Drama

All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players. ~ William Shakespeare

The drama and dance curriculum is intended to help students to develop an understanding and appreciation of drama and dance, as well as the ability to create works using the forms, elements and techniques of these two disciplines. Through exploring drama and dance, students will develop an understanding of themselves and others and will learn about the lives of people in different times, places and cultures. They will develop practical, artistic skills in both disciplines, as well as critical-thinking skills and a variety of communication skills. Role-playing is a key component of the drama and dance curriculum. Students develop their understanding of a variety of points of view and motives, in addition to strengthening their ability to empathize with others.

Students will draw upon a variety of sources including literature, historical and current events and topics and themes from other subject areas, particularly language arts and social studies, in order to create presentations in which they communicate their interpretation of situations and motive of various characters.

Drama lends itself to links with Language Arts and several projects exist where Drama provides a forum for the development of ideas examined in the Language Arts curriculum in areas. Such projects include the marketing of a product through an advertisement and the making of short movies.