I’ve always had a unique passion for the performing arts ever since I was a little child. I was completely entertained by the captivating spectacles not only because of the performance of the actors, but because of the fascinating and creative light and sound effects that made a particular production unique as well. I honestly considered going to the theater and other live events when I was a kid as a special treat. However it wasn’t until high school that I discovered my desire to become part of the process of making a production.
To make sure students were well-rounded, the high school I attended required that students take a class in the field of arts, such as band, art, etc. I gave up on learning to play instruments a long time ago, and
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Although the classes have still been challenging, I find myself more committed to learn the material, and that I actually enjoying the material I am learning. I have become committed to improving my skills as a scenic carpenter and theatrical technician and being actively involved in university productions. The faculty has encouraged me to continually work outside my comfort zone and learn new skills that go far beyond the scope of the skills I possessed in high school. Just last year, I learned a lot of information about lighting, including how to focus a light thanks to guest designer Denis Hutchinson, who encouraged me to learn these new skills. In addition, I would never have taken the initiative to stage manage a show if not for the preparation and knowledge I gained from the Stage Management course I took here. I have learned many valuable skills during my time here, such as the entire design process, from transferring hand sketches of ideas into AutoCAD, to using advanced wood/metal-working techniques to bring those designs into reality. My greatest creation to date is undoubtedly the disc golf basket a partner and I designed and created for our final project in the Advanced Stage Technology course. I cannot thank the faculty enough for creating an environment that respects and encourages the unique and creative nature of its students such as
Even if I didn’t make it, I don’t think anyone realizes what you learn when training in this profession. Musical theatre has allowed me to step up, commit to my work, become more confident and to have fun! You learn to become focused and pay more attention to detail. Building sets, reading scenes and learning music betters your communication and listening skills. All of these skills I have acquired over the last few years and I they are still helping me to grow. I think my biggest take away from this past summer is to become more confident as a person and in my work. Confidence is a big part of doing musical theatre. Some people having no confidence or a little too much. Trying to gain confidence has made me appreciate my body, the little things and what I do. I have already had many people come up to me at school and tell me that they’re loving my new glow confidence and love for myself. Overall, I see why people doubt the career, but they only consider the outside results. Musical theatre has made me the person I am today and I will never forget
What started out as a hobby transformed into a passion for an art form that allows me to use movements and expressions to tell a story. Whether I’m on stage in front of an audience of just friends and family, hundreds of strangers and a panel of judges, or the whole school, performing over thirty times, has helped me build lifelong
Before addressing the need for music instruction in our schools I would like to briefly examine the need for education of any kind. Education is a means of making sure our society has a given set of knowledge. The set of knowledge we perceive ourselves as needing changes based on our surroundings and the issues we are dealing with. In American education's early history we perceived ourselves as needing a set of knowledge that included a common language and common view of history, as well as knowledge of those things with which we would interact every day. In many ways early public education was more a means of social control than an altruistic endeavor. In today's climate we see ourselves as having more diverse needs in our education...
In my first piano recital at the age of eight, I felt overwhelmed by the audience' s applause. Since that first recital, I became very committed to music and attempted to build a music career. At age six, I began playing the piano, and at age fifteen, I began playing the trumpet. Admitted by a professional music high school at age sixteen, I had the opportunity of exploring the broad world of music, and the high quality of instruction greatly enriched my music background. After intensively preparing for my first trumpet competition, I won the championship of trumpet competition for the remaining two years of high school. By attending various kinds of competitions, I further developed my musical interest and abilities.
From early on children and students learn beneficial and necessary skills from their art classes without realizing it. “Although arts and music programs tend
“Recent studies show that being involved in music classes makes it easier to learn other subjects and improve skills in other classrooms” (Brown, “The Benefits of Music Education”). A lot of people tend to overlook how much music education has an impact on the success of a student. Because of this, schools should be required to offer fine arts and music classes as electives for the students. Not only will this improve the students test scores, but it will also give the students a broader imagination and more creativity in and out of the classroom. In a lot of schools, fine arts and musical classes are the first to go when there are budget cuts. “Seventy-one percent of the nation’s fifteen thousand school districts have cut instructional hours spent on music and other subjects” (“State of the arts: should music and art classes be brushed aside”). Not only is it affecting the teachers who have specialized in the study of fine arts, it is affecting all of the students and parents who are actively involved in these programs. “Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy and associate dean of the School of Fine Arts at KU, found jumps of twenty-two percent in English test scores and twenty percent in math scores at elementary schools with superior music education” (Lynch “Music Boosts Test Scores”). With that being said, schools should be required to offer music and fine arts classes as an elective for their students.
