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| ARTS PROGRAMS --d r a m a --& --d a n c e --f i l m --m u s i c --E M M I --v i s u a l --a r t s Students with great interest and talent in the arts may elect to become drama, music, or visual arts majors. Unique to high schools, the major program allows students to focus on one area of arts study in a four-year, sequential program. Acceptance into the major program in any arts discipline is based on portfolio or audition. |
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DRAMA and DANCE The Crossroads Drama Program is sequentially designed both for students who wish to explore a possible interest in drama and for those whose primary interest is theater. The dance curriculum includes sequential programming of courses in Ballet Technique and Modern/Jazz Dance, with appropriate classes available to students of all levels. THE CURRICULUM FOR DRAMA AND DANCE is primarily process-based and experiential. Students learn by doing. They develop concentration, personal discipline, and a respect for the art and the artist. In dance, a faculty of professionals helps students develop motor efficiency, movement awareness, and technical expertise. Students explore and build their capacity for creative expression through movement and broaden their knowledge of dance heritage, history, and culture. In drama, students work on vocal, physical, and emotional techniques that allow them to extend their abilities to create and communicate their art. They learn a common vocabulary of theatrical terms and are given specific tools for the development of character, creation of subtext, and the imagination. Performance and technical theater opportunities in both drama and dance round out the experience. IN DRAMA, students begin with Theater 1, concentrating on improvisational work, acting technique exercises, and the development of vocal and physical dexterity. Skills are applied to scenes and monologues, and the class reads and performs material from Greek plays. In Theater 2, work in acting continues with scene study focusing on Elizabethan Theater. Technical Theater courses are offered for all students interested in exploring stagecraft and production design. These students build sets and run the lights and sound for all productions. In eleventh and twelfth grades, students may continue with Theater 3 or audition for the two-year Conservatory program, with course work in voice, movement, playwriting, directing, improvisation, and acting, as well as with diverse performance opportunities. (Please note, however, that this is not intended as a professional or pre-professional training program.) IN DANCE, students are encouraged to work at a level that reflects their experiences and abilities (Dance 1-4). All classes include a performance component. The Crossroads Dance Company (admittance by audition only) allows further opportunity for performance and the development of choreographic skills. The company showcases its work on the Crossroads stage and in various community service venues throughout the year. BACK TO TOP OF THIS PAGE |
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FILM Film is understood to be one of our culture’s most powerful art forms, bringing together many different disciplines (painting, photography, sculpture, dance, music, and anthropology). Because visual images are so dominant, the film program emphasizes learning how to read them and how to express these readings lucidly in analytic essays. THE FOUR FILM COURSES in the Upper School give students the historical, aesthetic, and critical background necessary for any college film program, while developing creative and analytic writing skills at the same time. Film Studies introduces students to film genres, including science fiction, musicals, westerns, and documentaries. Writing emphasizes screenplays for short films, both original and adaptations. In Critical Studies in Film, students confront the ideas underlying contemporary film theory. After reading critical articles on the films they have viewed, students write analytic essays that incorporate secondary sources. The History of American Film explores American silent and sound film through a study of genres and directors in order to understand the aesthetic, psychological, and ideological constructions of Hollywood. European Film: Modernism and Postmodernism provides a thorough and provocative investigation of contemporary European film and filmmakers from sophisticated theoretical viewpoints such as those of Saussure and Baudillard. WRITING IS A KEY ASPECT of the Film and Video Program. Writing assignments help students to find their own voices in their essays and to develop the ability to incorporate other critical voices into their own discourse. Exceptional students are encouraged to go beyond the assigned readings and films viewed in the classroom. Faculty recommend articles to read and films to see outside of class. BACK TO TOP OF THIS PAGE |
