PROGRESS REPORTS

MARIA (Beginning of October)

   Acting & Improv has spent the term learning some basic acting tools.  Our topics of focus have included strengthening observation skills, using bodies in creative and unconventional ways, and remaining focused for extended periods of time. The class assignments have been focused on pantomiming objects, environments, and stories. Students have created these objects and environments both off the cuff in improvisational settings, as well with extended preparation time for more formal class presentations. Every day the students are individually graded from 0 to 5 on participation in the day's exercises.  I average these points together to compute the students’ grades. 
  Maria makes acting choices that are bold and clear to the audience during exercises and presentations. She demonstrates a firm grasp of the concepts and exercises introduced to the class, both in her acting and her comments in discussions. Occasionally, however, it seems as if Maria is unenthusiastic about the class, which affects the classmates she is working with on any given project. This lack of enthusiasm has decreased since the first class, and I hope she continues to become more comfortable with the work we are doing in Acting and Improv.
-Nick Malakhow

MARIA (End of November)

  Acting & Improv has spent the term learning some basic acting tools. We have worked on strengthening observation skills, using bodies in creative and unconventional ways, and collaborating with peers to create short theatrical pieces. We have both created pantomime objects and used our bodies to represent objects, created environments, and told stories through pantomime. We have also focused on the representation of emotions onstage. The term culminated with a class-wide project of creating a dramatization of a Greek myth. Every day the students were individually graded from 0 to 5 on participation in the day's exercises.  I averaged these points together to compute the students’ grades.
   Maria’s work in Acting and Improv has been, for the most part, strong. She seemed particularly invested in the exercises we did in class on performing emotions and inhabiting a character body, and showed great presence and dynamism in her performances. Maria still occasionally appears unhappy or unexcited to be in class, which affects her classmates’ work, but the effort she showed in our latest unit was very encouraging. -Nick Malakhow