Performing Arts Courses

Acting Shakespeare

Description: Students will learn techniques for understanding and acting in Shakespeare's works. Most important is that students find acting Shakespeare fun and enlightening.  Emphasis will be put on learning to turn Shakespearean acting into a physical experience, including stage combat, appropriate expressiveness, and clowning. An appreciation for the uniqueness of Shakespeare's works is a central goal of the course.

Advanced Acting Techniques

Description: In Advanced Acting Techniques, students will build on techniques learned in Basic Acting and Performing Arts Seminar. The course will include Michael Chekhov's Acting Techniques, the basics of the Stanislavsky Method, and Boleslavsky's ideas. Students will gain an understanding of acting through the ages, from Greek chorus to Victorian melodrama to modern theater. A performance piece will be chosen, and students will be required to take on a character or characters and present a performance to the public.

Arts Management Internship

Description: Supporting the brilliant performances at the Cultural Center at Eagle Hill is the business of Arts Management. The performing arts cannot happen without the important background work of budgeting, scheduling, coordinating, marketing, and publicizing. Arts Management student interns help to make the Cultural Center and its programs a success by playing a vital role in the Center's operation.

Basic Acting Techniques

Description: Basic Acting Techniques is a course for beginners or a refresher class for seasoned actors. This course builds actors' creative confidence through active learning, creativity, and play. This course covers a broad range of acting techniques.

Eagle Hill Jam

Description: Eagle Hill Jam aims to bring together Eagle Hill's experienced performing musicians and provide a learning experience to improve musicianship and ensemble skills. Musicianship includes developing advanced performance technique, an intermediate understanding of music theory, and an appreciation for the history of music. Ensemble skills include building community, learning productive ways to collaborate with other musicians, and programming interesting recitals and concerts. To develop these skills, students will focus on applying Eagle Hill's core values of honesty, respect, kindness, and purpose to practice, create, and perform diverse music. Students will be assessed on their commitment to daily practice, regular presentations, and performances.

Film as Art

Description: Eagle Hill Jam aims to bring together Eagle Hill's experienced performing musicians and provide a learning experience to improve musicianship and ensemble skills. Musicianship includes developing advanced performance technique, an intermediate understanding of music theory, and an appreciation for the history of music. Ensemble skills include building community, learning productive ways to collaborate with other musicians, and programming interesting recitals and concerts. To develop these skills, students will focus on applying Eagle Hill's core values of honesty, respect, kindness, and purpose to practice, create, and perform diverse music. Students will be assessed on their commitment to daily practice, regular presentations, and performances.

Improvisation

Description: This course builds students' confidence and improvisational skills. Students practice acting in improvisational situations, using their voices, creating songs, and using props. In addition, students learn to act with partners on the stage and to understand the methods of improvisational performance.

Introduction to Guitar

Description: This course covers the comic-making process through three short-length major projects. The first project will ask students to create a one-page, six-panel self-portrait comic using the basic sequential narrative design. The second will require students to find a preexisting text—song lyrics, an excerpt from a movie or animation script, a part of a novel, for example—and then make it into a five-page comic. The final project will ask students to write and illustrate their own original story in a five- to six-page format. Each project will feature a cycle of smaller assignments that focus on the elements of comic creation: brainstorming, researching, scriptwriting, character design, thumbnails, penciling, inking, lettering, and use of colors/gray tones. The goal of this course is to provide an experience of making comics and a sense of visual storytelling.

Introduction to Lighting

Description: This class explores the theories of theatrical lighting design. Students begin by learning the different lighting instruments and the safe process of rigging and hanging the lights. Students learn how to cable and operate the dimming system and focus all fixtures. Following that, the course will introduce the lighting board. Students will learn how to write cues and program the board for performances.

Introduction to Technical Theater

Description: The Introduction to Technical Theater is intended for students who have an interest in exploring the world of backstage work. Students must demonstrate attention to detail, teamwork, organizational skills, responsibility, initiative, and a can-do attitude. They will work with faculty members designing and implementing lighting, sound, rigging, and set construction, and running the technical functions for each production—in addition to less glamorous but equally important labor such as setting up risers, repairing other furniture, and keeping equipment organized and well-maintained. This introductory class is an opportunity to see if the Technical Theater Intern program is a good fit for the student.

Introduction to the Performing Arts

Description: Introduction to the Performing Arts is an exploratory course focused on performance art. Integrating the study of world music, instruments, artistic theory, and history with practice singing, playing, acting, and dancing, the course introduces students to a variety of performance opportunities and arts knowledge. Students are challenged to create, practice, and perform each day as they discover different ways they are interested in interacting with the arts. Topics to be introduced may include percussion and rhythm, instrumental practice, choral singing, spoken word performance, songwriting, improvisation, music in social justice, music production, and dance. A brief introduction to some of the visual art offerings at Eagle Hill is also included.

