park in the south parking lot of Puente de Hozho School (3401 N. 4th St.). Go past the Boys and Girls Club door to the gate by the playground. We are in the classroom with the red door by that gate. Look for our yellow Ballet Folklórico de Colores sign. 

2) Please have your child bring a reusable water bottle labeled with their name. 

3) Face masks: Please have younger kids, who are not able to be vaccinated, wear a mask every day. We do have some older campers that have been fully vaccinated and are okay to not wear a mask. Teachers will still wear masks to be a good example for the younger kids. 

3) Spanish: Our camp will be conducted mostly in Spanish. Don't worry if your child doesn't know Spanish. We have made all the learning very visual so your child can understand a lot of what is going on. Your child can still speak to us in English, if needed, and we will encourage them to use any Spanish they can. It will be a fun, language learning experience. If this will be your child's first Spanish language immersion experience, you might just want to talk to him/her about coming with an open mind and positive attitude. You will be amazed with how much Spanish your child can learn in a week!  We promise to not make it scary! 

4) Camp is 3 hours. The first 2 hours will be dedicated to learning about a new country everyday, including an introduction to the country, a song, some crafts and of course, food! The last hour will be a dance class with Ballet Folklórico de Colores' dance instructor, the fabulous, Sergio Padilla. We will be learning some dances from México and Perú this year. 

5) Friday night picnic: We will have an end of program family picnic on Friday at 6:00 pm at Puente de Hozho.  With Covid still around, we will not do our usual potluck, but please bring a picnic for your family and a blanket for your family to sit on the grass on the field. We will have the kids perform the songs and dances they learned at camp. We will also have a piñata at the end.  

6) The schedule for the week: 

México: (Monday-July 5th)

Teacher: Jeanette Bojarski

Activities: maracas,  ojo de Dios

Food: taquitos, salsa, guacamole, limonada (make limonada, guacamole)

Song:  De colores

Dance class

Perú (Tuesday-July 6th)

Teacher: Rossio de Pilar Sheets

Activity: Libro: Tu mamá es una llama : craft:  llamas, fotos with llama 

Food: arroz con pollo y verduras , chicha morada o Inca Kola     

Song/Dance: La Walicha

Puerto Rico (Wednesday-July 7th)

Teacher: José Díaz Aquino

Activities: Hacer máscaras

Food: Arroz con Habichuelas, agua de guayaba y melón

Song: En Mi Viejo San Juan

Dance Class

 Venezuela (Thursday, July 8th)

Teacher: Jersus Colmenares

Activity:  Hacer un papagayo 

Song:  El Papagayo - Serenata Guayanesa

Food: Cachapa Venezolana

Dance Class

Colombia (Friday, July 9th)

Teacher: Maggie Gil

Activity: Hand printed Colombian Flag, Molas Colombianas

Food:  Hojaldras Colombianas, leche chocolatada 

Song: Cuando te veo

Dance Class

7) Ballet Folklórico de Colores offers Mexican Folk dance classes year round and performs all around Northern Arizona. If your child would like to take classes with us, our campers can receive a 50% discount off the first month. Ask Jessica or Sergio for more information.

We can't wait to share this amazing week of language, culture and dance with your child and family. See you on. Monday!

Thanks,

Jessica Kitterman

BFDC, Co-Director

Hello Campers and Families,

Happy Summer! Are you all as excited about camp as we are?!? We want to give you an update of what to expect each day at camp. We will learn about a new country each day including an craft, authentic food, songs and dances to perform for parents at our potluck on Friday evening. We are going to have fun learning about these beautiful cultures from teachers that are from each country. We can't wait to see you all in July!

México: (Monday-July 5th)

Teacher: Jeanette Bojarski

Activities: maracas,  ojo de Dios

Food: taquitos, salsa, guacamole, limonada (make limonada, guacamole)

Song:  De colores

Dance class

Perú (Tuesday-July 6th)

Teacher: Rossio de Pilar Sheets

Activity:Libro: Tu mamá es una llama : craft:  llamas, fotos with llama 

Food: arroz con pollo y verduras , chicha morada o inca Kola     

Song/Dance: La Walicha

Puerto Rico (Wednesday-July 7th)

Teacher: José Díaz Aquino

Activities: Hacer máscaras

Food: Arroz con Habichuelas, agua de melón

Song: En Mi Viejo San Juan

Dance Class

 Venezuela (Thursday, July 8th)

Teacher: Jersus Colmenares

Activity:  Hacer un papagayo 

Song:  El Papagayo - Serenata Guayanesa

Food: Cachapa Venezolana

Dance Class

Colombia (Friday, July 9th)

Teacher: Maggie Gil

Activity: Hand printed Colombian Flag, Molas Colombianas

Food:  Hojaldras Colombianas, chocolate frio 

Song: Pescado Envenenado

Dance Class

One last hello BFDC camp families!

I am sharing a link to a folder with pictures from last week that you can view and download photos of your kids: 

BFDC Latin American Culture and Dance Camp photos

Also, I am including a link to a video of a dance performance we did at the Arboretum in March just for fun: 

Ballet Folklorico Video Performance

We have a few water bottles that were left behind. I think the white one is Caél's. You can stop by and pick them up during our dance practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00-5:30 ish. 

Food for the week: 
Here is a list of foods that we had for the week. Most of the recipes you can find by googling them.

• Monday- México: Taquitos, guacamole, limonada
• Tuesday- Perú- pollo con arroz- Rossio made it all and I don't have the recipe, but I know she rubbed the chicken with ají colorado and the rice was made with palillo (tumeric) and vegetables.  Drinks: Inca Kola, Chicha morada with limón and fruit
• Wed- Puerto Rico- arroz con habichuelas, agua de guayaba and agua de sandía
• Thursday- Venezuela- We were supposed to do cachapas, but I bought the wrong kind of P.A.N corn flour, use this kind:  P.A.N Sweet Corn Mix , so instead we had arepas with ham and cheese and to drink: Papelón con limón
• Friday: Hojaldras (made with orange juice) and chocolate milk

It would be good for you to try some of the foods again in your homes. Some of the kids were reluctant to try new foods because it was a different color or form than they are used to. Most of the kids loved the food. 

We hope to see you for camp next year!

Thanks for all your wonderful support during the week. 

Jessica Kitterman,

Ballet Folklórico de Colores, Co-Director