 We are honored to have been voted BEST TRACK OUT & SUMMER CAMP by Cary Magazine’s 2024 Maggy Awards!! This is the third year in a row that we have won this award and we are beyond thrilled. We love our community of dancers and their families, and appreciate all of the support they have shown us. Today, we would like to share with you some of the benefits of enrolling in our track-out & summer camps and why we keep winning the “Best Of” award year after year!
Staying Active - Although breaks are much needed, they do not have to be spent laying around the house playing video games, having screen time, etc. It’s important to keep our bodies moving and our minds active! Learn New Skills - Camps are great ways to try new things before committing when school starts back up! You can get a glimpse into what different dance styles would be like and see if it’s something your child would be interested in. Find Friendship - You may be given the opportunity to meet and interact with new people who do not go to your school. This gives plenty of chances to make new friends around your child’s age. Safe Environment - All of the above activities are done in a safe, controlled, environment where learning takes place! No Hassle for Parents- Camps take the stress off of parents having to plan constant activities for their children over breaks. Parents know their kids are learning and their kids love having fun. Check out our camp offerings!
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 As a local, family run business, we at Starpath understand the importance of community. Our job is to help our students explore the world of dance in a fun and engaging way, and we would not be able to do it without the support and involvement of our community. It is because of this incredible support that we chose to give back to the community we love so much. In addition to our annual holiday food and toy drives benefiting various local non-profit organizations, we introduced our SHINE program in 2018 to help our dance students get further involved with their local community. Starpath Helping in Neighborhoods Everywhere (SHINE) is a program consisting of student leaders whose vision is to use their joy of dance to spread positivity in the community and raise funds for a dance scholarship for someone with financial need.
Under the mentorship of Miss Lindsey, members of the SHINE program create, plan and host events, contests and more. In its inaugural year, SHINE raised more than $3k for UNC Children’s Hospital and donated 200 costumes to the Boys and Girls club of Durham. Since then, SHINE has hosted a number of new and fun ways to raise funds and give back, and we currently have two dancers scholarship from the SHINE program! More About the Scholarship The SHINE scholarship is tuition to Starpath Dance Academy that is awarded to a student in financial need once per year. The application period runs from April through mid-May and details can be found on this webpage during that time. The scholarship recipient is selected by the student leaders of the SHINE program and Starpath Dance Academy, based on financial need and other information given in the application. Anyone interested in applying can find the application on the web page or email [email protected] to be on our list to be informed of the scholarship. Applications for the 2024-2025 season scholarship will come out in the spring.  Camp curriculum is an extremely important foundational element for us at shineBRIGHT, and one we are deeply proud of. Much thought, time and energy is poured into building our curriculum in order to give campers the highest quality program possible. Our shineBRIGHT track out camp and summer camp series was developed under the expertise and guidance of Starpath Founder & CEO, Miss Lindsey and long-time Starpath Teacher & shineBright Camp Manager, Miss Brittany. With the understanding that parents are entrusting our team with their dancers for most of the day/week they are with us, we take that responsibility seriously and strive to ensure an enriching experience each and every day. Not only are our campers constantly moving, learning, and growing, but they have a great time doing it! In all aspects of our curriculum, we think about a camper’s physical, emotional and social growth, as well as their mental health and wellness.
Throughout the week, we focus each day on a particular genre of dance. Students begin with a warm-up, then move to across-the-floor sequences, followed by learning a routine in that genre. This pattern allows us to dive deeper into technique, performance, and skill strengthening. We then apply both the theme of the week and our dance routines into age appropriate, real-world concepts via our Professor Pirouette™ program. With this, we strive to supplement what students have already learned, or are learning, in their normal school setting in a fun new way. Activities include interactive group work, short educational lessons followed by application, and group discussion. When we take breaks in the day from dancing, we like to give our campers a creative outlet while giving their bodies a chance to rest. Campers love crafting and other creative arts activities that follow the week’s theme. They are often proud to take home their projects to show their loved ones how hard they worked! During this downtime we also like to give campers a chance to do educational games and bonding activities. Most of the time these are theme based, and campers enjoy more “free-rein” with the activities during this time. Usually, this is when we truly see our campers’ social growth and new friendships blossom! While our lessons vary from week to week, we have found the structure of our curriculum is solid and effective... we were voted Best Summer and Track Out Camps for 2023 after all! We are always working to tweak elements that may not fit with a week’s theme or evolve our lessons to match what is culturally popular at the moment to keep our camper's engaged. Overall, our main goal is that our dancers learn, grow and have fun! Haven’t tried a camp yet? Take a look at some of our current offerings. With both our Starpath Summer Camps and Track Out Camps, we make sure our programs engage our students from the moment they walk in the doors until the moment they leave. Each morning starts with welcome chatting in the lobby, settling in, and making sure we have everything we need - snack, lunch, & water! We begin each week with icebreaker games to learn names and get to know each other better.
