There is going to be a lot of singing and dancing going on this spring break at the Laurie Tinkler School of Dance.
Fresh home from her third trip teaching musical theatre in Abu Dhabi, Joey Clarkson is offering a five-day musical theatre day-camp.
Everywhere you look, it is happening. Prime time, reality TV, the big screen.
Musical theatre has reached the masses, and the masses are eating it up. Flash mobs are popping up all over the Internet in everything from airline and cell phone commercials to wedding proposals.
“This is going to be a blast!” smiles Clarkson. “We will spend four hours each day working on the music and moves to five different musical theatre numbers, a new number a day, everything from Broadway to Disney.
“You don’t have to have any experience at all; the point is to get out there and give it a try!”
Joey’s Spring Break Day-Camp will run March 17 to 21 at at 2755 Moray Ave. in Courtenay.
“The workshops are always a mix of ages,” says Joey. “We move quickly so that no one has a chance to be self-conscious. Mixing the ages totally erases the peer pressure have-to-be-like-everyone-else aspect.
“The little ones rise to the challenge and the older ones grow in a positive and supporting atmosphere.”
Teaching comes naturally to this young entrepreneur.
Climbing the ladder from a small Comox Valley theatre instruction company where she instructed beginner classes at 13, with private vocal students at 16, she directed and produced her first full-length musical at 18, wrote and produced her first full-length musical at 20.
She has directed for Rainbow Theatre for the past three years. Music is certainly her passion, her students numbering in the hundreds and one of them has even made his way onto the Disney channel. Since this fall alone Joey has been teaching in the Valley, the North Island, the Lower Mainland, Alberta, Northwest Territories and the United Arab Emirates.
“I am so lucky,” she beams, “I love to teach and perform and I love to travel. To be able to combine all three to become my ‘job’ is a dream come true.”
This energetic young lady has combined her classes with music tours of the England, Scotland and Ireland promoting her recording career. Signed under the Highland Music Multimedia label, Joey’s singles MJ (Get Out) and Save Yourself are enjoying airplay on several stations around B.C., across Canada, and as far afield as Germany.
She was the 2012 Astral Media Rado Star winner and has been featured on BBC Radio in England, where she has been interviewed and performed her original music on air.
Her tour documentary premiered at the BBC Music Film Festival last fall and is and she happy to be have been nominated for the Pop/Rock Song of the Year VIMA award with her song Johnny the Radio.
“Last summer I released a second album with all material I’ve written over the last few years since I’ve been on the road,” explains Clarkson. “It’s called See You, Love You, Behave Yourself— that’s what my grandma says to me when I leave the country!” Clarkson’s album is available for download on iTunes.
If you would like to take part in the Spring Break Musical Theatre Day-Camp, follow the link at www.joeyclarksonmusicaltheatre.com. for more information.
You can contact her at joeyclarksonmusicaltheatre@gmail.com or call 250-334-2208.
— Joey Clarkson
