Predator Follies: A Dramatic Interpretation
By Cynthia Aguilar, B Block Drama Class Instructor, CCHS English Department.
The Performing Arts class is a junior/senior elective that focuses on the study of drama through close reading of well-known plays as well as the performance skills, both acting and technical, required to produce a show. Some students come to the class with an impressive resume of stage experience, having acted in the many plays and musicals. Others arrive with a fledgling interest in pursuing an area that they have not explored before. The synergy created by these two kinds of students is exciting! Through team building skits, improvisations, and dramatic interpretations of serious scenes, they work together and teach one another by taking the stage and giving feedback.
It is very risky business. To perform on the stage before a live audience is to experience life at its fullest. The stage is the medium; an audience is imperative. My B block class got the opportunity to work with the community by participating in Concord's yearly celebration of Earth Day. Debbie Barr, CCHS Community Internship Coordinator, made the necessary connections.
This year's theme was predators. At first, my 17 and 18 year-old students were somewhat hesitant. Predators??? Seniors seem to have many things on their minds at this time of the year, but predators was not one of them. However, after meeting with Richard Fahlander, the Coordinator of Musketaquid, and looking at the vibrant puppets and art involved with the event, they were inspired.
Dividing into groups of four and five, they brainstormed possible interpretative venues: interpretative dance, a story for children, a game show, and a narrative. They wrote scripts, choreographed dance routines, created prompts for improvisations, blocked their scenes, made costumes, and acted like "animals."
Altogether, they used their creative energies to bring alive a topic that some might perceive as difficult to interpret. Red-tailed hawks, bears, mice, mosquitoes, frogs, bats, turtles, and coyotes, all came alive in Emerson Umbrella's green room.
Afterwards: four weeks are left before the class' final
productions; the audience is a tough customer!
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Touching, Funny, and Talented Kids at CCHS
By Deborah Bier, publisher and editor of the Concord Magazine.
Working with the CCHS Block B Drama class, I have been simply wowed by these young people's talent, energy, enthusiasm, and work ethic. They have been thought-provoking, vividly engaged, emotionally moving, and very, very funny. I was especially delighted by how genuinely humorous their dramatic presentation was. Their comedic timing was a real standout, as was their beautiful dancing.
I could not have asked for better adults to help shepherd this project through to completion. Debbie Barr, the high school community internship coordinator, championed this precedent-setting work from the beginning. It was her belief in the importance of the community and students working together that drove us.
And it was a pleasure watching the students work with their teacher, Cindy Aguilar. She eagerly took on this non-traditional project, helping them bring out their talents, stay on deadline, and feel confident of their accomplishments. She was a wonderful and enthusiastic contributor to the Web project, feeling quite at home in this medium, too.
The class gave a remarkable three weeks to writing and rehearsing this project. Remarkable, first, that -- given enormous curriculum pressures -- they took time out from their traditional coursework to accomplish the same learning with a local organizations. Meeting their educational goals, at the same time they became more involved with the community.
And remarkable, too, because -- being so busy with many commitments -- they took just three weeks to create such an engaging performance of entirely original work. But with great presence on stage, wonderful preparation, and visible pleasure, they pulled it off completely. Our community can be very proud it includes such fine, creative people.
They took risks setting down their private thoughts and creative writing, allowing these to be published here. It was important to them to demonstrate to the community the solid stuff they're made of. In this special section, you will see how pleased they are to feel a stronger part of our community as a result of this project. Through drama, both audience and actors have experienced how much we have in common regardless of age....always the first step in breaking down barriers.
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Earth Day -- which in Concord is celebrated for most of April -- is annually honored by Musketaquid, a home-grown organization linking discovery of art with a passion for the natural world. This year's theme was "Honoring Musketaquid Predators - Nature in Balance," exploring the return of these animals to greater Boston, including Concord. 