Social Distance Arts & Learning
Appel Farm is a creative haven for creative kids.
While we work together to slow the spread of Covid-19, all of your friends at Appel Farm are with you, working from home and committed to helping you all learn and grow, and stay creative in this break from normalcy! And who better to thrive in this break? The artists! The creatives! Us!
If you are feeling isolated from your usual learning community, join us online every day for a creative spark, an online arts lesson, or a community project.
Day 1: Destiny Sings!
Destiny, an Appel Farm Arts Camp camper, is sharing her creative inspiration with us all today… Will you all think about your own feel good songs, and other artwork that inspires you? Seek it out while you are at home, and share it with us if that’s part of your self-care!
Day 2: Olivia Dances & Jillian Edits!
Olivia and Jillian, sisters and recent Appel Farm Arts Camp alum, are home from college and squeezing a quick dance lesson into their distance learning! Let’s all get up, get moving, and dance! Follow Olivia’s cues for this fun little phrase! Not all of us have a sister in film school, but Olivia does! Thanks, Jillian for the cute transitions!
Day 3: Sarah Writes.
Sarah, an Appel Farm Arts Camp alum, found an outlet for her thoughts and feelings in writing and sharing this poem. She says, “Feel free to share if it feels ~healing~ or whatever it is you need to feel.” She also offers you your own means of creative expression with a writing prompt.
Day 4: Kristina & Olive Make a Beautiful Oops.
We can practice embracing the art of making a ‘Beautiful Oops,’ when we stop looking at mistakes as a failure to replicate an ideal and begin to recognize them as a way to expand our ideas and problem solve creatively! Read more about this on our Process Art blog and create your own Artist’s Postcards! Stay connected, stay creative!
Day 5: We Perform!
Friday Night Concert: Highlights from Camp 2019! An Appel Farm tradition, Friday Night Concerts offer campers a chance to create and share original work with friends, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 6: We Play!
Especially now, when the lines between work and play are blurred, we are reminding you all that today is Saturday and it’s time to have fun and play! At Appel Farm, we value play as a part of positive youth development. Free time is an important part of the camp day, as well as our school day at C3. Here’s a quick video of some Camp Fun featuring the Little Appels and camper and staff alumni, Marion playing a song we love about a place dear to all of our hearts… We are all going to Elmer.
Day 7: We Rest…
To mark the end of a week of social distancing, the Appel Farm community is invited to rest and reflect with a short meditation on the love we find in so many places, including this sign from nature that there is love wherever Appel Farmers gather. Willa, we love and miss you. Thank you for sharing this moment from a blueberry picking trip at Mood’s Farm with the CITs and their littles…
Day 8: Sam Knits!
Sam is entrelac knitting, which is a more advanced technique that creates a beautiful woven texture. Unlike most basketweave stitches, entrelac works on the diagonal and in different directions so it truly looks like strips of woven knitting. Although this technique requires a lot of steps, each step is small and easy to learn. Sam, an Appel Farm camper, is knitting a blanket using this advanced technique! Check out our blog to learn this technique, or even a more beginner stitch, for yourself
Day 9: We Can Be Heroes!
We Can Be Heroes: Breaking Down The Berlin Wall. With the prompt: breaking down barriers, Appel Farm camper Parker Lengle and classmate Maleah Moore created this video teaching us all about the fall of the Berlin Wall through the lens of creativity and hope that we share with them both. Thanks for sharing your school project with us, Parker!
Day 10: Jess, Beckett, and Owen Plant Seeds!
Gardeners Jess, Beckett, Owen, and Editor Luke live in Oregon, and they are inviting us to grow with them! You might have everything you need to get started on your own garden! We cannot wait to see the appels (oops! apples!) this Appel Farm Family grows!
Day 11: Ilana knows we will all be just fine…
Ilana, a Songwriting Minor at Appel Farm Arts Camp, wrote us this inspirational song to let us know that we will all be just fine…
Day 12: We Perform
Friday Night Concert: Highlights from Camp 2018! An Appel Farm tradition, Friday Night Concerts offer campers a chance to create and share original work with friends, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 13: We Explore!
