Paramount School of the Arts plans Opening

The new Paramount School of the Arts will celebrate its Grand Opening on Saturday, June 1, a date that will launch a new era for the live performing arts in downtown Aurora, Illinois.

The Paramount School of the Arts is a new, state-of-the-art destination for performing arts education, located right next to Aurora’s beautiful Paramount Theatre. The school is the anchor tenant in the new John C. Dunham Aurora Arts Center at 5 E. Galena Blvd., formerly the Waubonsee Community College, currently in the final stages of a $35 million renovation and rebirth as downtown Aurora’s newest crown jewel.

The Paramount School of the Arts will open its doors to the public for the first time on June 1 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Families will be invited to a free, full, fun-filled Open House including tours of the school’s new classroom, rehearsal and performance spaces, meet and greets with faculty and staff, the opportunity to sample the classes and camps soon to be on offer year-round, and much more.

Already, the school has launched its website, ParamountSchoolofTheArts.com, where online registration began February 26 for more than 40 different summer dance, music and theater camps ready to educate and entertain area youth ages 6 months to 19 years.

“From ballet to Broadway, strings to songwriting, cosplay to choreography and more, Paramount’s education staff has assembled a schedule of engaging, inspirational and educational experiences with one goal in mind: create hands-on training to teach, guide and open the minds of young artists and help them discover and expand the artist within,” said Shannon Cameron, director of Education and Community Relations at Paramount Theatre. “Our students will have access to some of the finest teaching artists and professionals in the country, many seen on the Paramount Theatre stage.”

Camps for ballet, hip-hop, improv, piano, strings, ukulele, vocal technique, rap and rhyming, and songwriting are also on tap this summer at Paramount School of the Arts. Camps typically run one week, are taught by professional teaching artists, are stratified by age ranges and come with opportunities to begin sequential, life-long learning in the performing arts.

Following is the full list of summer dance camp experiences ready to entertain and educate this summer at Paramount School of the Arts. Parents who like to plan ahead are strongly encouraged to sign up on the website to receive first notice of special offers and announcements throughout the spring, and the first e-invitation to attend Grand Opening festivities on June 1.

Dance

Beginning Ballet Camp 6-9 years

Pre-Ballet & Tap Combo Camp 3-6 years

Junior Broadway Dance Camp 8-12 years

Advanced Broadway and Tap Camp 13-18 years

Choreography Camp 14-18 years

Tiny Trolls Dance Party Camp 3-5 years

Advanced Broadway and Tap Camp 13-18 years

Beginning Ballet Camp 6-9 years

Pre-Ballet & Tap Combo Camp 3-6 years

Teen Broadway Dance Camp 13-18 years

Beginning Ballet Camp 6-9 years

Beginning Junior Hip Hop Camp 8-12 years

Beginning Teen Hip Hop Camp 13-18 years

Intermediate Hip Hop Camp 13-18 years

Choreography Camp 14-18 years

Trolls Dance Party Camp 3-5 years

Junior Jazz & Contemporary Dance Camp 8-12 years

Teen Jazz & Contemporary Dance Camp 13-18 years

Ballet for Teenage Beginners 14-19 years

Pre-Pointe & Ballet Camp 12-19 years

In addition to camps, starting in June Paramount will begin offering private lessons and coaching sessions including dance and audition coaching, musical instruments, vocal performance, theater, plus early childhood music classes taught by Kindermusik, the world’s leading provider of music-based education for children from birth through age seven.

Starting in the fall, Paramount will shift from camps to an expanded series of performing arts classes for children as young as six months, with opportunities for adults and seniors as well, including special intensives that offer behind-the-scenes looks at Paramount’s Broadway Series productions.

The school will also launch its Musical Theater Institute, offering pre-professional training for high school students that plan to go on to perform professionally or study musical theater in college, led by Paramount fan-favorite Paul-Jordan Jansen, who played the Cowardly Lion in Paramount’s The Wizard of Oz earlier this season, and earned a Jeff Award for Best Actor for his memorable portrayal of Sweeney Todd at Paramount.

For more information, visit ParamountSchoolofTheArts.com. 

Image: Rendering of the new Paramount School of the Arts. Image courtesy of Jay Kelly PR.