Camp Crew

We are thrilled to be back in action - and starting out in our new Camp Magic home - Hong Kong! Don’t forget though - Camp Magic likes to travel, and we will still be servicing our Singapore community and beyond.

Here is our current crew, all who have worked with us over several years. If you are interested in joining our new team, we will be hiring for our Summer Journey’s program in January 2025. Stay tuned!

Alberto Martinez (Spain)

Actor, Performance Director, Facilitator

Alberto has worked with Camp Magic since our very first December Solstice Program in 2010. He has been a dedicated facilitator, director, and staff trainer for many, many years. Alberto will be continuing to facilitate in our new programs, plus take on a more active role as performance director.

Alberto studied Graphic Design at university, but upon graduating began dedicating his life to acting. He is a sought after actor throughout Europe, and is fluent in 5 languages!

Our nickname for Alberto is “Neo” - because like Neo in The Matrix - Alberto can download information at a phenomenal speed, applying it quickly and directly to any situation he comes across. If we are introducing hoops at our next program, Alberto becomes a hoop master. If we are learning the Ukulele as a team, Alberto is often the first to learn the songs! He loves to try new things, and inspires the children at Camp Magic to do the same.

Welcome back to Camp Magic, Alberto!

Shouniez Van Der Schiff (South Africa)

Flow Artist, Circus Flow Program Director, Facilitator

Shouniez first came to work with us at Camp Magic ten years ago. She, along with Shaheen Van Der Schiff, were our first Flow Artists to appear on the Camp Magic scene. Since then, we have been developing a Circus Flow program for our Camp Magic participants. This addition to our performances and overall program has contributed a lot to the wellbeing of not only our camp kids, but the whole team as well. During our training weeks, crew are continuously learning new skills to teach the children. This enhances the program, plus gives crew a big boost both physically and mentally.

Like Alberto, Shouniez also trained as a graphic designer after spending much of her youth dancing. She was a South African Hip Hop dance champion in high school!

When Shouniez is not working, she is caring deeply for animals. She lives in Bali where there are many dogs who live in the streets. Shouniez has been a dog and a cat Mommy for many years. This deep caring translates into what Shouniez brings to the world as an artist and facilitator for both children and adults.

We are grateful to have Shouniez join us in Hong Kong as we develop new programs here. Welcome back Shouniez! We can’t wait to flow and grow together.

Stephen Cheong (Malaysia)

Musician, Song Writer, Musical Director, Facilitator

Trained as an architect, Stephen went from designing buildings to designing uke programs for children. This is Stephen’s 14th year with Camp Magic. He has a knack for many things - teaching songs on the ukulele is definitely one of them. We are still trying to figure out how he can teach a song to a group of 20 children in less than 30 minutes!!! And not only that - to take that song, and help the children perform it in front of an audience with only 4-5 sessions of short practice!

Stephen is also our main songwriter and guitar player for our weekly performances. He will be developing our music programs here in Hong Kong, and helping to direct the musical aspect of our end-of-week shows.

Our nickname for Stephen is - can you guess? Even Stephen. A program like Camp Magic requires a lot of mental and physical strength for the facilitators. And with Stephen on our teams, there is always a sense of steady and calm. Thank you Stephen for your incredible dedication to not only the children, but the team and program as a whole. And Welcome Back!

Jayanthi Siva Lecolley (Singapore)

Dancer, Choreographer, Director

Jayanthi starting working as a staff trainer, choreographer, and facilitator with Camp Magic 14 years ago. She has worked extensively in Singapore as a director, choreographer, and dancer for over 25 years. Jayanthi currently teaches in the theatre department at NUS.

We are thrilled that Jayanthi will be joining us at our crew training programs, plus the school shows we are developing in 2025.

From a young age Jayanthi started to dance. She trained in traditional Indian dances - specializing in Odissi, and later training in Kathak. Jayanthi embodies her cultural and historical roots, while merging a very modern form to the shows she creates and directs.

When Jayanthi directs, she sees the performers for who they are in the moment, and helps them to build on the skills they already have. From this place, she can help both children and adults connect with their bodies and bring out the very best in everyone.

We are delighted to welcome you back to the Camp Magic family Jayanthi as we move forward with our Hong Kong adventure!

Dez Home (Canada/France)

Director of Operations and Sales Manager

Dez started attending the program at the age of 5, and told his mother one day that he wished he lived at Camp Magic! Stories have always been his staple in life. He was learning about world mythologies from a very young age. Some of his favourites were from Scandinavia (Norse mythology), Greece, and Egypt. He insisted that his mother read to him the tales of King Arthur, Shakespeare, and Arabian nights - PLUS - tell him an oral story every night before bed. He reminded her - “You have to Mom. You’re a storyteller after all.” Can you guess that Dez’s mother is the founder of Camp Magic??