While our worlds are so small, let’s go back to Camp 2019 and explore the whole wide world at the World Fair Campfire at Appel Farm Arts Camp! When we bring our community together from so many different backgrounds, sharing our cultures, music, food, traditions, and languages with each other brings us all closer together. Join us!
Day 14: Dr. Emily Twitchett Stretches.
You are safe, you are calm, you are blessed, and you are loved…. Dr. Emily Twitchett, former Head of Dance at Appel Farm Arts Camp leads us through some stretches and affirmations. During her PhD, Emily worked with the Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, and Ballet Central. She designed the first scientifically approved fitness test to use ballet movements, and measured the daily physical workload of professionals. Emily now runs her own dance school in Warwick, UK and is currently working on a series of video tutorials and resources for young dancers to help them stay fit, healthy and strong. For more information follow her pages:
Day 15: Olivia’s Green Picnic Tables…
Olivia, former camper and current counselor, teaches us The Appel Farm Song on acoustic guitar. I’ve got my Appel; you’ve got your Appel; we’ve got our Appel Farm! Tomorrow, we are meeting up with the counselors who wrote our camp theme song back in the early 2000s! We look forward to getting back to the song’s roots!
Day 16: Livia Dances.
Livia, danced at Appel Farm for six summers starting as a tiny dancer who stole our hearts in 2011. Here is her senior year performance to a song that Appel Farm campers all love, video by Get Shot By Brian.
Day 17: April Grows Up.
April Keezing grew up at Appel Farm Arts Camp, quite literally. Camper, CIT, Counselor, Leadership Team Member, Teaching Artist, and more! We adore her message in this song, which she will release on all the platforms this Friday, and we hope she never takes the flower crown off her head. #appelfarmforlife
Day 18: Jade Raps Children’s Books
Jade, stage name ZuuChii and her collaborator Foxbell are taking a break from their YouTube, Music, and Tattoo careers to do something fun for the Littles! Jade was a camper in 2009-2010 and loved every minute of her time in music and arts classes. You can follow her on YouTube to see more of her music and tattoo work!
Day 19: We Perform!
Friday Night Concert: Highlights from Camp 2017! An Appel Farm tradition, Friday Night Concerts offer campers a chance to create and share original work with friends, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 20: Anna Leaves a Light On.
Anna, an Appel Farm camper, shares a little creative clip during these crazy times… She is dancing outside (while staying six feet away from people) to keep those creative juices flowing. The dance is called Leave a Light On and represents this time when we all have to work together and stay strong.
Day 21: Dilraj Leads us in an Antar Naad Meditation
Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo | A Bow to the Infinite Wisdom Within
Dilraj, a former Leadership Team Member and Video Instructor, offers us a beautiful meditation, a stunning blossoming meditation, to open your heart and balance all your chakras… Click here to follow Dilraj and her Kundalini Yoga practice.
Day 22: Gianna is Singing With Molly!
Appel Farm alum, Molly, started Singing with Molly to give young performers more opportunities to shine. She dreamed of a noncompetitive performing arts school where kids and teens felt supported, challenged, but most of all, seen. After 10 years in Downtown Jersey City, more than 100 students have trained and performed with her studio, and that dream is real. Molly recommended her student Gianna for a full scholarship to attend Camp 2019, and she is a beautiful singer with year-round arts and learning! Here is a recent online lesson featuring Gianna. Follow Singing with Molly here!
Day 23: Appel Farm Alum Didn’t Mean to Make You Cry.
I don’t know when we started playing Bohemian Rhapsody at the end of every Camp Dance, or how many of us burst into this epic song, standing on tables on the Patio on the last night of camp, or if all Appel Farm alum bang their heads at the head banging part, or sway in a big circle, arms around each other as it ends…. What I do know, is that alumni came together to share this song with us, representing 5 decades and 2 generations, from across the US and around the world, and with all the love in their hearts for our beautiful community. With Appel Farm Love from Jennie Quinn, for whom this was a surprise…let this bring you joy.
Day 24: Sam sings us her feel good song.
Sam, the Public Outreach Assistant at Appel Farm, shares her feel good song, Bowl of Oranges by Bright Eyes from her garage. Sam loves this song because it emphasizes how important it is to connect with the ones that you love, especially when times get tough. What are your favorite feel good songs?
Day 25: Julie and Flis throw it back!
