Every year, VCA’s arts education program hosts classes with local teaching artists, giving students opportunities to create meaningful, seasonal gifts–for themselves, friends and family. This year, we’re unable to gather in person for these classes but would like to mark the season with these fun and instructional videos for our students and families –as well as to highlight some of our teaching artists, who are truly gifts to the VCA community. We hope you enjoy them!
Adam teaches all elements of creating a puppet show; brainstorming, writing, drawing, painting, sculpting with clay, paper, cardboard and even garbage materials. His passion for puppetry includes performance skills to bring puppet characters to life. He has taught workshops in mask and puppet making, sculpture & installation, comics, murals, performance and show making in Seattle, Vashon Island, NYC, Taiwan, Thailand, and Puerto Rico.
Part 1: making a wire armature
Part 2: newspaper and masking tape
Part 3: making paper-mache paste
Part 4: paper-mache
Part 5: painting your puppet
Marita has been a vocal music teacher for over 30 years. She started both the Vashon Youth Chorus and the Musical Theatre programs at VCA and has taught hundreds of kids and teens on Vashon since then. Marita cares deeply about her students, invests a great deal of time and energy into the classes she teaches and is passionate about music and theatre. Her passion for the arts is contagious…several of her former students have gone on to study voice, music or theatre in college. She has a wonderful voice, plays piano like a pro and has been a member of numerous bands, choral groups and theatre productions.
Growing up on Vashon, Joy Ghigleri took many dance and theatre classes at VCA. She followed her passion for theatre to Pacific Lutheran University where she graduated with a BFA in Acting and Directing. During her time at PLU, Joy directed a production of A Christmas Carol, created educational workshops and programming for local students; and worked to develop a youth theatre program at Theatro Technis during her semester as an international intern in London. Joy teaches tap and musical theatre dance classes at VCA and looks forward to teaching more classes in different areas of theatre.
Part 1
Part 2
Tom Pruiksma has taught students from elementary school to college – in private tutoring sessions, workshops, summer camps and university courses. Tom enjoys using his 30 years of experience performing magic to bring surprise and new insight to the study of subjects that often appear intimidating: poetry, literature, philosophy and Shakespeare. As a poet, writer and translator, he enjoys the challenge of finding connections between seemingly disparate areas of human experience.
Whether it be directing, stage managing, costume designing, choreographing or performing, Elise loves making theatre on Vashon. She spent 10 years in Portland, Oregon teaching dance and directing children’s story ballets. Elise co-founded and danced with the contemporary dance group PDX Dance Collective. Since moving back to Vashon in 2016 she has enjoyed teaching youth musical theatre at VCA and working with Drama Dock as a choreographer and director. During this time out of the theatre Elise has been expanding her knowledge with Broadway Teachers Group workshops focusing on online education and virtual performance.
Now that you know the moves…dance along with the cast of The Prom as they perform “It’s Time to Dance!”
Your support can have a direct impact on Vashon Center for the Arts! When you make a gift to VCA, you help enrich the many arts programs that are a hallmark of our center – Arts Education, Visual Arts, Vashon Artists in Schools, Vashon Center for Dance, and the Performing Arts. Through the generosity of so many in our community and beyond, VCA continues to cultivate a life-long love of the arts for children and families alike and nurture a community that values the important role the arts play in our lives.
