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THEATER
Mission Statement | Theater The Dalton Theater Department takes as its mission: • To build a community and culture of learning, collaboration, and creative theater art through curriculum and production;
• To nurture collaborative relationships among young theater artists as they make meaning with text, voice, music, rhythm, movement, light, form, texture, and color; • To develop in our students’ habits of observation, self-study, and critical commentary which are generous in spirit, insightful, and helpful; • To bring to life before the Dalton community a broad range of dramatic literature, performance styles, and challenging programming
• To offer as many students as possible opportunities to participate in the unique conjunction of work and play, instruction and delight, that is the Art of Theater
5th Grade Theater
7th/8th Theater Tech
Emphasis is placed on the following theater skills:
Emphasis is placed on the following theater skills:
• Tongue twisters • Mime exercises • Animal imagery • Detailed examination of the process of designing and building the sets for the main stage shows • Memorizing poems and short monologue
• Extensive use of hand and power tools • Working with the designer’s models and elevations • Employing a variety of painting techniques • Solving challenges of designing and building original props • Learning basic sewing skills by building masks • Writing and creating puppets for an original puppet show
Theater 6
Theater 7/8
In 6th grade, theater class is tied closely with English class and the annual Greek Festival. Students begin with basic theater study in voice, text, and choral movement and move to more sophisticated work in developing group acting technique, recital, and devising. In the latter half of 6th grade theater, the students work more intently on writing their own first-person narrative monologues from the point of view of their selected Greek character (Gods to men) and work with their English teachers and GF directors to write, edit, rehearse and perform their own monologue in the Greek Festival as well as acting in support of other monologues through group acting, mime, music, and dance. Students/ directors (for monologues) focus on character creation and development for performance which enhances understanding and personal connection.
7th/8th Grade Acting Emphasis is placed on the following theater skills: • Tongue Twisters • Improvisation exercises • Student writing assignments, including short scenes and monologues • Shakespeare insult contest • Juggling workshop • Vocal warm-ups and voice exercises
In 7/8 Theater, students enter into a more serious relationship with text and character. our program uses scene study with the intent of helping students work with intentions and connect with a character’s motivations. The goal is for them to commit to interpreting a text rather than simply reading words. We use improvisation exercises to develop strong interaction with scene partners, help students be “in the moment,” and promote an emotional, rather than intellectual, connection with the scene. Students create their own text in response to writing assignments. They also study the mechanics of the vocal instrument, working with exercises to build vocal strength and help them discover and make use of their different resonators.
Theater Tech 7/8 Theater Tech centers around helping build the sets for the three main stage productions and DTW. This is real work, incorporating manual and power tools, painting, modeling techniques, and learning the specific skills that distinguish building for the theater. In addition, students are exposed to the design components, working from the models and ground plans. As a result, they are integrated fully into the collaborative process and feel a strong connection to each production. When not building sets, the class engages in a buoyant investigation into less familiar theatrical worlds, like puppetry and Noh. They will also work on fun projects involving costume and prop design and building.
The Dalton School Middle School Curriculum Guide
