What I came to realize a few years ago, is that a beginner is a beginner, regardless of whether they are five or fifteen. You cannot assume any experience on their part, even if they have participated in previous performing arts programs, summer camps or past shows. There are so many variables happening in theatre in this age group, that I always assume I am starting from scratch.
There are myriad approaches, schools of thought and end product expectations sitting in front of you in any class. Some kids with minimal talent came from a place where there was little talent or commitment, and were therefore elevated to "star" status, yet they have no grip on theatre vocab. Some were told they should be in theatre because they are funny, or they act out in class. (*Note to parents and educators, this is not a sign that the kid needs to be in theatre. Please don't tell them that.) Some came from a regional theatre summer program, or a local performing arts program with other highly motivated students, and they were never able to be cast above ensemble due to the level of talent in their program. Some are there because they must be enrolled in six periods, and counseling dropped them in.You have these guys and everything in between staring at you.
Therefore, I start with combat. It's a great place to begin basic vocab regarding stage directions without drilling "Cross up left, cross center, cross down right". Ugh. Since you're masking the punch (vocab word!), so the audience's disbelief is not shattered (Wiling Suspension of Disbelief)by punching upstage (vocab) everything in the unit is going to repeat those stage directions.
Some kids get annoyed with repetition, and others are used to it. In a core class, learning vocb lends itself to writing definitions, matching words with the definition, etc, and kids glaze over. Instead, in theatre, we're on our feet, reusing the terms over and over again, without grilling them. The first "term" is "rehearsal", which I tell them means "to repeat". This is a solid base for things like the Greek Chorus, who repeat the action of the play. This approach seems to vex admin, as historically I've had to create vocab lists and embed them in lesson plans, never to be rediscovered. Using the words over and over is a valid way to learn defiitions. I promise.
They must create a combat scene with a beginning, a middle and an end (plot). The only rules are *No F bombs or other upsetting language *No domestic violence * No drugs or alcohol (I have acquisced to cowboys in a saloon, however) *No weapons. That's it. Create a one to two minute piece where hand to hand combat makes sense, add text and execute the seven moves you've learned. Am I tired of scenes in which girls fight over a sale item in a store? Yep. Do they recieve a lower grade for that scene? Nope. I'm delighted they showed up to class, rehearsed, worked together and performed. I tell them they will lose points if they make contact by slapping or punching their partner, but it's never been an issue. They're so impressed by their ability to create the illusion that they are focused, and no contact is made. Every single time, someone slaps their partner and the partner does not react and we all laugh together. We laugh with one another, together, not at. They hear that a bunch, too.
Teaching kids to slow down when they rehearse is a vital skill that can be taught in the first unit. Slow down your punch, write out your script, block your combat and rehearse at half speed to make sure you execute the move correctly. The one move they rush is the strangle, so I make them slow motion it, like a zombie movie. I also do a balance exercise I call "The Matrix", where they must try to touch their partner slowly, while the partner moves their body away while leaving their feet planted. Think Keanu slo mo dodging bullets: that's the idea. That gets them accustomed to slowing down. It's not about trying to screw up your partner by moving fast and knocking their balance, it's about fooling the audience into believing you are touching your partner. Bringing us to our beloved "Willing Suspension of Disbelief", which is such a difficult concept for many kids, but The Matrix really makes it tangible for them.
So the entire unit has yoga stretches, The Matrix for balance, a demo of the moves, a visit to plot elements and their first experience in learning how to rehearse as well as perform. The combat scene must contain: a beginning, middle and end, a slap, a strangle, a punch (right or left hook, jab or uppercut) a knee (stomach or groin) a hair pull, a drag and a stomp.Both partners must both execute and receive the punches and zombie reanimations are encouraged. Theatre people know how to teach these moves, but I've come up with a phrase or two that the kids remember years after intro. Your slap must be 'The Queen' not "Jersey", meaning it's a stiff hand and the power comes from your shoulder, not you flipping your hand like a fish. "The Victim Is Always In Control" is our mantra, and they will stop and say it if they know the scene has shifted. Also the distance is six inches, always, from the victim, so "Six inch ribbon curls---SIX. INCHES." has made is way into the combat vernacular as well.