#TBT to 2003, when #TBT was a new thing. Or #TBT way back to 1994, when The Lion King was released, and for sure #TBT to 2008 when Julie and Flis worked together at Appel Farm Arts Camp and this epic collaboration was born! From Texas, USA to St. Albans, UK, “You CAMPlete me. Mission acCAMPlished!”
Day 26: We Perform!
Friday Night Concert: Highlights from Camp 2016! An Appel Farm tradition, Friday Night Concerts offer campers a chance to create and share original work with friends, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 27: Tommy’s tour is on our Bucket List…
Former Camper, CIT, and Counselor, Tommy, plays an original song for us, and now seeing him live on tour is on our bucket list.
Day 28: Sherry Throws a Pot in 30 Seconds.
One of our favorite volunteers, who visits us from Canton, OH to help out, recently retired from a beautiful career teaching art. This time-lapse video of Sherry throwing a pot in her new basement art studio makes this Appel Farm favorite art form look easy…. Is it?
Day 29: Catherine offers some congratulations?
Former camper, Catherine Weingarten, is a playwright and humor writer, and shares a short, one-woman play she wrote in grad school at Ohio University called, “Congrats on your wedding! I’m so happy.” Check out Catherine’s plays and writings!
Day 30: James plays for the whole world.
James, a former camper, performs Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonata in C Major K.159 (out of about 600 haha). James is in his last semester at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ earning a B.M. Piano Performance/Theory and Composition, and will be starting his Masters at Colorado University in Boulder this Fall! In lieu of James’ senior recital, please enjoy this performance and share it with it the whole world.
Day 31: Violet has a message for all eARThlings.
Violet, an Appel Farm camper and Counselor in Training, shares a poem she wrote that was inspired by everything she learned at camp in her five summers of transformative arts and learning…
Day 32: Josh is the Mountain King.
#TBT to Camp 2012, when veteran camper, counselor, and Leadership Team member Josh Frisch was part of a magical Percussion Major during his last summer at camp…so far.
Most summers, Josh had major full of kids who wanted to learn drum set, which is his specialty… Over the years, Josh taught all of our rock stars, jazz musicians, and every drummer for 5 summers at Appel Farm. In 2012, though, something interesting happened… All of a sudden, Josh had a major with just two campers who were orchestral percussionists preparing for marching band season! Luckily for Josh, his Co-Instructor, Brian Stern was an orchestral percussionists, great with mallets.
Josh, Brian, Caelyn, and Maggie decided to work on “In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Edvard Grieg, with Caelyn and Maggie on marimba, Brian accompanying them on bells, and Josh covering the bass drum and crash cymbal during the dramatic ending.
Since Josh was not going to be playing until the very end of the song, and didn’t want to be just standing there on stage waiting, like every good orchestral percussionist does…he became the Mountain King.
The performance ended up being a highlight of the Music Concert, and Josh’s stint as the Mountain King, definitely added to the performance, getting a huge response from the audience, but ultimately it was Caelyn and Maggie who were the stars in this truly memorable performance on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater.
Day 33: We Perform!
Friday Night Concert: Highlights from Camp 2015! An Appel Farm tradition, Friday Night Concerts offer campers a chance to create and share original work with friends, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 34: Mike and Harrison Warm our Hearts…
Former Head of Music Mike and his son Harrison perform a sweet song – written by one of our own – for the Appel Farm community.
Day 35: Jeremy Plays a Mazurka!
CHOPIN MAZURKA–Opus 24, #4. Performed by Jeremy Raden.
Mazurkas and waltzes have a common time signature: 3/4. However, the waltz has an accented first beat, whereas the mazurka has an accented second beat. Both have their origins in dance, the mazurka being a uniquely Polish dance form. Aside from dance rhythms, Chopin was inspired by female opera singers. This piece is structured around a similar melody which repeats four times–once per measure–but each time with an ascending note and a crescendo culminating in the fourth measure. This structure is suggestive of a female singer who is practicing and struggling to reach a high note, attempting it three times unsuccessfully before finally succeeding on the fourth attempt, which is always the highest note and the loudest! –Notes by Jeremy’s Dad, Matthew Raden, also an Appel Farm Alum!
