The performing arts department at TAS entails music, dance, drama and more. Through these mediums, students can take risks, show courage and find new parts of themselves that they may not ;have been able to express in other mediums. 

Due to the variety of subjects categorized under the performing arts department, there is a wide range of diverse different classes offered, with each class functioning differently. 

For music classes, there is a performance based approach that is based around repertoire “The teachers choose repertoire , sometimes collaborating with students, developing their technical skills and working towards performance and sharing it with an audience,” Mr. Abernethy (he/him) the current performing arts department head said.

For dance classes, students learn to work together to find a voice and express themselves while listening to each other’s ideas to put together a creative piece of work. To do this, students have to know themselves in a deeper way to communicate through physical movement. “I think to in the performing arts you have the, especially in dance, have the, the power to take someone on a different journey, or to feel something that they never felt,” Ms. Flemming (she/her) said. 

In theatre arts classes, students learn to collaborate and work as a team. “One of the things that I absolutely love about theater is the community, how in order to be theater and just in performing arts in generally have to check in with each other, you have to work as a team, you have to make sure that you’re respecting all f the other people in the cast and anyone you’re working with,” Ms. Jensen (she/her), upper school theatre arts and dance teacher said. 

The TAS performing arts program is very fortunate. Each teacher brings special skills, but a common theme is that all teachers share passion for what they do and want their students to love what they do as well.

In some performing arts classes, students can learn empathy through working with each other and seeing different perspectives. “Dance allows me to express myself in ways that I can’t in my other classes,” Abegail Huang (‘23, she/her), a dancer said. 

Despite the wide variety of subjects under the performing arts department, all of the teachers have a common goal of working to share their passions with their students to consistently try to inspire them.