Introduction to Performing Arts
Curriculum Guide

Course Description

Recommended level: 10; students enroll concurrently in Foundations in Visual Arts.

One semester, 1/2 credit

NOTE: this course addresses the State Fine Arts requirement; it cannot be used to meet State English credit require ments, which are met through English I-IV.

This course introduces students to the world of performing arts. Students examine and participate in various aspects of theater production including the play, the stage, the actor, and the director. During the course the expression of themes in other performing arts is explored, as students also experience the creative and expressive elements of performance. Readings, listening to recordings, live performances, as well as in-class playwriting and improvisation enable students to experience the world of performance for themselves. An historical over view of the development of creative performances is included.

Course Components

Themes in performing arts

Students explore themes behind performances. Specifically, the theme of good/evil in film is examined by looking at how characters make decision which control lives. Political and protest themes in music from the 1600's to modern times and in stage and film performances probe human nature and its relationship to conflict and confrontation in the modern world. Conflict as an ever-present facet of man's existence is expressed in these performances. Themes of social concern - the family and relationships, love/hate, preju dice - are introduced through the history of the American musical theater.

Characters in performing arts/Performance as an expression of human emotions

Students will be introduced to acting through improvisational techniques and direct work with professional actors. A careful study of Aristotle's Elements of Drama will include analysis of characters in American film, specific plays, and in their own work. Students will continue to work on character development throughout the semester in a variety of ways, involving themselves directly in conflicts as characters and working toward resolution.

Writing in the performing arts

Students write throughout the entire semester in response journals which are used when any performance is presented to them. They spend time analyzing reviews from newspapers and magazines and then write their own review of a live performance that they are required to see during the semester. The students work to develop critical awareness of aesthetic values and to develop critical thinking abilities. Issues in performing arts are also discussed and debated.

Students also plan and write their own plays - first through improvisational techniques with no actual script, then working with scripts, and finally through a group project which is planned, designed, and produced entirely by them. Almost all of the students' work in class is videotaped and replayed for their own evaluations and critiques of the work.

Music history

Students listen to and discuss the changes in music from Medieval times to the 1990's. Music as a reflection of the broader world is part of this unit. Students have a chance to understand performing arts as a useful means of providing knowledge.

Design

Students have an opportunity to see themselves as artists through costume design and a brief introduction to staging and lighting.

Course Materials

Texts

There is no formal text book for IPA; instead, students work with their own materials or selected pieces from the following sources which also serve as a guide for the teacher. The Stage and the School (Ommaney); Improvisation for the Theater (Spolin); 50 Great Scenes for Student Actors (Olfson); On the Air (Brodkin and Pearson); 15 American One-act Plays (Kozelka); Open-ended Plays (Velder); Theater: Preparation and Perfor mance (Lee and Grote); The Most Popular Plays of American Theater; Teenage Plays for Classroom Reading (Durrell); Improvisations in Creative Drama (Keller); The Enjoyment of Music (Machlis); The Art of Listening (Bamberger and Broksky); Experiencing Music (Wingell); Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (Eliot); Cats; Plays from Baker including Inside/Out High Window, Looking for America, Telling Wilde Tales, Night of January 16th, Drive-in. Literary Cavalcade, 1982-1990, selected issues including Juvie, A Soldier's Play,. Candid, Cry Freedom, Fixed-up and others. Scholastic Scope, 1987-88 selected issues including Bluffing It, Something Wicked This Way Comes; a variety of folk and fairy tales, and selected short stories used in storytelling.

Videos

Something Wicked This Way Comes, Cry Freedom, West Side Story , selected scenes from Witness, America at the Movies, Amadeus, Oklahoma, Oliver, Grease, Pirates of Penzance, Prairie Home Companion (radio seen on video) and others; selections from video recording of Boston Pops, folk music specials, cuts from news programs featuring performing artists.

Recordings

"Cats" (Broadway musical); Sting's "They Dance Alone;" Simon's "Homeless;" Gabriels's "Biko;" works from U2 Amnesty International concert, Lady Blacksmith Mambazo, Peter, Paul, and Mary, and selections from the large collection of records at Mt. Ararat's library that provides a history of the development of music from the medieval period to modern times (400 A.D. to the present).

Individuals

Tom Meyn, Diane Dorbin, Jason Gondek, Brad Terry, Tony Owen, Susan Davis, Greg Titherington (and various others as opportunities, schedules and money allow).

Course Expectations and Evaluation

Attendence

School procedures will be strictly enforced. During class time students must demonstrate satisfactory involvement with class activities. Because this course is student-oriented and does not use a specific test, student attendance is crucial to direct participation in experiencing the performing arts. In-class discussions cannot be repeated and the substance of this course comes through these group interactions. School policy allows for no more than ten absences to earn credit.

Behavior

Respect and support for other individuals in this learning situation is essential. In performing arts, success is often dependent upon total group effort. Students become aware of the necessity of ensemble work on stage, of the difference between lead and supporting roles, and the importance of each. Learning appreciation, and awareness, are the central activities of the classroom - students' actions are expected to contribute to and support these.

Grades

The usual ABCDF system is used in this course. Willingness to participate, attitude, and some risk-taking make up the majority of the grade for IPA. Homework assignments must be received on time. Work handed in late will be graded at the teacher's discretion. The performing arts notebook is an essential component of the course as this is the "textbook" for students and must be completed each quarter in order to receive a passing grade for the course.

Student Outcomes

Students will be familiar with a variety of performing arts with special emphasis on the stage play,
the screen script, the musical, the concert, and dance.
Students will participate in the performing arts in two ways - as a member of an audience (students will attend one outside performance of their own choice for which they must act as evaluator and write a critical review) and as a performer, generally in the form of in-class drama and improvisa
tion which will include videotaping.
Students will view student, semi-professional and professional artists perform and will then discuss these performances. Performers will visit the classroom and discuss their profession with students and lead exploratory stage exercises as well.
Students will explore and discuss themes as a basis for the development of performing arts.
Students will keep a semester-long performing arts notebook which will include newspaper and magazine reviews/previews of current plays, dance recitals, and concerts in their own communities. This notebook will serve as a vehicle to increase awareness, making the student cognizant of perfor
mances and requiring them to comment in writing about the reviews/previews of performing arts.
Students will keep a listening/viewing response journal in which they will write their responses to the materials presented in class.
Students will memorize and present a soliloquy from a play or other piece of literature of their own choosing.
Students will develop a sense of community within their classroom, working together and making decisions in the process of performance.
Students will explore the components of aesthetic judgment and develop critical thinking abilities.
Students will plan, rehearse, costume, and perform for videotaping a play of their own choice or one they write themselves as the final project for the course.
Hopefully, students will develop a richer understanding and appreciation of man's creative abilities as expressed in a variety of forms that give greater significance to human experience.

www.mta75.org/curriculum/english/ipa.html

Introduction to Performing Arts Curriculum Guide