After-School Residencies

Creative Movement & Play

Physical theater, dance, movement exercises and games create an environment for the rich kinesthetic play that this workshop offers. Students will develop an understanding of spatial awareness, tempos and rhythms in their bodies and in the space around them throughout this class.

Storybook Theatre

Children will be invited into the world of a new picture book each week of this course. We work to ignite the imagination while encouraging social, physical and cognitive development through theater games and improvisation in the realm of each book. 

Broadway Bound: Musical Theatre Workshop

Through a variety of games, exercises and choreographies, students will engage their whole self as actors and actresses in live musical theater performance. Look forward to learning music and text as well as devising choreography and movement from classic and contemporary Broadway shows throughout this workshop.

Clowning

Through an exploration of movement theatre and improvisation, this class will introduce students to the hilarious art of clowning. Grounded in the students’ sense of humor, we will create individual clown characters and drop them into outrageous situations. Each student will work to earn their clown nose through games, skits, and exercises.

Acting Lab: Scene Study

Students will have the opportunity to dig deeply into the language physical life of four scenes (classical, contemporary, physical and experimental). Students will choose these scenes over the course of the semester. Each scene will be grounded in a study of basic acting techniques relevant to the scene and character creation. This scene study workshop will culminate in a performance of students’ favorite scenes for families and friends.

Improv Comedy

Students will be introduced to the basics of improv comedy from a number of traditions in this class. Students will be challenged to work impulsively as individual performers and as an ensemble. This workshop encourages students to create their own meaningful, theatrical moments and scenes within structured improvisations.

Girls’ P.O.V.

This workshop will invite students to examine and explore their own experiences in the creation of a devised production. Throughout the course of this class, we will use improv, storytelling, movement and acting techniques to develop a narrative that speaks to each of the girls’ experiences as well as their obstacles and dreams as young people.

Teatro en Español & Théâtre Français

These workshops introduce performance in Spanish or French through playful and physically engaging workshops. Children will play theater games, and improvise to explore character and story in the target language. Source text from the Spanish or French speaking world, including children’s poetry and age-appropriate drama, will be used. The class is conducted in both English and Spanish or English and French and can be adapted to suit the needs of fluent and non-fluent children.

Hip Hop Theater Project

Hip Hop is much more than spoken word, music, dance and art; Hip Hop is a vibrant community that brings young people together and empowers them through creative, personal expression. With a focus on the idea of the cipher—a circle where each member supports and challenges one another to be their best—this class will construct its own piece of Hip Hop theater as an ensemble with music, movement and art.

Play-writing and Play-making

Storytelling and play are at the heart of this workshop. Students will dream, write and perform their own scripts within a supportive learning environment. Students will be encouraged to imagine new ways of telling stories through theatre and drama while being prompted each week with new exercises and formulas for PLAY-making.

Mounting a Musical (without the drama)

A school-wide musical can build community, showcase collaboration, highlight student achievement and underscore the importance of arts in education. Musicals are a lot of work! With this in mind, BAL is excited to launch partnerships with teachers and schools looking to put on full-scale musicals. Through these partnerships, teachers are paired with experienced theatre-makers and drama educators from the first audition until the curtain closes on the last performance. Teachers will be able to creatively engage with BAL’s Teaching Artists throughout this collaborative process on elements from blocking to choreography to scenic design. We will be present for each rehearsal and work to engage educators and students together in building a magical musical. Students will be directed by a theatre professional and teachers will learn the ropes of the complex world of children’s theatre production.

Alternatively, we are excited to collaborate with a school in directing a musical without a direct teacher-partner in the process. Our seasoned Teaching Artists will connect your school’s students and staff in the creative process from play selection to filling the audience as family, friends and community members watch your students shine.

Reach out to us today to discuss the ways we might best connect your teachers and students with the incredible possibilities a school-wide musical can present.