Day 36: Mary Makes Cookies!
Former Appel Farm Arts Camp Sculpture Instructor, Mary, runs a tasty company: Sun Baked Cookies out in San Diego, CA! Just for her friends at Appel Farm, Mary is decorating some special appel-shaped cookies! Want to make your own? Here’s her recipe!
Day 37: Sam Teaches Us to Juggle!
Former Theater Instructor, Sam, can teach anything, so grab three hacky sacs and get ready to become a master juggler!
Day 38: Phoebe Can Change.
To celebrate Earth Day, former camper Phoebe is encouraging us to reflect on our individual and collective impact on the environment, and think of some ways we can show the earth a little more love… From simple acts of conservation to pursuing environmentalism as a career, like Phoebe.
Day 39: Ariana Plays.
Former camper, Ariana, plays a beautiful song on a day when we could all use a little beauty….
Day 40: We Perform!
Friday Night Concert: Highlights from Camp 2014! An Appel Farm tradition, Friday Night Concerts offer campers a chance to create and share original work with friends, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 41: Appel Farm Strums.
Strumming away sitting on a picnic table, cross-legged in the grass with friends working on a song, rocking out with abandon on the Grove Stage, picking up your a guitar for the very first time, finding creative freedom in the ease of the ukulele, and playing music at your favorite place on Earth… This is Appel Farm Arts Camp. Featuring the Camp 2019 Session 3 Guitar Ensemble: Blake-Hayden, Jacob, and Wayne with Igor and Emre.
Day 42: Jeremy Improvises.
Appel Farm Arts Camp camper, Jeremy Raden, plays RHAPSODIE HARMONIQUE: A Classical Improvisation by Jeremy Raden. “I wrote this piece as I was thinking of ideas for a piano sonata. This piece evokes the music of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Bach, some of my favorite composers.”
Day 43: No Distance at All…
On this 43rd day of social distancing, we are celebrating Appel Farm Arts Camp where there is often no distance at all… We are finding peace in our physical distance today, and dreaming of some crowded camp dance floors, group hugs, piles of bunkmates, and all the comfort of our camp community. Enjoy these camp photos and a song called “Melachaloney” composed during Makin’ Beats with David Keezing during Green Picnic Table Time.
Day 44: Stuart Gets Creative!
Former Appel Farm camper, Stuart B. Meyers, is getting creative and inviting all of us to join him. Hear his inspiring message, then watch an excerpt from Stuart’s movie, Tap Dancing In The Outfield. Check out the whole movie and get lost in all of Stuarts’s theatre, dance, video, and performance art. Start here!
Day 45: Sofia Speaks.
Sofia, an Appel Farm alum, is continuing a Camp tradition of spoken word poetry. This performance makes us look forward to gathering in the Clare Rostan Theatre to see some brave poets on the Lucy Malmberg Stage at our dear Appel Farm Arts Camp…
Day 46: We all need somebody to lean on…
Your Appel Farm and C3 family are here to let you know you can #leanonus on this worldwide day of gratitude and every day.
Day 47: We Perform!
Friday Night Concert: Highlights from Camp 2013! An Appel Farm tradition, Friday Night Concerts offer campers a chance to create and share original work with friends, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 48: Michaela Teaches ASL.
There’s a new breed of Appel Farmer…lucky kids who attend Creativity CoLaboratory Charter School at Appel Farm AND Appel Farm Arts Camp for year-round arts and learning. Michaela is one of these lucky kids, but really, we are the lucky ones. Michaela is learning ASL with Hands Up Silent Theatre after school in Appel Farm’s STEAM Labs program, and now she teaching us.
Day 49: We Make Art.
Enjoy this look back at the Camp 2015 First Session Visual Art Show and remember your days in the Art Barn. If you make it to very end you will see a hint at a very special project in the works, and one very special wish for our Appel Farm community.
Day 50: Daisy & Meredith Are At It Again!
Day 51: Kayla Sings Again.
For the past couple of weeks, our community has gathered online to watch Friday Night Concerts from past summers starting with Camp 2019. When we got back to 2015, 2014, and 2013, we started hearing Kayla sing, and now here she is in 2020, taking a break from finals to play a song for us. Kayla will work with us as a Nursing Assistant someday soon, and we will get her back on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater, to hear her sing again!
