The Importance of Live Arts

Hi Everyone,

 

I hope you are having a wonderful week. It was fun to see many of you at the auction over the weekend. As always, finding opportunities to come together allows us to make connections with one another and build a strong sense of community.  Especially in this day of instant access to information and entertainment, the need to come together is stronger than ever.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I was helping out in the second grade classroom while they were working on an upcoming performance of a selection of Aesop’s fables.  Students worked in groups of four or five acting out such favorites as “The Ant and the Grasshopper” and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Their teacher, Anna Vinson, gave them quite a bit of leeway in terms of staging their plays, and they worked diligently on their costumes and sets as well. The focus and energy the students displayed impressed me tremendously. And of course, it makes sense. When we are creating something to present to others, and when we have a real audience, we care about how we will do; and when we have some autonomy in how to present, we care even more.

 

This time of year is a wonderful time to see this theory in action. Our sixth grade students recently put on a performance in which they sang songs and acted out scenes from a variety of musicals, including You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Annie. As with the second grade, the teacher, Luke Perkins, encouraged student leadership and empowered the students to come up with much of the choreography. Because they had the freedom to create the scenes, they were that much more invested, and this investment came across loud and clear during the performance.

 

The live arts are incredibly important for students, both as performers and as audience members. I recently happened upon an interesting, though not necessarily surprising, study exploring the value of live theater. In this study, students who saw a live production of Hamlet or A Christmas Carol demonstrated an increased understanding of the plot, themes, and vocabulary of the plays over students who had simply read the plays or even seen movie versions. Interestingly, students who saw the live performances also scored significantly higher on a tolerance measure and were also better able to read and determine emotions of others. So not only are these experiences helping students understand the texts more deeply, but also they are helping students develop crucial social emotional skills that will benefit them in every aspect of their lives.

 

In investigating this idea of the importance of the live arts, I found a wonderful Ted Talk that explores the issue as well. Ben Cameron, who runs the arts granting program at the Doris Duke Foundation, speaks eloquently about why live performance is more crucial now than ever before. We are all (most of us, anyway) guilty of binge-watching Netflix and Hulu, and we could be fooled into thinking we don’t ever need to leave the comfort of our homes for entertainment. But Cameron reminds us of the importance of coming together to share ideas and experiences because, after all, what brings us the most satisfaction is human connection.

 

At Dawson, we are fortunate to be among faculty and families who believe deeply in the importance of human connection and, therefore, in the value of creating multiple opportunities for students and faculty to come together to create, to perform, to share, and to celebrate. This week alone, I’m excited to attend the fifth/sixth grade band and choir concert, the third grade play, the sixth grade Rube Goldberg showcase, and the third-fifth grade Battle of the Books competition. Dawson faculty consistently push students to rise to a challenge, to think critically and creatively, and to collaborate, all resulting in confident, knowledgeable, eloquent students. I was recently speaking with an incoming fifth grade parent, and she commented that one of the things she had been particularly struck by during her first visit to the school was the student tour guides. She spoke of their enthusiasm and of how much they knew about the school. She went on the say that it was largely the impression they made on her and her daughter that made them decide to apply and come to the school. Similarly, when our fifth graders were at Keystone during Winterim, one of the instructors there commented that they always loved when Dawson came because they knew the students would be positive, engaged, and enthusiastic.

 

I’m thrilled that our students are making such positive impressions both on visitors to our campus and on folks hosting us. But I’m not surprised – from the beginning, they are working on these skills, and their confidence comes out in many ways. When I was working with the second grade on their plays, one student took his role very seriously and applied quite a bit of volume to his lines. Another student commented that he was being loud. His response? “It’s called acting!” How wonderful that he already recognizes the importance and value of live performance!

 

If you’d like to read more about the study of the benefits of live theater, click here, and to watch the Ted Talk, click here.

 

Have a wonderful week!

 

Take care,

Heather