Theatre & Dance
Dance
St. Andrew's dance program brings serious training in classical ballet and modern dance to every student—from complete beginners to those with years of experience—while also opening up dance opportunities elsewhere in campus life. Through the study of movement, students find their own creativity and artistry.
Dance Fundamentals builds an appreciation for dance while grounding students in technique: line, form, body placement, movement quality, musicality, muscle control, and artistic expression.
From there, advanced ballet and contemporary classes go deeper—refining core control, movement quality, body placement, and aesthetic line. Across the curriculum, students build strength, agility, coordination, flexibility, and stamina, while developing their own voice as artists.
Students who complete introductory coursework can go further, "majoring" in ballet or contemporary dance during their junior and/or senior year. Majors take a full-credit Advanced Study course modeled on the professional dance world, built around three pillars: technique, skills and mastery, and choreography.
Students who complete introductory coursework in dance may choose to further their study by “majoring” in ballet or contemporary dance in their junior and/or senior years. Majors take a full-credit Advanced Study course in ballet or contemporary dance; the course is a working model of the professional dance world, and follows a three-pronged approach to their dance training, focusing on technique, skills and mastery, and choreography.
Looking for more opportunities for dance at St. Andrew's?
- Dance classes are available as an afternoon activity (not for academic credit) during the fall and spring athletic seasons
- Student-led dance clubs (such as the Saints Steppers) utilize our dance studios and are advised by dance faculty
- The dance program holds performances, such as the Student Choreographic Showcase, for the school community throughout the year.
- The dance program assists with choreography for the school’s Winter Musical.
Theatre
St. Andrew's Theatre Program offers two ways to get involved: for-credit academic courses, or one of the four major productions the program stages each year.
Fall and spring productions range across drama and comedy from different eras—from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and Arthur Miller's The Crucible to Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water and David Lindsay-Abaire's Rabbit Hole.
Winter brings two shows: a musical in Forbes Theater with a live orchestra of student and faculty musicians, and a play in Engelhard Hall.
Recent musicals include Hadestown, The Princess and the Pea, Catch Me If You Can, Godspell, Into the Woods, The Drowsy Chaperone, and Hello, Dolly!
Behind the Curtain
Students are crucial not only onstage, but also backstage. They comprise our crew, and build, paint, design, sew—whatever talent you have to offer, our community is the better for it! Once in production, the stage manager and tech crew take over. Students call cues and change scenes in the manner of a professional theatre.
Our theatre program strives not only to entertain the community, but to provoke thought and conversation as well. With this goal in mind, plays that deal with social issues (such as gender equity and social justice) are performed about every two years. Three of our most recent examples of such plays are The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, Radium Girls, and Twelve Angry Jurors.
Forbes Theater is a fabulous place for creative exploration, self-discovery, and collaboration. Students strengthen their vocal and physical confidence; expand their ability to communicate; and exercise mind-body coordination. At St. Andrew's, we do our best to emulate the process of production taken on by professional actors and theaters—a model that requires both playfulness and discipline of all participants.
Rehearsals are held in the afternoon, after classes. Students may participate in the theatre program in lieu of a sport; a student who has interest in theater but is committed to a sport for one or more seasons may want to take a for-credit acting course instead.