Acting Courses

Our Upper School Acting Program is personalized, taking every student from their own starting point and allowing them to explore, take risks, and grow as an individual and with the group.

Focused on the process of creating theater and acting rather than just the product, the goal of our acting classes is to create an inclusive community, and the spirit of the program is support and community as opposed to competitiveness. We reject the idea of “leading roles” or that students have one identity—athlete, artist, etc.  Instead we encourage students to be well rounded. To that end, many of our students have a range of interests that help them to contribute to the ensemble.

While studying each play, students dig into the material by researching the time period, themes, playwrights, and other important aspects of dramaturgy that place the play in the historical and cultural context of the time it was written in. We then bridge that context with the current world we live in.

As their initial Theater Arts class, Upper School students take Foundations of Theater before choosing a track of Acting, Technical Theater & Design, or Costume & Fashion Design.

Technical Theater & Design Courses

In our Upper School Design Courses, students learn how to develop an artistic point of view—exploring how character and story are revealed through clothing and environment and the skills needed to bring their ideas to life.

In our Costume and Fashion Design Studio courses— taught in our state-of-the-art Costume Design Studio—students develop a basic understanding of the principles of costume design and costume technology. Using imagery, fabric, texture, shape, color, and line, they support and inform the theatrical storytelling process. In our Design and Tech Theater courses, students study the process of production and design of live performances. They develop and apply skills through various projects, including mainstage design opportunities, from set and lighting design to animated projections.

As their initial Theater Arts class, Upper School students take Foundations of Theater before choosing a track of Acting, Technical Theater & Design, or Costume & Fashion Design.

Music Courses

Instrumental Music

Some of the most interesting and exciting music being made today is that which breaks boundaries of genre and instrumentation. In our Upper School Instrumental Program, we believe students shouldn’t be pigeonholed into a particular kind of music based on their instrument.

We want our guitarists to grow their skills learning to read standard notation, and we want our violin students to know how to improvise in a jazz setting. To this end, ensembles cover music from a range of genres, and technique and theory are woven throughout the learning process. Comprised of 4 to 12 students, our ensembles are mixed instrumentation—woodwinds, brass, strings, and also rhythm section instruments like drums, piano, guitar, and bass. We custom arrange the music our ensembles play—creating content that targets growth areas for particular student.

Choral Music

From classical to Beyoncé, students in the Upper School Choral Program learn music from a variety of cultures and eras. We spend time exploring the background of songs in order to understand and capture the essence of the artists’ intention and to perform them as authentically as possible.

The choral music program at Beaver is open to any student who is interested in singing—no experience in solo or choral singing is required. Freshmen who are interested in vocal music at Beaver start with Foundations of A Cappella, a class where ninth graders work together to learn the basics of healthy singing, music theory, and musicianship through the pop a cappella idiom. For those who are interested in taking their vocal study further, they can take B-Side A Cappella or audition for Select Singers—an auditioned Honors ensemble that studies advanced repertoire in a variety of genres. This ensemble is open to students in grades 10 to 12.

Dance Courses

In our Dance Program students begin to develop their own artistic voice and style as well as a greater sense of body awareness, self-confidence, and self-discipline. The dance program welcomes all students, from the novice to the advanced dancer, who is interested in exploring dance through a variety of styles including (but not limited to) Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, and Hip Hop. Our Upper School Foundations of Choreography course is an in-depth study of movement and choreographic tools. Students hone their dance skills, create their own pieces, and, through the exploration of choreographers, gain an understanding of how different artists across genres have shaped the art form.

Through solo and group projects, students will have the opportunity to put into practice some of these elements of choreography.