Hey all, welcome to the MSU ArtsBridge blog! I'm Sarah, and I'll be your hostess for the Heartwood portion of this grand weblog of ours.
Heartwood is kind of a special case in the world of ArtsBridge. Instead of going out to a 4th or 5th grade classroom and integrating the arts into the student's cirriculum, I spend my time at a special education center teaching the arts (more specifically, theatre) to a group of 30 some high schoolers with varying degrees of disabilities and needs. Last year I re-wrote and directed an adaptation of High School Musical with the students and this semester we're working on writing our own show, Heartwood Circus. It's coming along nicely, and I'm very excited to be involving the students much more in the production this year.
My past few trips to Heartwood have been strictly devoted to recording the students reciting the script of the show. Last year I had an assistant stage manager who read interludes between every musical number in order to advance the plot. Since I am recording the students reading the script this year, I will be able to play it during the show and that way the students will be performing the entire show on their own.
They've been doing a nice job with recording. It's very demanding for any student, to sit quietly until it is their turn to speak a line, and when they do speak it it must be loud and clear. I'm very proud of the work they've done so far. I only have a few more scenes to record and then I'll be working on blocking and choreographing the show. Opening night is April 30th!
This Friday (tomorrow!) is going to be very exciting. In order to enrich the students' experience, I've organized a field trip to the MSU Auditorium. I thought it would be great if we could show the students how a more professional level of theatre is organized. We'll be touring the theatre spaces and doing a couple workshops in makeup (clown makeup!) and painting with the help of a few wonderful MSU theatre graduate students. They'll also tour the scene and costume shops. Hopefully they'll learn a lot about how theatre works and that there's a lot more than just getting up on stage to sing and dance and act. I'll be sure to post some pictures after our big field trip tomorrow!
A field trip! I feel like a real teacher!
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