Issaquah Curriculum (2012-2013): The Monday and Wednesday Foundation classes will include Singing, Dance, and Acting. Additional Electives and workshops are available at no additional charge during the school year. Institute students also will receive 50% off any additional KIDSTAGE class including Saturday Morning Dance Classes (which are highly encouraged.) Singing: Students will be placed in classes according to experience and demonstrated skills in music theory and sight-reading. We offer singing classes in the master class format that emphasizes theory, harmony, sight-reading, repertoire, and music theatre history. (Private voice lessons do not take the place of a master class and are highly encouraged.)

Dance: Students learn skills and techniques for controlling and using their bodies as actors and mastering challenging choreography. Dance classes provide tools to increase flexibility and improve core strength. Students learn essential theatre dance steps, and the fundamentals of turns and jumps. Students will explore acting through dance, specificity of movement, dancing with strength, and selling a dance number. The goal of Institute dance is to improve dance technique and performance skills, and prepare students for auditions, call backs, or any future musical theatre dance experience. Additional Institute and KIDSTAGE dance and movement classes are highly encouraged.

Acting: Institute students will develop acting techniques through classes that include character development, ensemble building, improvisation, audition/callback technique, and monologue and/or scene-study using contemporary plays, classical plays, and must-know theatre literature. Work in class will help students embrace the belief that “I am enough”. Classes will explore various acting methods and techniques throughout their years of study including Meisner, Improvisation, Hagen, Strasberg, Stanislavski, and collective devised work. Our acting classes also incorporate voice and speech work and movement work including Alexander, Commedia, Lecoq, Viewpoints, and Suzuki.

College Prep: The College Prep class meets September through February. The class helps prepare college bound students seeking acceptance in music, theatre or performance programs for their college audition circuits. This course meets from 8:45-9:30 PM on Mondays. There will be an additional tuition for this class.