PERFORMING ARTS Waynflete’s performing arts program is an integral part of the school’s curriculum, helping to foster the intellectual, artistic, and social-emotional growth of our students. Our diverse offering of curricular and cocurricular classes and ensembles, builds foundational skills and artistic understanding for students and supports the ongoing artistic education of those who wish to immerse themselves at a deeper level. We believe that every student can discover and develop their unique “voice” as they invest in the creative process, work collaboratively with their peers, and embrace the arts as a powerful vehicle for selfexpression and windows to understanding humanity.
Middle School The Middle School performing arts program includes a progression of formal classes in dance, drama, music, and production technology, and an array of performing ensembles. Additional performing arts workshops (such as dance choreography and drama club) and private music lessons are also available in the fee-based Afterschool Enrichment program. Grades 6 and 7 In formal classes that meet twice a week, students gain skills and experience in various performing arts disciplines. Over the two-year span, students spend one full semester in each of the following: dance, drama, general music, and production technology. These four classes are exploratory, experiential, and connected thematically. An informal sharing for peers celebrates the end of each semester of exploration.
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Grade 8 The eighth-grade theatre class builds on the sixth-grade and seventhgrade performing arts classes and includes a range of exploration, from public speaking and writing monologues and scenes to acting and collaborating on a full-grade culminating performance. This yearlong experiential class, which is thematically tied to the integrated English and history programs, encourages students to apply their skills as expressive performers, make connections across their academic experience, and strengthen their sense of community. Grades 6–8 Ensembles Sixth graders are introduced to ensemble music through Band, Chamber Ensemble, or Chorus. Seventh and eighth graders are combined for more advanced Band, Chamber Ensemble, or Chorus. All the ensembles rehearse twice a week and perform at formal music concerts in the winter and the spring. They also share their work with the Middle School community at assemblies during the school day.
Upper School The Upper School performing arts curriculum includes a range of offerings in dance, music, theatre, and production technology. These include formal semester classes, yearlong ensembles, and other electives.
SEMESTER COURSES Acting (½ credit) This class introduces students to the art of acting. Students discover the “actor’s instrument” by tuning up the body, voice, and imagination with a variety of exercises. Students prepare for self-expression, character creation, improvisation, and scene analysis, and explore different acting styles and techniques to add variety to their palette of artistic choices. Students expand their cultural literacy by reading plays, studying theater history, attending productions, and making observations on everyday life through journal entries. This is a nonjudgmental classroom in which risk-taking and mistakes can be made freely and the necessary “play” can take place.
