Donald Keough, Editor-in-Chief
Fair Smelko ‘29 and Danielle Baglieri ‘29 can’t remember when they first met. But they do remember hours of rehearsal and walking up and down the Hill in flip-flops together.
“I think we bonded over being sleep deprived and having to walk up the stairs every day,” Smelko said.
“We would already be sore, and we’d be carrying these bags,” Baglieri added.
Yet even after, as they described, the grueling walks, attending the Summer TUTTI Performing Arts Camp became one of the reasons they decided to come to Denison, even if Baglieri finds this hard to believe.
“If I told myself before I went, ‘You’re going to really like it, you’re gonna find your roommate,’ I think I would have smacked myself,” Baglieri said.
Although parts of their experience were difficult, they found that the challenges they faced seemed to bring them together with those around them, such as staff members.
“I really liked the professors that we worked with, and I thought [the environment] was really nice,” Smelko said.
This environment and staff culture are part of the Summer TUTTI program. The program runs for eight days and is designed for high school students who are dancers, musicians and theatre-makers. Professional artists and ensembles, such as Available Light Theatre, ETHEL, and Third Coast Percussion also lead and participate in events with campers.
During their stay, students live on campus while taking part in a variety of activities. The majority of their time is spent rehearsing for a final performance featuring their preferred art.
Smelko and Baglieri, who are both dancers, worked on a piece centered around the African Diaspora. They also said they enjoyed learning about the culture that resulted from the African Diaspora. Both felt that they were better dancers by the end of the camp.
“We were in Eisner a lot,” Baglieri said. “I definitely went outside of my comfort zone.”
One of these staff members, Marion Ramírez, an assistant professor in the dance department, helped put together their performance. Now that they both are attending Denison, they work with Ramírez as students.
“She was super knowledgeable,” Baglieri said, with Smelko adding that her extensive dance experience helped make her a great instructor for them.
In addition to professors, the administrative staff for the program also includes Denison students. Their roles are similar to counselors at a summer camp, although their official titles are Community Advisor (CA) or Teaching Assistant (TA).
This last summer, Wyatt Fabyanske ‘27 was one of the head TAs, and also was on staff the summer prior. Fabyanske said he enjoyed helping students like Smelko and Baglieri.
“It’s a great thing you get to say you’ve done, because when you think about it, you’re helping this big machine work,” Fabyanske said. “And you get to inspire people who are thinking about, ‘what’s my future going to be like in the arts?’ It’s inspiring in a way you wouldn’t expect.”
Smelko and Baglieri attribute part of their positive experience to the counseling staff. Sebastian Goodman ‘23, for instance, was one student whom they cited as a reason they decided to come to Denison. From their perspective, many of the CA staff members set the example of what students could get from a Denison education.
“We were able to really connect with all of the campers, which is really great because when you’re in high school, you think that you’re alone and no one can relate to you,” Fabyanske said. “But when you have a counselor who’s a freshman, sophomore, junior, senior in college, and they can confidently say, ‘I went through the stuff you went through when I was in high school,’ it fosters a really wonderful connection between the students and the campers.”
Now that students like Smelko and Baglieri are attending Denison, Fabyanske said that “it’s wicked to see” his previous campers attending Denison.
“I get to say, ‘I knew them way back,’ and it’s super cool,” Fabyanske said.
Even though they decided to, Smelko and Baglieri said that the staff didn’t overly promote applying to Denison.
“They would mention some of the classes that would be offered, but they weren’t crazy [about it],” Smelko said, even if some of the professors like Ramírez showed enthusiasm at the idea of their enrollment.
According to the duo, the biggest factor in their decision came from the connections they made.
“[TUTTI] was fun in that way, because you get really close with people, because you’re bonding over this experience together,” Baglieri said, also saying the ample amount of time they spent together strengthened their relationships.
Since camp, they both have continued talking to fellow campers, even some of those who chose not to apply or enroll at Denison.
The pair has also remained close since the beginning of their first-year.
“It was really comforting on move-in day because I already knew someone,” Smelko said. “We were each other’s home base in a lot of situations, like after Parents Weekend when our parents left, and we both just cried… just having someone who knows you is nice.”
Both said they were glad they made the decision to attend the camp.
“It’s a fun thing to do in the summer,” Smelko said. “It’s a way to get involved in other things and to meet new people,” Smelko said.
Smelko and Baglieri are minoring in dance. They had a duet in the previous Fall Dance Festival, and will be a part of a senior research project this spring.