Tell City hosts K-Pop idol training camp for youth

The Project in Tell City spent June 23-25 hosting a K-Pop Idol Training Camp for kids who love music, dancing and performing. The three-day program ran from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 114 State Highway 66 East, giving Perry County families a daytime summer option built around choreography, games and performance.

Campers learned K-pop choreography, created their own idol concepts, filmed music videos and finished with a Debut Showcase for family and friends. Each registration included a camp T-shirt, daily snacks, awards and certificates, turning the event into more than a short class and more like a full mini-production for children who wanted to try dance and stage work close to home.

The camp also fit into a county calendar that already includes several youth-focused offerings. The Tri-County YMCA’s Perry County program page advertises holiday camp, summer day camp for children in grades K-6 and youth sports such as bitty basketball, T-ball and volleyball. Christine Kleaving is listed as the YMCA’s director of youth development for Perry County.

That matters in a county that was organized in 1814 and named for War of 1812 hero Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. Tell City and the rest of Perry County have long centered youth activity on school, sports and church programs, but the K-pop camp added a different kind of option for children drawn to dance, music and performance.

For parents, the camp offered a scheduled summer block at a familiar Tell City address. For kids, it brought a pop-culture theme into an activity center that already serves local families through camps and sports. For Perry County, it showed that the summer calendar still has room for niche programming that is specific enough to stand out and local enough to matter.