Next, it's dancing time! We always begin with a warm-up to get our bodies loose, followed by a good stretch to make sure we are ready to move! After this, we have across-the-floor and center-work time, where we learn and practice new skills. Each day we focus on a different style of dance. We have included: Jazz, HipHop, Ballet, Musical Theatre, and Lyrical in our camps! After we work on skills, we learn our dance of the day. This is a routine particular to the style of the day that will be performed at our Friday show! Each day is a new routine. After dancing time, we take a physical and mental break and enjoy a snack, and a small creative or art activity. To round out our time before lunch, we do a team building exercise or play an educational game. During lunch, students rest and usually watch an age appropriate movie or show. Following lunch we get our bodies moving again with yoga or a light warm-up, then practice our skills and dance of the day again. Professor Pirouette™ is next - one of our favorite parts of the day! Here we use curriculum based activities to apply what we are learning in our camp theme to the real world. This could be activities revolving around Math, Science, Language Arts, or Social Studies. Our students love to be creative, so after Professor Pirouette™, we have a fun craft. Before the day is over, we have time for more peer bonding, games, obstacle courses, skill clinic, etc. Our campers are usually not ready for the day to end and can’t wait to return the next day!  Starpath’s state-of-the-art track out camps and summer camps are designed to promote growth in all ways - physical, mental, emotional, and social!
Physical & Mental Growth At the beginning of every camp, students are introduced to new choreography and dance routines that will guide their program for the week. Dancers face physical challenges in order to enhance their abilities and learn new skills. We do this by utilizing age appropriate stretches and exercises that help our dancers stay healthy and strong. In harmony with the dance-centric curriculum we teach our students, we also add an educational piece to our camps whenever possible. One of the many ways we do this is through our Professor Pirouette™ program created by Starpath founder, Miss Lindsey. With this program, campers are able to apply dance related lessons to subjects they are currently learning in school such as Math, Language Arts, Social Studies and Science. Emotional and Social Growth Throughout each day, campers are given downtime to self-reflect on their learnings in a safe and judgment-free environment. The campers’ feelings of accomplishment reflect on their faces and in their body language as they show their guardians all that they have learned at their end-of-week performance. The connections our campers make at camp is something we are most proud of. We are always thrilled to see how Starpath dancers grow socially in just one week. They make new friends, strengthen old friendships and learn important social cues such as empathy, and helping others. Check out some “real-life” testimonies of campers below “I love making new friends, learning the dance of the day, all the fun games and our Friday show!” Mackenzie - Age 7 “My favorite thing is crafting and our Friday show!” Jamie - Age 5 “I have made new friends and learned lots of new things” Vienna - Age 6 “I love all the dancing and steps we learn, getting to do crafts, and being silly with my friends!” Valentina - Age 5  Summer camps - parents and kids both love them! Children are able to have social interaction while learning something new, and parents get peace of mind knowing their child is benefiting from an enriching and stimulating summer program. At Starpath, we think summer is a great time to try a new dance style (or two) before committing during the fall, or letting your child become more involved in a style they already love. As you begin your search for the perfect summer camp, we want to discuss three key elements to keep in mind!
The best way to see real-life experiences with camps is word of mouth or testimonials. Always ask around for your friend’s, your child’s friends, or your neighbor’s favorite camps and activities for the summer! Some of our camp offerings below The sun is shining, school is out, and FUN is in! While summer is a much needed break for children, it tends to be a stressful time for parents as they struggle to find ways to keep their kids engaged, having fun, and preventing that dreaded “I’m bored” comment 30 times a day. Today, we are going to discuss what a great summer for your child entails! Summer is a time to both reflect on all your child has accomplished throughout the past school year and to look forward to what they will accomplish in the next. Regardless of how hard the past year may have seemed, we hope you strive to make summer a positive and fun experience. If an exciting vacation is not on the calendar for your summer, planning little activities can make your child’s summer special. This could be pizza and movie Friday nights, barbeques and s’mores in the backyard, summer themed dinners… the options are endless! Pinterest is a great place to look for ideas of fun activities that are both engaging and educational. We especially love an activity that makes both parents and kids happy. Summer camps are also a great way for your child to escape the house, have social interaction & learn new things. Starpath has a variety of high quality summer camps for all ages, with a curriculum that focuses on dance education, physical health and wellness, and most importantly having fun! We take great pride in our shineBright Camp Program and have been voted Best Summer Camp and Best Track Out Camp for 2022 and 2023. Next week, we will deep dive into summer camps and discuss three key elements to keep in mind as you begin your summer camp journey. Stay tuned!  Starpath Dance Academy is the Triangle's Best Dance Studio and Employer of the Year!
We are honored to have won Best Dance Studio for the second year in a row, and Employer of the Year 2023 in the WRAL Voters' Choice Awards! This recognition means so much, and we are grateful for your support. Our philosophy is that every dancer is on their own unique journey and we are committed to nurturing them in a passionate and professional environment that allows them to grow in confidence and puts joy at the forefront of their experience. We are proud of the unmatched opportunities we provide to our staff, because they — and you — make Starpath the amazing place it is! THANK YOU FOR VOTING!!! |
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