Day 52 Chey Tie-Dyes Her Heart Out!
Cheyanne grew up at Appel Farm! Her mom, Heather, has been working at Appel Farm for decades, her dad is a veteran volunteer, and Chey and her sister Chenoa were both campers. Last summer, Chey joined our Camp Staff to teach Photography, in which she first fell in love as a camper, and now studies in college. But today, we will learn all about another of Chey’s loves…tie-dye!
Day 53: AJ Plays Viola.
AJ just finished his sophomore year at Temple University. Currently, he is a music theory major, but this semester auditioned to become a viola performance major. AJ was a camper at Appel Farm for 4 years from 2011-14 and was a music major every year, playing in the String Ensemble and Elmer Pops. His favorite memories from camp were hanging with his friends in the Adirondack chairs and making memories that last a life a time. Enjoy this video of AJ playing Paul Juon Viola Sonata in D Major I. Moderato, for his finals!
Day 54: We Perform!
Camper Counselor Concert: Highlights from Camp 2019! An Appel Farm tradition, Camper Counselor Concert offer campers and their beloved counselors a chance to collaborate and create together, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 55: Alyssa is Living in the Present Tense.
Former camper and counselor, Alyssa, plays an original song called Present Tense. Catch Alyssa on tour with other Appel Farm Arts Camp alumni when touring is safe again, and in the meantime, listen to her “carefully crafted grungy sadgirl songs” at alyssajoseph.com.
Day 56: Ariel Offers Us Her Healing Arts, from the Grove Stage.
Ariel Monroe visited Appel Farm last week to record a meditation of healing arts for our community, under a starry sky from the Grove Stage:
I’m Ariel Monroe and my maternal grandparents started Appel Farm in 1960. My parents met there in the summer of 1971 and were married in the same year. I lived my first year (1986) with my family and grandparents at AF while renovations were being done at our house a mile down the road in Elmer. I was a camper during the summers between 1994 and 2002, was a CIT in 2001 and 2002; and in 2008, 2009, and 2011 I was in charge of managing camp laundry. I volunteered for the Annual Folk Festival between 2000 and 2011; I’ve been a Catering Assistant to Maureen Gregory (Catering Extraordinaire) since 2002 tending to Weekend Retreats and Workshops for the Conference Center; I recently a had hand in getting my long time friend, client, local artist Ryan Gooch Nelson back on stage at South Jersey Arts Festival 2019; and I’ve always delighted in bringing my local Elmer peeps to the farm to experience the magical feelings for themselves.
My top priorities in life include giving access and granting permission to self-discovery, creativity, and expression; having meaningful connection globally, and I’m passionate about helping others thrive and feel happy while experiencing less pain and discomfort over time. You could say Holistic Healing Arts found me in my intuitive nature paired with life-long exposure to considerate caring people.
Prior to COVID-19 I was a Master Body and Energy Worker and since I’ve created a virtual safe space for healing, processing, navigating life’s changes called Delta E.M Wellness.
- Crystal or Tibetan Singing Bowl Sound Bath
- Guided Meditation
- Distance Rei Ki
- Alternative Holistic Health and Happiness Counsel
Please contact for an appointment, to ask for more info about my services or experiences, or to connect over Appel Farm at ariel@deltaemwellness.com www.deltaemwellness.com!
Day 57: Adam Was Miscast.
Former Assistant Camp Director, Adam, took on the Miscast Performance Challenge! Here’s his message to the Appel Farm Community, along with a performance of Gimme Gimme from Thoroughly Modern Millie, in honor of the amazing Sutton Foster in the role that began her incredible career on Broadway!
Day 58: The Good Frost Project Gets Together 4 AF.
Appel Farm alum from 1966-68, Mike Frost and his partner in all things, Nancy Good, play a song from his camp days for the whole Appel Farm community, which includes his daughter, Emma. Emma was a camper from 2008-11, joined our Camps Staff in 2017, and is our current Head of Sports & Swim. Everybody get together, try to love one another, right now…
Day 59: Dylan Plays a Very Fast Song with a Lot of Words.