As our program transitions from Singapore to Hong Kong, Dez has put his hand up to work at the forefront of the business as both director of operations and sales rep. He currently lives in France, having graduated from university in Canada two years ago. Dez works in software sales, and is excited to be joining the family business at Camp Magic. His expertise is people. He is outgoing, friendly, and filled with lots of his own stories. We look forward to welcoming Dez to the Camp Magic Crew!

Bruce Home (Canada)

Performance Storyteller

Bruce started out at Camp Magic as our very first Bus Driver 20 years ago! From there he developed his skills as a facilitator in the program, and eventually became one of our premiere storytellers and performance directors. His progress within Camp Magic was steadfast, enthusiastic, and always generous.

At the moment, Bruce is a dedicated full time teacher in Hong Kong at AISHK where he is also a grade level leader. Children and parents have always been drawn to Bruce’s warmth and caring. We will definitely miss his presence at Camp Magic after so many years of kind hearted commitment to the program.

But the great news is - he is excited to come back from time to time to share stories with the children! So it’s not good-bye, Bruce. It’s hello to a super star role within the organization.

Katherine McLeod (Canada)

Founder, Creative and Program Director

Katherine’s number one passion throughout her years as artist and educator has been designing programs for children and bringing them to life. In the early days of Camp Magic Katherine wore pretty much every hat there was to wear. She facilitated the programs, wrote songs, designed the arts and crafts, created dances with the children for the end of week performances. But then she realized the importance of stepping back, and allowing others to fill some of those roles.

Bringing adults into creative collaboration is her second passion.

She believes that anything is possible when we put our minds to it. And it is with this belief that she trains new team members and helps them to build on skills they already have. Plus learn a whole lot of new ones along the way.

What makes Camp Magic - Magic - she is often asked. And her answer to that is - you. Camp Magic couldn’t be what it is without the children, the parents, the facilitators who work tirelessly with the children every day. We all carry the magic of the program, and make it what it is. A safe, positive, creative space for children to gather over the holidays.

So thanks to everyone for believing in the magic for all these years, and helping us to carry it to new places in the world.

Special Thanks To

Over the years, we have been so grateful for the endless supply of talent that has come to us from around the globe. Here are just some of those amazing artists and facilitators who have gone above and beyond to support Camp Magic in any number of ways:

Johnny Gillett (UK): Actor, Storyteller, Performance and Program Director

Johnny dedicated 8 full years to Camp Magic - helping us with story and program development, training artists, and stepping into directing the overall operations. Johnny was an exceptional director for our Friday performances, bringing out the best in each child. He was also one of our lead actors at our show “My Forest Room” at the Singapore Esplanade. Thank you Johnny!

Amanda Sandoval (France): Actor and Facilitator

Amanda - along with Alberto Martinez - was one of the founding members of our December Solstice program. She helped us start it all off as a “boutique” program at studio inthegroove, and watched it grow and develop over three years. Amanda worked at 5 Camp Magic programs in total, and was also one of our leading actors at the Esplanade’s performance of “My Forest Room”. Thank you Amanda!

Kevin Hess (US/UK): Musician and Facilitator

Kevin started out at Camp Magic as a teenage assistant before heading off to the UK for University. He was an outstanding helper in that first summer - and especially thrived in our Little Lands area of the program! For the next few summers Kevin continued to come back to Camp Magic - each time building on the last. His skills as musician and songwriter helped a number of performances take shape so the children could really shine at our Friday shows. Thank you Kevin!

Brooke Clunie (Australia): Ceramic Artist and Facilitator

Brooke arrived in Singapore as a featured ceramic artist and left Camp Magic as a cowgirl dancer three summers later! Before attending our programs Brooke created beautiful hand thrown ceramic gifts for each crew member. And then we asked - could she bring her magic from Byron Bay to our program in South East Asia? Thankfully she said yes! Check out Brooke on Instagram. She continues to create timeless pieces - sought after globally.

Monica Deionni (Italy): Dancer and Facilitator

Monica was the first artist who joined founder Katherine McLeod in Bali to develop the Rainbow Lotus Project (running for 6 years in total). This was created alongside United World College’s Bali Bridges that supported Care Centres for Teenagers. Monica was excited to join in our first year, facilitating one week at the Bangli care centre teaching the students to dance and drum. Monica later joined our Singapore program. Thank you Monica!

