Bootcamp Day #7 - You have to be Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

Our final day in Atlanta started bright and early with a trip to Stone Mountain. We all climbed the mountain up to the very top. This was just the first of many mountains we are going to have to climb in our careers as performers - once you have climbed one, you have the confidence to tackle all the mountains in your path. Every single participant on the trip can walk away from this trip with the confidence that they are able to climb mountains.

After our mountain expedition we said good-bye to our vocal coach extraordinaire - Jason "JJ" Sylvain. He left us with some words of wisdom and encouragement to help us continue our journey as performers.

After the mountain we went to a two hour workshop with Brandon Thaxton at his studio Acting Up. We were able to work with some of his students and get some more coaching in our acting.

We spent the rest of the day with a trip to Cumberland Mall and then the movies to see Marvel's Ant-Man.

The evening is being spent packing and preparing for our flight tomorrow. We are all very sad to leave but excited to come home to share our experiences with everyone and continue on our journey as performers.

Stretching out before the mountain

The final stretch

WE DID IT!

(more pictures and videos to follow)

BONUS POST - VIDS AND PICS ONLY!

Hi guys!

We have oodles and oodles of pictures and videos from the trip thus far - - - this is an attempt to showcase some of them - - have fun!!

 Acting with Jason Veil

 Vocals with JJ 

 Improv exercise

 Jason Veil, Acting coach

 Mary recording her TV Commercial

 Shaddai doing his TV Commercial

 Jessica performing her TV Commercial

 "Smile" makes a different Rikita

 JJ shows them how it's done

Vocal Training 101

Dance fun with Ms. Cookie

Bootcamp Day #6 - Confidence, Humility, Respect

We once again started our day with exercises run by the amazing Rashae and Rashaun. After some exercise we hopped into acting with Jason Vail, working on scene work and acting for the camera.

After a quick stop for some lunch we made our way to our last dance class of the week, where we finished the choreography that we began learning on Monday.

Today we were able to meet up with a special guest - Mr Takashi "TK" Miller, Producer, Music Executive  & former tour manager that has worked with big names such as Kirk Franklin, Whitney Houston, Yolanda Adams, Lil Wayne, T Pain and Keyshia Cole. We were able to sit down and have a chat with him; he shared some very important information with us about the real aspects of the business that tend to get forgotten in all the glitz and glamour.

We were also able to perform from him - and he was impressed with our talent, but also gave some valuable critiques that we will assist us as we better ourselves as performers.

Here are some pics from the day:

Boot Camp 2015 w/ Dance Instructor, Ms. Cookie

Learning from Producer/Music Exec TK Miller

 Producer/Music Exec TK Miller

Bootcamp Day #5 - You are ONLY as strong as your TEAM

The day started with a lesson in teamwork - we had an intense exercise session run by the Minors in an effort to teach everyone the value of teamwork. Teamwork is vital in performing since everything depends on having a team to make sure that everything runs smoothly.

After our exercise session we jumped right into acting classes with another coach from Studio27 - Jason Vail. We spent the morning working on our improvisational skills and acting for the camera. After acting we spent some time working on our vocal training.

After a quick stop at Chick-fil-A for some lunch and then into the city to attend our dance class, during which we added some more to our choreography.

Right after dance we went to Orange Room Studio to spend sometime working on our assigned homework. While we were at Orange Room we were able to have a chat with a special guest - completely unplanned - Tony Hightower. We had the opportunity to perform for him and have a quick chat before he had to run out for another engagement.

After a quick trip to Target, to get the some last minute things for our photoshoot on Friday, we proceeded to drive around for what felt like forever to get something to eat. After which we went back to the hotel to get some well deserved rest.

Morning Exercise run by Rashae and Rashaun

Lessons in teamwork

A team that works together wins together

Improvisation workshop with Jason Vail

Acting for the Camera workshop

Chat session with Tony Hightower at Orange Room Studio

Bootcamp Day #4 - there is no impossible, only i'm-possible

The day started off bright and early with some more physical exercise run by the twins and some vocal warm ups run by Waverley.

