Visual Arts
LOWER
The Visual Arts Program in the Lower School introduces students to a variety of artists and their styles, art history, and art vocabulary, as well as elements of design and composition. Each concept is explored with a hands-on activity, employing a wide range of media. Group discussions, museum visits, and art shows heighten the students’ appreciation of art. Students participate in our annual art show each spring, in which their work is displayed for community members. Students enjoy the chance to express themselves artistically in both art classes and throughout the curriculum.
MIDDLE
The visual arts program introduces students to a variety of artists and their styles, art history, art vocabulary, and elements of design and composition. Each concept is explored with a hands-on activity, employing a wide range of media. The Middle School art program emphasizes the concept that art is a universal language. Students are given the art skills to create and communicate ideas. Each year art classes work toward a theme for the annual Art museum. Students study the body of work, as well as the artists, related to the theme.
UPPER
In the Upper School, students pursue their interest in the visual arts with a required introductory freshman year course that covers fundamentals, classical studio practices, and identity driven projects. Sophomore year students then decide if they would like to pursue the portfolio track art curriculum. This path helps students build and curate a varied art portfolio that potentially accompanies their applications to their chosen universities their senior year. The disciplines within the fine arts teach students to express and evaluate ideas, to think critically and imaginatively in problem solving, to interpret images and creative work, to understand the artistic achievements of others, and to develop self-discipline and focus. Lacordaire’s Visual Arts curriculum explores sculpture, photography (traditional and digital), painting, drawing, and ceramics. Students often exhibit their works in the halls at the Upper School and in local galleries, inviting a wider audience to see their work.
Every year, our students work hard to create masterpieces. We wanted to share some of their outstanding accomplishments in their arts-related classes. Please take a moment to view these links to our “Celebration of the Arts” presentation, and see highlights from Art, Music, Photography, Theater, and Dramatic Arts from this past school year!
Celebration of the Arts ~ Celebration of the Arts: Video Performances
Performing Arts
LOWER
Lacordaire Academy takes pride in our Performing Arts program and we value the opportunity for students to partake in a variety of performances. Our program is designed to promote student knowledge and skills in Performing Arts, contributing to the development of strong creative and critical thinking skills through the acquisition of theatrical skills and techniques. Each Lower School grade takes the stage as stars of the show with at least one performance per year. Additionally, students have the option to audition for the all-school musical, participate in our annual Spring concert, join our Debate Team, or share their specialities in our Talent Show. Drama is introduced to Pre-K through 1st grade students with a literacy-based Creative Dramatics Program. Students dance, act, sing, and recite sequences of text, bringing to life poetic language in its array of rhythms while enhancing meaning through physical and emotional connections. Reader’s Theater presents literature in a dramatic format to grades 2 through 4. Using performance and acting techniques, students learn to retell a story using emotion, voice inflection, fluency and physical interpretation of character. Drama for young children is invigorating and inspiring. It brings out their natural abilities in play and reinforces their creative imaginations by experiencing the stories they read. Drama builds performance skills, reading comprehension and fluency, and develops a unique connection to the literature students have experienced.
Get a sneak peek into our 3rd & 4th Grade Reader’s Theater Class!
MIDDLE
Middle School grades participate in active music making: singing, playing, movement games and by active listening, singing, solfege, playing percussion, reading rhythmic notation and learning about the staff. Disciplines, such as Dalcroze, Kodaly, Orff, and tools for notation understanding by Michiko Yurko are used. Each grade’s encounter with these skills builds on the skills learned in previous years. The first half of the year is a choral program preparing students for the Christmas concert and show. The rest of the year introduces music theory and history.
A Shakespeare performance by the seventh and eighth grade is performed each spring. Students are often afforded the opportunity to spend a day at the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey performing and receiving feedback from members of the company.
UPPER
The Upper School Performing Arts program offers a variety of ways for students to become involved. Whether they prefer to perform in our spring musical or they prefer to act in our winter drama, every young woman with a desire to be on stage can find a place. Past shows have included The Little Mermaid, Seven Angry Women, Alice in Wonderland, Godspell, and Nunsense. If being on the stage is not for them, the Academy has offerings in stage design, stage crew, lighting, and sound. Our performing arts program is one in which through the power of imagination, plays come alive, as do our students.
To see some of the cool activities our 9th Grade ~ Intro to Theatre class participates in, click here!
Check out Lacordaire Cabaret 2020, an online cabaret that our Upper School Musical Theater class put together while we were distance learning.