Just as all perceptions are of figures differentiated from a larger background, a play takes place against the background of the audience's knowledge and feelings. While audience members generally bring to a performance a large body of background information--they evaluate the storyline, for example, using a lifetime of personal experience--at…

Music educators are informed of the applications of the 1976 revision of the United States copyright law to the use of sheet music, audiovisual recordings, and dramatic and choreographic works. Material is divided into five sections. Section 1 outlines the primary rights of copyright holders with regard to phonorecords, derivative works,…

Describes a junior high school program offering drama as a course elective. Cites fairy tales, and Western or melodramatic plays as most effective for student involvement; recommends avoiding those about teenagers. Notes educational advantages of this program for handicapped, special education, disruptive, and low reading skills students. (JG)

This book is aimed at new graduates of music schools and conservatories who are emerging as professional-level performers and composers of classical music. It provides useful information for anyone trying to break into the music field. The order of the chapters corresponds to the general order of what is necessary to focus on when developing a…

The 21 plays in this international anthology for young people range through the classic, modern, and contemporary periods. Several of the plays are translations from other languages, and all begin with an explanatory introduction and contain basic stage directions. The anthology contains plays by Moliere, August Strindberg, Gertrude Stein,…

Adhering to the rule that "costumes are not clothes" and listing 100 musicals under 8 general categories, this guidebook applies a "crossover system" whereby costumes from one show can easily be altered for any other show within the same category. The eight costume styles used in the guide are labeled: Medieval/Shakespearean;…

With five basic exercises presented in this paper as a guide, instructors and students can gain an immediate awareness of the performance and staging principles in Reader's Theatre which may be used creatively to visualize literature so that it becomes "alive" in the imagination of the readers as well as the listener. The paper begins…

Maintains that artists seldom take an educated interest in any artistic discipline apart from their own. Suggests that students need to be allowed to confront each other with regard to the aesthetic quality of a work and suggests an interdisciplinary form like performance art could be a good starting point. (KM)

An end-of-school-year dance program was prepared and performed by a preschool class of 11 deaf children. A variety of learning activities across the curriculum were part of the experience. (DB)

This resource presents scripts for 15 classical plays from ancient Greece and Rome. The scripts are adapted for classroom presentation by intermediate level students. Each play includes an introduction, instructions for staging and costumes, a vocabulary list, and a cast of characters. Enough roles are provided for participation by every child in…

Noting that myths are a powerful classroom tool, this book presents 8 short plays (in a readers' theater format) for grades 4-8. After an introduction that discusses getting started and using the book, plays in the book are: (1) "The Gods Must Be Crazy: The Story of Cupid and Psyche"; (2) "The Sound of Music Goes Underground: The…

This teaching resource provides practical information and activities for involving elementary students in storytelling arts projects. The projects are designed to encourage experimentation with dramatic communication through gesture and body language while wearing masks, manipulating puppets, and moving interactive scenery. Ten chapters are…

The technique of Soundscripting, the addition of sound cues and sound effects to the canonical pages of any play, is flexible enough to be done at no cost or with all the advantages of modern media. In class, the use of Shakespearean radio dramas or comedies can be effective. The long-term process in class involves four major steps and may take…

This document features a curriculum guide for the development of K-6 theater course outlines. The guide establishes three major goals for drama/theatre education and the concepts pertinent to each goal. The objectives relevant to each concept are identified and stated in behavioral terms. For each objective, student experiences pertinent to that…

Proficiency in the arts describes the educational growth Indiana students are expected to achieve as they acquire skills and techniques in the arts. Three levels of proficiency statements are described: (1) foundation proficiency statements; (2) specific proficiency statements; and (3) proficiency indicators. Each discipline, music (general music,…