Dance Troupe Goes To Camp With Children Using Video Network

Dance Troupe Goes To Camp With Children Using Video Network

Bell Atlantic Foundation Funds Workshop-Demonstration
Using North Jersey School Network

July 25, 1997

MAHWAH, N.J. -- Never mind gathering around the campfire. In the
information age, summer camp has gone high tech.

On Thursday, July 31, 200 summer campers from North Jersey will gather
around television cameras and monitors in electronic classrooms to
learn the art of dance from a professional dance troupe.

The interactive demonstration by the ODC/San Francisco dance company
is funded by a $7,600 grant from the Bell Atlantic Foundation.

Youngsters at three locations will get a lesson in the basics of
rhythm and movement, and see the troupe perform scenes from an
original work.

ArtsPower, a Montclair, N.J.-based national touring theater company,
used the Bell Atlantic grant to book the demonstration of non-academic
teaching over two-way interactive classroom networks.

An audience of 150 children from Spring Lake Camp in Ringwood, N.J.,
will experience the workshop live at the Ramapo College Theatre in
Mahwah, N.J. Another 50 youngsters will gather at the Academy for the
Advancement of Science and Technology in Hackensack and at the Warren
County College in Washington, N.J., to interact with the dancers.

"This telecast will allow children to see one of America's preeminent
modern dance companies perform," said ArtsPower's Mark Blackman.
"They'll interact with the dancers, and even dance along with the
company."

ODC/San Francisco, now performing at New York's Joyce Theatre, staged
a similar workshop in Maryland last year with the support of Bell
Atlantic and Maryland Public Television. The interactive event was
acclaimed by school officials as a demonstration of the versatility of
two-way distance learning classrooms.

Under Blackman's direction, ArtsPower has become an innovator in the
use of distance learning for arts-based teaching. Under a separate
Bell Atlantic grant, ArtsPower is currently developing a
multidiscipilinary curriculum based on theatrical performances and
electronic field trips to be telecast to classrooms across northern
New Jersey in the coming academic year.

"Distance learning facilities provide a versatile tool for
experiential learning," said Steve Heller, manager of educational
relations for Bell Atlantic-New Jersey. "This event is a great
opportunity to demonstrate the power of technology to provide
learning experiences for students who are beyond the walls of one
classroom or auditorium."

The Bell Atlantic Foundation focuses its financial support on the
innovative use of technology in K-12 education.

Bell Atlantic Corporation (NYSE: BEL) is at the forefront of the new
communications, entertainment and information industry. In the
mid-Atlantic region, Bell Atlantic's phone company subsidiaries are
the premier providers of local telecommunications and advanced
services. Globally, it is one of the largest investors in the
high-growth wireless communication marketplace. Bell Atlantic also
owns a substantial interest in Telecom Corporation of New Zealand and
is actively developing high-growth national and international business
opportunities in all phases of the industry.