<h3>Bauer, Scarbrough, and Iacuessa integrate drama, music and dance<h3>
Drama instructor Gleason Bauer corrects sophomore Zena’s posture as she walks in a circle, knees bent and arms rigid. In the next few minutes, Zena and Bauer, jump while reciting the ABCs, assume a flying Superman position to strengthen their abs, and balance their elbows on their knees while crouching with their feet in the air.
All of this is part of the “warm up circle,” or “kata,” for Interdisciplinary Performance, a new class added this year by the performing arts department. The class, which is team-taught by Bauer, dance instructor Laura Iacuessa and music instructor Ernie Scarbrough, helps students see the overlap between sound, movement, and performance.<br/>Students get the chance to take risks in areas that they do not have experience in, while improving on what they already know, Bauer said.
Zena said that because the class combines all three disciplines, she thinks it’s a good class for anyone to take.
“It’s not theater-y, or dance-y, or sing-y. It’s a good way to start if you don’t know what kind of artsy person you are,” Zena explained.
Students are first learning the fundamentals of sound, movement, and performance, and then they will work on combining these skills throughout the semester.
Likewise, instructors are first concentrating on teaching their own area of expertise, and will later teach students how each of their individual areas relate to the others.
Scarbrough, who is now teaching the students about the space, time, tempo, and emotional meaning of music, recently led an activity in which the class was asked to try and find a common beat that they all found satisfying, using a metronome. <br/>Millicent’12 said the activity was interesting and frustrating. <br/>“It was really annoying when people changed the beat and speed to something totally irritating to your ears that they apparently found satisfying,” Millicent said.<br/>Other activities have included working with “viewpoints” and creating a movement for every letter
of the ABCs.<br/>Throughout the class, each student is required to keep a journal and a personal box, which they decorate and fill with anything that inspires them, including magazine quotes, clothing items, music, etc.
They are also assigned a “V project,” or virtuosity project in which they master anything of their choice, from braiding hair to singing the Star Spangled Banner backwards.<br/>On April 29, students will demonstrate their learning in the Black Box Performance.
