Hello SPS Families!
Many people wonder how dramatic arts support a well rounded education. Even the many people who accept dramatic arts as essential can sometimes have a hard time articulating how exactly it ties into a traditional academic education. Yes, it helps with public speaking, literacy, and social dynamics, but the core skill that transcends disciplines into all walks of life is focus. Years ago when I asked a group of students to define focus, it was a six year old who shared the most complete answer I have heard to date:
Focus is where you put your ears, eyes, mind, and heart. Our focus is split now more than ever, with distractions and push notifications seeming to multiply on a daily basis. When is it that we learn how to focus? When we read, we may become absorbed into the world created by the story. When we play sports we keep our eye on the ball. In the dramatic arts, we invest our being into the story the audience witnesses by being present with our fellow actors.
The primary building block of success for a performer is the ability to focus. Just as athletes might spend time in the gym lifting weights in order to prepare for a game but never lift weights during the game, we train our focus as performers by playing games. My approach in this matter is the same whether my students are four or eighty years old. We practice having a shared focus as a group, and working toward the same goal as an ensemble.
In addition to performances and showcases, this year in dramatic arts we will spend time developing our focus tool through games and exercises that will never see the stage. We will learn that, while there are innumerable things outside of our control in any given situation, the one thing that we do have control over is our focus. Our focus is our power, and our ability to dedicate it to a singular objective or split it amongst several things at once can be a choice rather than a compulsion. Once we learn this skill, all other skills immediately become more accessible. We learn that objectives we achieve as a group can be immensely more satisfying than “winning” a game (though competition can be great, too!).
As we enter into this journey of dramatic arts together, please be aware that we are a process oriented program. Performing arts inherently includes performance, but many of our successes and “Aha!” moments will exist in the classroom as ensembles on a path of discovery. Some students will learn the importance of their own perspective and gain the courage to contribute by simply being themselves. Some will learn the value of authentic listening, and how to let go of individual ideas, letting them evolve with the needs and goals of the ensemble. They will learn that together, as we are, we are capable of greater heights than we are as individuals, and that each individual makes those highs possible.
Sincerely,
Clayton Pearce, Performing Arts Teacher