Appel Farm Arts Camp alum, Dylan, plays us a brand new song that he wrote about the last book he read. In fact, he’s working on a whole album based on this book, and we are really curious which book ignited this creativity! If you have a guess, let us know!
Day 60: Kat Performs Shakespeare.
Appel Farm Alum, Kat, spent her college years studying Shakespeare. Since college, she’s been working in House Management and Wardrobe for theaters across Pennsylvania and New York, and is eagerly waiting for curtains to rise again! Kat has been working on this monologue since she was 13…
Day 61: We Perform!
Camper Counselor Concert: Highlights from Camp 2018! An Appel Farm tradition, Camper Counselor Concert offer campers and their beloved counselors a chance to collaborate and create together, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 62: Today is gonna be the day…
“Today is gonna be the day
That they’re gonna throw it back to you”
How many times have we heard that in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater since Oasis released Wonderwall in 1995?
So. Many. Times.
In fact, we blogged about this camp phenomenon a few years ago, and we all decided we should get all the videos of all the times we played this song, and edit them together in an epic #TBT to Every Time We Played Wonderwall video… Here’s our first, and you all are in charge of sending us the rest. Or, remind us of the Camp 2018 Staff Welcome Extravaganza, or your performance at an FNC or Rock Show, and we will find it! Stay tuned. This will happen.
Day 63: William Serenades Us.
Thank goodness Appel Farm and GOTO Alum, William Jones, is still singing. This is his rendition of Sam Smith’s Lay Me Down, which he recorded for the Appel Farm and GOTO Community.
Day 64: Emily Sings an Original Song.
Appel Farm Arts Camp Alum, Emily, shares an original song called Alice. Find more of her beautiful music released under the name Emily Bloom, and look forward to the release of her first full length album in a couple months!
Day 65: Camp Staff Find Time to Create Together.
What do our Camp Staff do with their precious few moments of time off from caring from their beloved campers? You might be surprised to know that many of them turn to their own art, to collaborating with their co-workers to create something beautiful…like this performance from Camp 2019.
Day 66: We get a glimpse into the process.
Appel Farm Arts Camp campers Jeremy, Isaiah, and Alumni Lucy played important roles in Appel Farm’s 60th Anniversary Kick-Off Celebration last October. Jeremy and Isaiah performed an original song that they wrote for the beautiful event, and Lucy threw pots as gifts for our donors. Here’s a glimpse in the process they went through for these acts of love and gifts of their creativity!
Day 67: Brian and Aaron at 96,480 minutes into quarantine…
96,480 minutes into quarantine, and this T2 Team from Camp 2019 is just what we need! Appel Farm Arts Camp Technical Theatre Instructors Brian and Aaron come on stage from the wings to perform What You Own from Rent. We will measure this quarantine in Appel Farm Love.
Day 68: We Perform!
Camper Counselor Concert: Highlights from Camp 2018! An Appel Farm tradition, Camper Counselor Concert offer campers and their beloved counselors a chance to collaborate and create together, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 69: Nadine plays the Fiddle.
Former Strings Instructor at Appel Farm Arts Camp, Nadine, plays the fiddle for us!
Day 70: Willa Choreographs.
Appel Farm Arts Camp recent alum, Willa, danced her way through six years of camp! Last summer, Willa was a CIT! Willa dances all year, and choreographed this final show piece for her choreography class at school. She dances it for the Appel Farm community today, in a great big open field that reminds us of Camp!
Day 71: Tuba Rocks ’14
Into the archives for Day 71, unearthing this Camp 2014 performance of Goodnight, Travel Well by The Killers featuring Appel Farm Arts Camp alumni Amanda, Noa, and Ben with their Music Instructors.
Day 72: It’s Taco Tuesday with a Twist!
Unique N’York, AKATanner from Appel Farm Arts Camp, celebrates Taco Tuesday down in Mississippi by teaching us how to make some crunchy tacos, but hold up… Girl, they are vegan and they are muy delicioso!
Day 73: Calvin Serenades Us.
This sweet serenade took us down memory lane, and into the archives to find photos of Calvin from his five summers at Camp. It’s amazing to see his personal growth all at once… Can you imagine that one of our favorite guitar players spent his first summer in the Art Barn? We love you Calvin!
Day 74: Appel Farmers Become TikTok Stars!
