Deerfield students interested in the performing arts are often faced with the task of deciding which type of performing art class to take: dance, theater, or music. The Deerfield arts program created a class, Intro to Performing Arts, which combines all three art forms in order to offer students a wider range of performing arts experience.
Although the class is not new, the format has recently changed. Dance, acting and chorus are now taught together by Music Director Daniel Roihl, Acting Dance Director Crystal Nilsson and Theater Director Catriona Hynds respectively.
Students spend one day a week in each of the three disciplines and the fourth day talking about the advocacy, appreciation and administration of art.
“It’s great because it lets you experience all three of the arts— dance, chorus, acting—and teaches you how to organize an art event, some of which I hadn’t really done before,” Lizzie Klink ’16 said of the class.
Mr. Roihl added, “Students are encouraged to step beyond their comfort zone and try new things, or express themselves in new ways.”
The students must complete a final project that requires them to organize a large-scale art event for a philanthropic cause.
“My favorite element of the class is the final project,” said Mrs. Hynds. “They are hugely creative and many of them plausible.”
Anna Berger ’16 is taking the class this spring. “It’s a really fun class and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in performing arts,” she said.