From here, we do some improv. I don't love improv in beginning classes, the shyer kids step back and let those who are more brave perform, and then it's no longer a group exercise. Sometimes I will let it go if those in the circle of 'freeze' are particularly talented, and are willing to let me stop them and point out what they've done correctly/incorrectly for the class. Improv is just another step toward getting them comfortable, however, most of the games only involve a handful of kids (you cannot play Party Quirks with 30 kids). By design it lends itself to performers and audience separation, so I use it sparingly. Their favorite is my most hated, The Dating Game. Ugh. They aren't any good at it, they don't know how to ask questions and I end up working harder to teach them how to play it correctly. Bus Stop is terrible with certain kids, becase you always get one who is determined to not react at all to anyone or anything, and if they're new, they think they're being clever. They aren't. So I use Freeze Tag to loosen them up, and then dole out the game as chocolate at the end of class. At the minimum, I get them all on stage in a circle, feigning participation.
This year, with Covid, my classes have swung more to speech making, since breakout rooms are difficult for even the advanced kids, so I use them sparingly with Intro.I do a "What I Love" speech, a Demo speech and a poetry interp or stand up comedy routine. The demo i used for years in class live, the cool part of being remote was that the kids could demonstrate making morning coffee, or pancakes (not saying they didn't do that live, they did), using their kitchen or bedroom as their set location. These killed, but of course, you cannot do demos for and entire year. I do think I'll include more speeches first semester when we return next year, it seems to be a good break from the group scene work we've always done.
Live, we do mime and tap dancing, as well as a midterm scene from The Odd Couple where I can get some tech in: build a prop from what you have, create the set (the apartment), find costume pieces. This year in the fall remotely, I made them build sock puppets and do the scene that way. So Much Fun and I get the tech connection with performance: bonus. Now this spring, they have to actually perform the scenes with a partner or a group.
Throughout the semester I use fairy tales for everything. Fairy tale with combat, fairy tale with tap dancing, Fairy tale with mime, fairy tale with built prop, etc. Then their final is a fairy tale with all elements plus full tech elements, a stage manager and a director. By the time we get here, they know who can be depended on and who cannot and they plan accordingly. Without confronting their fellow classmates, they simply give a ditcher the smallest role, and assign an understudy in case they don't show up. It's my job to confront the ditcher, and I do, and 100% of the time they get what's going on and accept it. Some of them even show up to perform the final! By their final I allow them to choose their groups ( I assign groups all semester to insure the shy kid gets involved, etc) and at the final, they always reach out to the shyer kids, because that's what's been happening all semester. My favorite kids are the Sped kids, they delight in every aspect, and in theatre, they are embraced by every group and involved to whatever degree they wish. I had one kid who was a train in every single scene. Who cares? He had a ball. I do not care how many times, over the last 50 years, I have seen The Three Little Pigs: it delights me every time. They find ways to make the story their own, incorporate their personal lives, politics, popular media, even memes. While they're having fun, they are also learning to adapt as a team member, collaborate, compromise, advocate, project, enunciate, lead, follow, think around problems, and own their work. We build humans in performing arts.That's always been a point of pride.
And every element matches the state standards for theatre as well as any IB or AP rubric you care to create, in case meeting standards or preparing students for assements is your concern.Performance and tech, check. Create and perform, check. Reading, check. Vocab, check.Problem solving, check.Reflect, check. There is no assessment box for team work, problem solving, creative thought or building a community, those are "side effects" of theatre content. Ponder that.
Every theatre program deserves a teacher who loves theatre. Passing it off as a club to a lang arts teacher, or reducing it to an IB curriculum run by the music teacher is unfair to the students, who are not getting the full breadth of what theatre has to offer ,and the teacher, who has an additional prep they cannot fully immerse themselves in. While these teachers may have had theatre in high school, or were a theatre minor in college, and generally mean well with their big hearts, their focus is split: theatre is not their only job. By design,theatre becomes an afterthought.
And here we are post Covid, facing budget cuts and the reality that theatre-because in the peforming arts our numbers are always smaller -is going to get jacked.
Sigh.
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