A few weeks ago, Appel Farmers gathered online for Green Picnic Table Time with one of our favorite Theatre Directors, JJ, to choreograph an Appel Farm TikTok dance inspired by the Camp 2019 theme, Shine Bright. Find us on TikTok @appelfarm, and share your fireflies dance!
Day 75: We Perform!
Camper Counselor Concert: Highlights from Camp 2016! An Appel Farm tradition, Camper Counselor Concert offer campers and their beloved counselors a chance to collaborate and create together, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 77: Tyler Sings in the Key of C.
Appel Farm Arts Camp camper, Tyler, sings a song we all love, transposed into a key in which he can belt when he needs to… She Used to Be Mine for Waitress by Sara Bareilles.
Day 78: Lucy Dances.
Appel Farm Arts Camp dancer, Lucy, wanted to a see all of the Appel Farm dancers in the Social Distance Arts & Learning Library, so she started the trend herself. Join in.
Day 79: Appel Farm Observes Blackout Tuesday
Appel Farm Arts & Music Campus joins with artists, musicians, teachers, students, and citizens across the country and around the world in affirming that Black Lives Matter. Read our entire statement here.
Day 80: A Change is Gonna Come.
Appel Farm Arts & Music Campus took Day 79 to talk about our role in affirming the dignity and humanity of all people, with a focus on our Black and brown families. For today, a performance from the archives to amplify Black and brown artistic voices, and the beauty and strength they bring to our diverse and inclusive community.
Day 81: Ballet is The Mission.
Into the archives again today, this time to highlight three ballet majors in the Camp 2014 Second Session Dance Show: The Mission. There is no end to the creative self expression on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theatre.
Day 82: We Perform!
Camper Counselor Concert: Highlights from Camp 2015! An Appel Farm tradition, Camper Counselor Concert offer campers and their beloved counselors a chance to collaborate and create together, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 83: Garrett is the bridge.
Garrett is another magical artist who brings our community together, laying a bridge between Appel Farm Arts Camp and Creativity CoLaboratory Charter School. Garret is a proud member of the first graduating class of C3, and Appel Farm for Life!
Day 84: Michael Jams on the Handpan.
This is for you, Emma, and for everyone who fell asleep, after a very long day caring for and teaching and learning from our campers, listening to this beautiful music in the “hotel”, happy to trade the usual comfort in their life, for this. And for all Appel Farmers who need to find some comfort today, here is Camp alum and current Head of Music, Michael Schott. (Quotes around “hotel” for everyone who has not spent a night in that particular space, and is picturing a fancy hotel room.)
Day 85: Mare reminds us that we are always connected, even when we feel alone.
Mare Berger worked at Appel Farm for 3 years, first as a Music Counselor, then as Head of Music for 2 years. Her favorite memory is doing Bohemian Rhapsody with the All Majors Choir, and she misses Appel Farm so much! Even When We Forget is part of an 8 song collection about the moon, loss, wholeness, and our interconnectedness. The song cycle is a reminder that we are always whole, even when we feel fragmented. We are always connected, even when we feel alone. We are always more than the phase we are in. Each piece is about the part and the whole, and how they both exist simultaneously. Click here to buy the digital album.
Day 86: Ali Shares her Color Guard Routine.
Current Camper, Ali, is staying creative at home, and shares a color guard routine she is practicing! Did you know that Appel Farm Arts Camp offers a Color Guard Intensive? Two weeks of training with highly qualified, award-winning color guard staff! Campers receive expert training for up to six hours a day, plus dance, music, visual arts, and more! Click here to learn more!
Day 87: Margot Plays.
Second generation Appel Farm Arts Camp camper, Margot, plays Peter’s Theme from Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf sped up to look like an old Charlie Chaplin kind of video… We dig it. Catch her mom, the first generation camper tomorrow! The appel doesn’t fall from the tree…
Day 88: Mika Taps.
First generation Appel Farm Arts Camp camper, Mika, tapping her way into our library! Fast or slow,? Mind bender from Justin Boccitto at Common Ground Tap. Did you catch Mika’s second generation camper yesterday? The appel did not fall far from this tree…
Day 89: We Perform!
