Line of movement, preparation, pretty lines — not the words you’d normally equate with slapping someone.

In Chase Green’s theater class, there’s an art to stage combat.

“We’re going to slowly build and work on the motions,” Green told a class of 10 students Monday for the first day of Firespark! 2009, a two-week summer camp at Brenau University. The program, in its 32nd year, offers classes to students ages 13-18 in art, dance, theater, design and communications.

Green, who graduated from Brenau with a degree in theater, plans to teach his group a series of punches, kicks, rolls and falls.

“This place is awesome,” said Kelly Polk, 17, who is involved with theater during the school year at Lakeside High School. “Today is the first day, but I came last year and can tell the classes are going to be great.”

Although the program’s popularity grows each year, the “numbers are down” this year due to the economy, said camp director Brent Maddox.

“I’ve heard some programs in the Southeast have had to close because of low enrollment, so we’re lucky we haven’t had to do that. We did have to cut some classes that didn’t make,” he said. “We’ve had to tighten the belt a bit but hope for a nice rebound next year.”

The recession didn’t stop 16 students from Greece from attending the program. After eight students from a high school in Thessaloniki, Greece, attended the program a few years ago, word-of-mouth recommendations have encouraged even more to study medicine and dance.

“It’s a lot of fun, and we learn new things beyond our school programs,” said Zenia Papasynefaki, 16, who is taking dance classes for a second year.

Although the program has decreased in numbers, it hasn’t in “energy, vim and verve,” said dance instructor Rommie Stalnaker, a Brenau alumnae teaching at Firespark! for the third year.

“We tell them it’s the best two weeks of their life,” she said. “It’s two weeks all for them, to be, to grow.”

John Upchurch started the program as a music camp at Brevard College in North Carolina and moved it to Georgia when he became Brenau’s dean of admissions a few years later. The program has expanded to include classes in digital media, Web page design, drawing, recording technology and metalsmithing. Students attend classes taught by local faculty and national professionals during the morning and afternoon and participate in fun activities at night. Each class culminates with a presentation, and students are selected to perform in the “best of” showcase on the last night.

“We give them intense training in the areas they’re interested in, and it gives us the opportunity to celebrate all of the talented and gifted students who come here from all over the world,” said Maddox, a Brenau theater graduate who has directed the camp with his wife, Alyssa, for four years. “The students grow more in these two weeks than I see throughout the year. They’re so immersed in the classwork, and it’s amazing how it builds confidence and encourages them to be leaders in their schools.”

Despite the economy, other camps across Hall County have seen steady numbers.

“A lot of folks were worried about how the economy would affect enrollment” for summer day camps, said Peter Gordon, education director at Elachee Nature Science Center. “We’ve found our numbers to be the same, maybe even a little bit more, but had a late-arriving crowd.”

Stricter finances may have kept some families at home, too.

“We could probably guess more are attending because they’re not traveling or not looking at residential camps,” he said. “But we see familiar faces, so that was good. We didn’t raise prices either.”

Hall County Parks and Recreation Services has started free programs to encourage local involvement. Staycation, family friendly, activities started last week, attracted a low attendance for some events but was “appreciated by the participants,” said coordinator Katie Nuckolls.

“I think the attendance had to do with getting the word out, and it was right after the July 4 holiday, but a lot of people expressed they were looking for less expensive activities,” she said. “We always try to offer special events at a reasonable rate for a low cost to the community.”