Last night Solelim performed “Free to Be… You and Me” with great talent, smiles, and excitement in their very first camp play.
On Sunday evening, Solelim learned about Marlo Thomas and Friends’ children’s book, Free to Be… You and Me. After becoming familiar with all of the songs in Hebrew, their dances, and their lines, campers learned the true message of their play: instead of telling boys and girls who they should be, children should be open to the possibilities of who they can be. After watching some movie clips that break down gender norms, and after explaining the racial and gender inequalities present around the time of the play, staff broke campers up into groups to create skits based on the songs of the play. Campers performed their skits for the whole aidah, emphasizing what we can do as people, not as a boy or a girl. The activity got the campers even more excited for their upcoming play!
With a classroom backdrop, backpacks, and strong voices, Solelim truly showed camp last night how much they’ve learned in the process of rehearsing their play. In the opening scene, campers acting as babies and speaking in Hebrew questioned what it means to be a boy or a girl. Later, in “Parents Are People,” girls and boys in Solelim showed what it means to be a parent, not a father or a mother. Song after song, classroom scene after classroom scene, the campers clearly demonstrated all of the hard work they’ve put in over the past month at camp. They showed off their best, and it was clear from the final applause, that everyone in the room enjoyed watching Solelim’s performance!
Watch the videos from last night below!