Camper Counselor Concert: Highlights from Camp 2014! An Appel Farm tradition, Camper Counselor Concert offer campers and their beloved counselors a chance to collaborate and create together, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 90: Death Eagles From Space
Camp 2008 shredders, Death Eagles From Space, cover Sons of Anu by Derek Sherinian and Al Di Meola. This will wake you up this morning! From left to right: Ryan Lucas, Eddie Dodson, Josh Frisch, Ollie Bernstein, and Norwood Pearson. At Appel Farm Arts Camp, campers and counselors find creative connections, and run with it.
Day 91: Appel Farm 360 and a Missed Milestone
After 90 days in quarantine, day 91 might feel like the rest of them. But for our Camp 2020 Staff, today is the day we should have stood in a circle at Appel Farm Arts Camp to introduced ourselves to our new community. That circle is important to remember today, along with the 360 degrees of Appel Farm. To mark the the first day of Staff Week Camp 2020, here are the wildly creative campers and staff from the Camp 2019 Reunion with a radical reinterpretation of the Appel Farm Song. We will see you all, after one time around the circle, on June 20, 2021.
Day 92: Why Are We Here?
On the first morning of Staff Week at Appel Farm Arts Camp each summer, we meet with our entire staff in the Clare Rostan Appel Theatre, play some get-to-know-you games, and end up in a tight circle on the Lucy Malmberg Stage to answer this question. Here is Sarv’s answer, for the Staff of Camp 2020, with photos from past Staff Weeks, and all the love of the Appel Farm Community.
Day 93: A Defining Moment…
In honor of Pride Month, and in support of all the children who have dreams of being celebrated for exactly who it is that they are, and for the world to see what that meant to one of our campers, here’s Levi. We love you, Levi, and we can not wait to see you grow into your beautiful me-tree!
Day 94: From the Studio to the Stage…
Camp families join us at the end of each session of camp to see the product of just under 30 hours of transformative arts and learning in each major. Here’s a peak into that process, the learning and practicing our Camp 2014 Modern & Contemporary Dance majors put into this final performance on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theatre. Enjoy.
Day 95: Willie Dances for Justice and Peace.
Willie lead our Dance program for three summers in the early 2000s, and was coming back this summer to join our Leadership Team again. Oh, how we are missing him due to the pandemic, but Willie is Appel Farm for Life! With love for our diverse, inclusive community, and In step with the Black Lives Matter Movement, we present Willie and his student:
“I speak your name…through dance…let our voices be heard through song…Lift every voice…” – Willie Hinton
Day 96: We Perform!
Camper Counselor Concert: Highlights from Camp 2013! An Appel Farm tradition, Camper Counselor Concert offer campers and their beloved counselors a chance to collaborate and create together, performing for the best audience in the world, on the Lucy Malmberg Stage in the Clare Rostan Appel Theater on our campus in Elmer, NJ.
Day 97: Megan Plays Viola
Former Strings Instructor, Megan DiGeorgio, plays three short quarantine-friendly pieces that really show off her instrument, the viola!
Day 98: The Sounds of the Garden and a Missed Milestone…
Our Session 1 campers have been counting down to this day since last summer…excitement and hope giving way to feelings of sadness and loss as the pandemic changed so much in our lives. Let’s mark this day, acknowledge our feelings, put our minds and hearts in the garden at Appel Farm, and start to rebuild feelings of hope and joy. Write, dance, paint, play, talk, cry, connect…whatever helps. We will see you, way louder than the sounds of garden, on Sunday, June 27, 2021.
Day 99: Julia & Isaiah do not play Smoke on the Water.
Camp Director, Camp Alum, and Camp Mom, Julia Weekes is Appel Farm for Life, and so are her boys, Judah and Isaiah. Here’s Julia and Isaiah performing at an Acoustic Campfire last summer…
Day 100: All You Need Is Love!
Love grows at Appel Farm! And what’s more important now than ever before, is that Appel Farm love grows in each of us. With the strength and love of the Appel Farm community shining down on us and supporting our roots, we will blossom with love for ourselves and for each member of our community, spreading this love wherever we go. On this 100th day in quarantine, please share this epic Appel Farm collaboration to celebrate the last day of our Social Distance Arts & Learning Library! Appel Farm for Life!