Matthew Noone (Australia/Ireland): Storyteller and Musician

Matthew was our first resident storyteller and professional sarod player. He worked each week with Katherine developing the stories to create strong performances that incorporated movement and a remarkable connection to the narrative. Matthew has since gone on to become a recording artist using his sarod to tell stories with local Bahran players and singers. Thank you Matthew!

Rita Superbi (Italy): Taiko Drummer, Actress, and Facilitator

Rita brought our drumming performances at Camp Magic to the next level. She trained in Japan early on in her career to learn the art of Taiko. Coming back to her native Italy, Rita spent many years travelling throughout Europe as a sought after performance artist and drummer. We were fortunate to have Rita share her extraordinary talents with the children - bringing both hand drumming and Taiko into the performance arena. Thank you Rita!

Willy Badger (Canada): Unicyclist, Juggler, and Facilitator

We were delighted to have Willy Badger with us at Camp Magic for 4 of our programs. Willy has incredible talent as juggler and unicyclist (doing both simultaneously). He taught not only the children - but crew and parents how to juggle too! Willy’s style of teaching made learning both the unicycle and juggling so much fun. Countless hours went into selecting the perfect type of unicycles that were both long lasting and safe. Thank you Willy!

Cinzia Ciarmicolli (Italy): Actress, Stilt Trainer, Costume Designer, Facilitator

Cinzia elevated our program to new heights through free-standing stilts! She taught us all to walk tall and proud. Cinzia’s remarkable gift as seamstress and costume designer were an integral part of a number of our programs, giving performers countless opportunities to utilize fabrics and colours in fantastical ways. As a featured actress Cinzia pulled up the opening performances through her amazing skills, dedication, and expertise. Thank you Cinzia!

Shaheen Van Der Schiff (South Africa): Flow Artist and Facilitator

Shaheen was one of our first Flow Artists to work with Camp Magic. This brought a whole new concept into the program that built on our existing circus element - whilst introducing the art of flow. Combining circus with flow helped our performances to lean into both skill building and well being. Camp Magic was forever changed through Shaheen’s passion and commitment to mixing circus flow into over 10 holiday programs. We thank you and miss you.

Linden Furnell (Australia): Musician, Actor, Songwriter and Facilitator

Linden trained at Lasalle school of the Performing Arts in Singapore, and quickly rose to fame as both actor and singer. While working with us at Camp Magic, Linden helped to introduce children to the guitar, and was an exceptional song writer for our end-of-week performances. On top of that - he was lead performer at our Esplanade show - My Forest Room - plus co-wrote all the songs for the show with Katherine. Thank you Linden!

Jillian Culley (Australia): Fibre Artist, Weaver, Art/Craft Co-ordinator

Through Jillian Culley’s exceptional direction, Camp Magic’s art program and crafting sessions were blended together so our end-of-week art shows featured both new skills and story insights. On top of that, Jillian ignited our “Lunch Program” for two years running - which were a unique blend of wood working, basketry, book making, wool spinning, wool felting, stitching, mosaics, and more! Thank you Jillian for your dedication and amazing skills.

Adam Mertens (Canada): Slack Liner, Craft King, and Facilitator

One of our nicknames for Adam when working with the program for over three years was “Crafty Smurf”. It seemed there wasn’t anything Adam couldn’t do with his hands! It was Adam’s willingness to try new things that helped us build our outstanding set for My Forest Room. Eight enormous panels filled with wet and needle felted flowers, paper mache rafflesia, and stitched trees with flowing branches. Thank you Adam!

Angela Mee Lee (Australia): Musician, Songwriter, Facilitator

Angela was a part of Camp Magic for several years. She joined our team a few times as facilitator. However most of her work with the company came in the form of songwriting, and playing both the guitar and keyboard at community performances! Angela co-wrote the songs with Katherine for “Delivery Girl” and “Knight’s Garden”. She also worked with Katherine to develop the initial concept of a mermaid story show. Thank you Angela!

Benji and Ashley (Australia): Musicians, Dancers, Facilitators

Benji and Ashley - graduates from Lasalle College of the Arts - were instrumental in developing Camp Magic’s theme song in the summer of 2008. We aren’t sure what life was like BEFORE the song started! But one thing is for sure - the jingle they created stuck - and is sung at the end of every Camp Magic week and show. Your two summers with our program were filled with creativity, fun, and so many laughs. Thank you Benji and Ashley!