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MUSIC The Music Department inspires students to achieve their individual musical potential, to cooperate within an ensemble setting, and to gain a higher respect for and deeper understanding of the world of music. The Upper School Music Department consists of four disciplines: Choral Music, Jazz Music, Intermediate Orchestra, and Electronic Music. The classical music program is a separate program under the Elizabeth Mandell Music Institute (see below). STUDENTS who are seriously committed to the study and performance of music may apply to become music majors. In addition to the academic rigors of a Crossroads schedule, music majors take sequential courses in music theory and have many opportunities for performance in ensemble groups, solo recitals, master classes, and chamber music. THROUGH LISTENING AND PERFORMANCE, students learn to analyze and interpret various styles of music. Performance classes emphasize sight-reading, functioning in an ensemble, and the study of idiomatic performance practices. Professionals in the musical world are brought in for master classes and clinics. PERFORMANCE COURSES offered through the Music Department include: 21st Street Singers, a vocal ensemble that explores and performs choral works of all styles and periods; Festival Orchestra, an intermediate-level orchestra; Jazz Workshop, an introductory, performance-oriented group of young musicians exploring all styles of jazz through performance, listening, composing, and improvising; and Jazz Ensemble, an intermediate and advanced level group for jazz musicians with outstanding abilities in string, wind, brass, percussion, and keyboard instruments. Other courses include Jazz Theory, designed to fill the gap between performance practices and theoretical knowledge of jazz musicians by exploring the spelling and language of jazz; and Modern Music Creation & Recording, which uses the tools of modern music production (including a complete MIDI and recording studio) to allow students to develop their creativity with music. BACK TO TOP OF THIS PAGE |
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ELIZABETH MANDELL MUSIC INSTITUTE The classical music program is offered through the Elizabeth Mandell Music Institute (EMMI) and is designed for the student who is seriously committed to music study and/or performance and has been accepted into the program through audition. EMMI STUDENTS are offered the opportunity to deepen the understanding of their art beyond the rote learning of a piece of music. The program offers a four-year sequential course of Music Theory, which encompasses four-part harmonic writing, analysis, and ear training. Keyboard Skills is offered for pianists of at least upper-intermediate technical skills, and is an ongoing four-year study. FINALLY, CHAMBER MUSIC ENSEMBLES round out the EMMI program. The Chamber Orchestra is a near-professional ensemble whose students are coached by highly trained professionals, including many members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. BACK TO TOP OF THIS PAGE |
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| VISUAL ARTS The Visual Arts curriculum is devoted to helping students explore, discover, and express themselves through a wide variety of media. Students examine meaning and intention in creating art to deepen the process of personal artistic expression. The department stresses artistic process over the final product. All art teachers at Crossroads are working artists who are deeply committed to their own art and bring this enthusiasm and expertise to their students as well. THE VISUAL ARTS DEPARTMENT caters to students seeking to fulfill the two-year graduation requirement as well as to those with a serious commitment to art. Students who decide to become art majors commit themselves to taking an art class each semester of their high school career. Art majors have their own exhibition in The Sam Francis Gallery. The gallery provides an excellent on-campus resource for students, hosting a variety of exhibitions by renowned local artists, as well as occasional traveling shows. Student exhibitions in the gallery include: Upper School art majors, Upper School art students, Middle School students, and Elementary School students. THE VISUAL ARTS DEPARTMENT values, and strives to foster in students, an appreciation for the creative endeavor and the willingness to take artistic risks, the inherent discipline and rewards of the creative process, cultural relevance and a sense of art history, and, finally, a sense of one’s own infinite creative possibilities. Methodologies: Each year-long art class moves through a series of sequential projects designed to introduce key concepts of the discipline. Assignments seek to apply solid technical skills or concepts to areas of personal interest to students. Open-ended projects encourage students to invest themselves in the process of creating art that is relevant to them. STUDIO ART 1 AND 2 introduce and develop the fundamentals of drawing and painting, giving students the basic vocabulary and tools of visual art while encouraging self-expression. Sequential classes build upon students’ knowledge. Studio Art 3 (Artists Workshop) introduces students to conceptual and installation art, as well as mixed media printmaking. In Studio Art 4, students produce a portfolio for advanced placement credit or submission to college. Graphic Design & Animation 1 addresses the same concerns as Studio Art 1 but uses the computer as the primary art tool, introducing typography and animation as well. Graphic Design & Animation 2 and Advanced Graphic Design & Animation address three-dimensional modeling, multimedia, website design, and video editing. Figure Drawing I and II give students critical experience in observation and drawing techniques through attention to the nude human figure. Ceramics classes familiarize students with basic techniques and concepts necessary to work in the ceramic medium. Advanced Ceramics expands upon technique and student input in projects. Yearbook Production oversees all aspects of producing the school’s annual, from photography to layout and ad sales. Photography I allows students to work with black & white film to develop visual awareness and personal expression. Advanced Photography addresses meaning, explores more areas of the medium, and allows students more personal expression. AP Art History offers an introductory survey of primarily Western art history from an historical and cultural perspective. BACK TO TOP OF THIS PAGE |
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