We then had some acting and vocal classes with Cheryl and Jason. During the acting class we worked on monologues and commercials, and got some of the stuff on tape to start building our demo reels. Vocal classes consisted of performing two songs for everyone and having some critiques and more homework given.

After our time at Studio27 we travelled into the city to have lunch at Taco Mac and then some more dance class with Ms Cookie, where we added onto the choreography and worked some more on finding our style.

After dance we moved to Orange Room Studio and had an informative chat session with Kyle Williams - vocalist and guitarist.

One thing we learned quite a lot about today was the importance of knowing the history of music and how past artists have influenced the present day music. Knowing about music history and different styles is vital to being a performer - the more we know about the different styles and the progression of music, the more we are able to draw from as performers; this makes the performance more enjoyable for everyone involved.

A couple pictures from our chat session with Kyle

Bootcamp Day #3 - The stage is the paper, you are the pen - Write something Creative

The morning started bright and early with a quick trip to get some breakfast which was followed by some exercise run by the twins – Rashae and Rashaun. We then had some classes at Studio27 run by the fabulous Cheryl (studio owner) and our vocal coach extraordinaire Jason "JJ" Sylvain. 

We then took a lunch break at Jason's Deli which was followed up with a "drive" around the city of Atlanta. We made a stop at the Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site to take a quick look at the eternal flame and the crypt of Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King. 

We then spent some time in the dance studio with our wonderful instructor Ms Cookie. We spent sometime working on 'our walk' since if you can walk, you can dance and some of our participants needed to be reminded of that. 

The evening was spent working on the homework assigned by Cheryl, Jason, and Ms Cookie. 

Here are some photos from Day #3:

Selfies at MLK National Historic Site

More Boot Camp Selfie Love

 Warm ups at Choreography

 Working before dancing...

Activate those stretches...

MORE DAILY CONFESSIONAL VIDEOS WILL BE POSTED TONIGHT - stay tuned!!!

Boot Camp DAY #1 & Day #2 - - There is a lesson in everything

Hey everyone!

This is a summary recap of the activities our the Boot Camp 2015 with PlayList Management!  Please feel free to share with your friends and family over social media sites!

DAY #1 - Saturday, July 11, 2015

The flight on Delta was OK as we did experience some bouts of "bad" air on the route to Atlanta.  Once we arrived, we retrieved our vehicles and headed on the hotel to check in - both of which went smooth as silk!  We decided to have our first meal at a "sit down" restaurant and we voted on Olive Garden.  After the meal, we headed to Walmart for necessities aka soaps/toothpaste/shampoo (etc.) and back to the hotel to end the night.  Big day ahead tomorrow!!

DAY #2 - Sunday, July 12, 2015

Our day started with an early breakfast in the hotel before travelling to church.  We participated in the worship service at Fellowship of Love Church in Fayetteville, GA. Pastor BaSean Jackson provided the word while our Music Director and Master Vocal Coach, Jason "JJ" Sylvain, lead the service as Worship Leader.  He had a guest worship leader, Ms. Alexis Hollins from Performers Safehouse assist with the service.  She was finalist on BET's Sunday Best gospel performance show a few years ago and she proved to be a powerhouse still!  We were able to sit and ask her a few questions after the service.  She even told us that she would be visiting us later in the week to hear us sing/perform!!

Once we had a brief chat with Jason where he explained his expectations of us for the week, we travelled to Cumberland Mall for lunch and a little shopping!  We went back to the hotel to relax and prepare for the first full day of training - looking forward to it!!  Additionally, we were allowed to express our thoughts and feelings FREELY in our DAILY VIDEO CONFESSIONALS - - we will be posting a few every day - here are a few from DAY #1 (Saturday night):

Malay discussing her thoughts from the 1st day

Jessica talking about her 1st day

PICS AND VIDEOS FROM MONDAY WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW!!