... middle of paper ... ... In addition, attending live theatre develops a person’s artistic sense in the context that they are able to react to the play and enjoy the aesthetic experience. In essence, Adam Burke’s perception of directing and theatre production is a very useful insight.
From an early age I have always had a strong interest in art, and have been involved with it in some form all through my life. In year nine I realized that it was something that I might like to pursue as a career, I started taking it more seriously. The Chase's art department encouraged me very well and helped me develop my art skills.
Technical Theatre class was a great learning experience for me. When I first signed up for the class, I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I had always been quite clumsy, and I’d never been very handy; so I didn’t think I would be of much use to the set building process. However, before the building process began, the class was taught how to properly and safely use power tools. Being educated on how to handle the equipment made me feel a lot more confident. Now, I’m proud of myself because I ended up getting a lot of work done that I didn’t think I was capable of.
Fine arts classes benefit students and schools alike. Fine arts are needed courses, not just as electives but as core classes that promote learning and creativity in the lives of students. There are three different styles of learning: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Fine art provides an avenue for all of these learning styles to be utilized during one class period; therefore, all students are able to understand and benefit from the curriculum. In a normal academic setting all types of learning may not be used, so a percentage of the classroom will not understand the lessons as well as it could have if it had arts incorporated into the class. It may seem impossible to include arts into an academic setting, but it is possible, effective, and fun. According to Barry Oreck, it has been proven that students learning molecular bonding through a dance had a more proficient understanding of the concept. He states, “We have found that if you learn something through a theater game, you can still answer a test question” (new horizons Dickerson 3). This statement proves that arts are extremely important and beneficial. With fine arts, students have a safe environment to express themselves, a motivation to stay in school, and higher test scores. The fact that fine arts are needed is evident, but will schools respond or live in denial?
Music evaluated as a subjects that is many times overlooked. If a school seems to have financial trouble, then music and art programs are the first to get cut. Essentially, students do not need them to succeed and they are just hobbies. This is the mindset that many school boards have towards music education.
When you love to do something, you want to do it every day, all the time, till you get sick of it. Even then that excitement and devotion to do it is still there. That is how I feel about art. I have a great passion for it. It is a form where I can express myself in a way words can’t.
Jane Alexander, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), once said, “Many children are missing out on something which gives their education context, gives their lives depth and meaning, and prepares them to be the future workforce.” This “something” that she spoke of is music and art education. Unfortunately, she is entirely correct. We are currently seeing in our country a dramatic cut in arts education curriculum in our public schools due to the limited amount of both time and funding. In many cases budget cutbacks mean arts education cutbacks. This limited amount of resources often forces administrators to place a value on the various subject areas. There is always a demand for greater concentration upon the traditional basics: English, math, science, and history. There is also a new focus on computer competency and a renewed focus on the need for foreign language education. Add to this health education, family life education, industrial arts education, AIDS education, home economics, physical education, and business education and one begins to wonder where arts education fits in.
However, even if either of these options were viable, it wouldn't be a beneficial use of resources. The field of arts is very broad and each student has many different arts courses that they may wish to pursue more than others. As it stands in most high schools, students have the option to take a certain number of elective courses each semester. By requiring them to play a musical instrument you take away time that they could be using to pursue an arts course that is more fulfilling to them such as pottery or theater. The reasoning behind wanting to require the learning of a musical instrument is understandable.
Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Without music, life would be a mistake”. Music is almost as old as the human race and is as much a part of it as anything. So why would anyone choose to get rid of it? An Increasing number of schools across the nation are deciding to cut music education programs. This includes band, orchestra, choir, and general music classes. In 1991, 55.4 percent of public school eighth-graders took part in music classes at school. In 2004, this figure was just 49.1 percent. Money plays a huge role in this statistic: “...when funds are scarce, arts courses are usually the first to be dropped from a school’s curriculum” (“Arts Education”). While many argue that music education is an unnecessary cost for schools, it improves student’s overall well being.