Modern/Contemporary Dance

Description: Modern/Contemporary Dance is a studio technique course that allows students to develop expression through movement. This style of dance focuses on body and core strength, spatial awareness, and the use of breath, body weight, and release/recovery. Students will build from the techniques of modern dance pioneers José Limón and Martha Graham. By the end of the course, students will have learned a full-length dance utilizing these techniques.

Multimedia Production

Description: This immersive course equips students with the technical, creative, and narrative skills needed to plan, produce, and edit high-quality video and audio projects for multiple digital platforms. Students also study social media as a contemporary media form, analyzing its impact on communication, culture, and storytelling. In addition, the course examines the role of media in society, past, present, and future, while developing critical awareness alongside hands-on production skills.

Musicology

Description: Musicology introduces students to the study of music from a cultural and historical perspective. Students explore a broad array of traditions from around the world with the goal of formulating and answering questions about music’s nature and about its use by people in diverse times and places. These diverse traditions will be studied through reading, listening, and performing together during class. Students will also develop essential skills for thinking and writing critically about music-related subjects. This course is recommended for students interested in IB Music.

Music Theory

Description: Music Theory is open to any student interested in developing an understanding of the theory behind how music works. This course helps students build a foundation in basic musical elements as they discover how pitch, rhythm, harmony, and structure work together to create original music. Students will study music from around the world to learn diverse musical systems and rules. Exploration and experimentation will be used to apply this knowledge to the composition of students' own music, musical analysis, or even an original musical system. Music Theory is a prerequisite for Advanced Music Theory and is recommended for those interested in IB Music.

Musical Theater Repertoire

Description: In Musical Theater Repertoire, students work with Eagle Hill’s music director and choreographer to learn songs and dances from popular musicals throughout history. They are introduced to the history of musical theater on Broadway and around the world. Students are expected to perform the numbers rehearsed in class. Performances may include monthly open mic nights on campus, concerts, or other school events. This course is designed for students interested in developing their singing and dancing skills, while working in an ensemble setting—all important skills for succeeding in the performing arts.

One Act Competition

Description: This is an advanced acting course for students who want to be involved in drama competitions with other schools. Students learn the essential skills required for membership in an ensemble cast while preparing for high school drama competitions. Students accepted into this course by audition commit to attending all rehearsals called by the director, as well as those required by competition organizers.

Performing Arts Exploration

Description: In Performing Arts Exploration, students spend time exploring dance, music, and theater in unique ways. The course begins with a basic review of each discipline. Through conversation, exploration, and creative assignments, students help determine the different elements of performance their section covers. Topics may include STOMP!, a cappella and chant, improvisation, song and dance games, and scene development. Students' understanding and engagement in the performing arts will be evaluated on class participation, willingness to collaborate and create, and regular presentations.

Public Speaking

Description: Public Speaking is a fun, practical course to improve your ability to communicate with others and become an effective student and leader.

Set Building and Design

Description: This course exposes students to the technical and creative aspects of set design and building. Students design and build sets to be used in productions at Eagle Hill School. Using hand drawings and theater software, students create interactive 3-D computer models of theater or performance spaces where the systems usually associated with performance (lights, sound, fly bars, revolves, and trucks) are used. Basic carpentry and electrical skills are learned while building sets, as well as painting and color coordination for dramatic effect. In addition, students learn about "dressing the set" for performances.

Stage Combat

Description: In this course, students learn about stage combat and how to "fight" safely on stage. Students focus on two elements of stage combat: hand-to-hand combat and single-sword combat. Hand-to-hand combat entails falling, slaps, grabs, chokes, pushes, tackles, punches, and kicks. Single-sword combat is sword fighting with one sword. Students will learn the parts of a sword and the terms of the trade. The class will train these techniques and will perform in front of an audience.

Technical Theater Internship

Description: Students manage and run the state-of-the-art theatrical lighting, sound, and rigging systems at the Cultural Center for school productions as well as visiting productions. Interns must be interested in technical theater and ready to be responsible, reliable, devoted members of a team. Student interns participate in intensive training and then take on responsibilities such as consulting with performing artists about their technical needs, designing and implementing lighting, sound, rigging, and sets, and running the technical functions for each concert and production. Ongoing professional development helps interns hone their practice of technical arts. Interns earn academic credit, and they also benefit from the exciting experience of becoming experts in theatrical systems, collaborating with performing artists, and building unusually substantive resumes.