theater
Drama & Theatre
Click below to explore our instructors and the classes offered.
Backpack Journalist
Linda Dennis
Backpack Journalist
Linda Dennis
Photojournalism is our foundation as found in writing, photography and filmmaking -ie Storytelling.
*New addition. Pantomime, following the Comic Genius of Charlie Chaplin, Making the World Smile Again!
*Storytelling to video/film. Topic to align to classroom standards, utilizing technology to assemble the story, with our Storyboard and editing together images, drawings to create a film.
*Making the World Smile Again. Studying the cinema arts of Charlie Chaplin, and his use of Pantomime, and satire, students in the classroom tell them stories with "magical silence" and movement, and then into a short film, and edited to black and white.
Becky's Box of Puppets
Becky Becker
Becky's Box of Puppets
Becky Becker
Becky Becker is a puppeteer who has been entertaining audiences in the Lowcountry since 1980. Helping children discover the joy of reading and weaving magical tales that come to life before your eyes is a trademark of Becky and her puppets. She believes that one can connect the mind, heart and body through puppets. Her programs are designed to help children build understanding of concepts while working in a playful safe space.
Creating a puppet involves deliberate and thoughtful planning. Scale, dimension, texture, color, materials, and movement are considered. We start with a story, theme or subject. The ultimate goal is to create a puppet that through movement and voice will dramatize or impart information on a said particular story, theme or subject. Students use simple materials to create a puppet of their choice, which will be used to dramatize stories created by teams of students.
Becky works with students in CD-2nd Grades
Creative dramatics at play! Imagination and play acting are the key to unlocking some of the world’s mysteries which help children navigate their world and understand it better. A week filled with puppets, stories, music, and movement spells success as your shining stars explore your particular theme. Past themes have included fairy tales, weather, insects, farm animals, harvest time with pumpkins, apples, and scarecrows. Have a different theme? I’m happy to brainstorm an experience customized just for your students! Each child participates daily as both audience member and performing puppeteer. Each day will feature a new puppet character and a “mini show” by Miss Becky.
Tonya Williams
Theatre & Music Project
Tonya Williams
Theatre & Music Project
Tonya S. Williams is a professional actress, singer, and songwriter. But above all, she’s a true educator. Before joining ECM, Tonya was a certified Theatre Arts teacher for CCSD and DD2 for 7 years. A College of Charleston alumni with a BA in Theatre Arts, Tonya has over 17 years experience training and educating children in the arts. When she is not teaching she is performing all over the Low Country & East coast, singing and acting. She is an independent recording artist (Tonya Nicole) and a Core Ensemble member at PURE Theatre located Downtown Charleston. She uses her talents to infuse Theatre & Music into the core curriculum. No subject is off limits for her. Her lessons are full of creativity; from creating songs & poems, and even SuperHero characters & costumes about Math & Science, to creating & performing skits about historical figures and events. Tonya strongly believes “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” ~ Albert Einstein
1) SUPER POWER - (5th grade Science) Students will use Theatre Arts to explore and demonstrate a better understanding of states of matter. By the end of the week, students will be able to identify and explain science vocabulary words that relate to states of matter and they will demonstrate what they have learned by creating a Super Hero character w/ Superpowers & their costumes, based on states of matter.
2) STORYTIME - (Kindergarten/ELA) Students will use Theatre Arts to explore and demonstrate a better understanding of storytelling. By the end of the week, students will be able to identify key components in storytelling; character, setting, & plot structure. They will also gain knowledge of new theatre vocabulary. As their final project, they will create their own stories and characters with paper puppets.
3) LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION - (3rd - 8th grade ELA) Students will explore drama standards and vocabulary based on their grade level. They will analyze 3 works of theater art. Focusing on plot structure, setting, character, costume design, and other theater and ELA vocabulary, students will recreate stories and perform.
Our Corner Performing Arts
Genese Gee-Schmidtke
Our Corner Performing Arts
Genese Gee-Schmidtke
OurCornerArts creates unique opportunities for connection, communication and creativity. Through theatrical play and exercises, participants are able to better understand self, the community around them, and walk through effective ways to respond to the situations in front of them. Creatively explore how participants have encountered OurCornerArts by visiting our website that ranges from summer camps, workshops, school productions and STEAM engagements.
Participants will create dramatic skits that convey the human spirit and evoke a more empathetic lens to the very REAL stories of U.S. history. Through theatrical exercises and games, students will develop a tool-kit that will equip them for the creation and performance of such dynamic STEAM stories.
Simone Liberty
Dance & Musical Theatre
Simone Liberty
Dance & Musical Theatre
Simone is a teaching artist in Dance and Musical Theatre with over five years of teaching experience in her craft. She teaches with methods that encourage students to practice self-awareness, confidence, authenticity, and ownership. No matter the subject, standard, or grade level, students' confidence will be bolstered throughout the experiences. All experiences will include activities that encourage collaborations in small groups and creativity through student-led creations.
From Page to Stage teaches English Language Arts standards through student-written adaptations of popular or classic children's/young adult books. Students work together to create a script based on one story or book, and then take their script to the stage for performance. Students are encouraged to take ownership of their creativity and ability to conceptualize a performance. Through the experience, students will practice line memorization, stage presence, blocking, and character development while exploring grade-appropriate ELA standards.
For Every Action is a Musical Theatre-based experience teaching science curriculum through the study of action and reaction in theatre. Students will create a unique performance based on science concepts in which they become characters of the earth, the sea, or space. By the end of the week, students will have a 15-20 minute production - complete with song and stage blocking - to perform for their peers.
*For every action can also be taught through dance and choreography creation. Students will be encouraged to explore how the physical world reacts by studying concepts in dance such as time, weight, flow, space, shape, and even expression.
Once Upon A Lifetime is a Musical Theatre experience that teaches Social Studies standards through character development, creative movement, and song creation. Students will explore events and/or concepts through analysis, with the goal of creating a performance based on the event or concept being taught. Students will be reminded to consider: who are the characters and how they move. What do they do, and how do they do it? What is the setting and how do the characters interact with the setting? What similarities and differences can they draw between themselves and the characters? Our time together culminates with a small group or a full-class performance.
Jeff Jordan
Theatre Artist
Jeff Jordan
Theatre Artist
Jeff Jordan has a Master of Arts in Teaching Theatre and Speech from the University of South Carolina. He has taught, directed, acted, and created Theatre for over 31 years. He began his career as a Theatre artist on the South Carolina Arts Commission Artist Roster and worked in schools and theatres across the state. For 25 years, he taught theatre at Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary, an arts integrated school. Jeff has also conducted workshops and in-services with teachers on arts integration and theatre across the curriculum. He has also taught in Dorchester Two’s Gifted and Talented Theatre Arts program. In Spring semester 2022, he completed his fifth semester as an adjunct professor at the College of Charleston teaching a graduate level, elementary methods theatre class. Over the years, he has been involved in the local theatre scene performing in numerous productions working with Theatre companies such as Charleston Stage and The Village Repertory Company. "As a theatre artist and educator, my life’s work is to help students and teachers unleash the power of theatre into their curriculum. My goal with each ELE is to combine the skills that studying theatre can offer with academic content. Studying theatre promotes concentration, focus, communication, creativity, and imagination. It can also promote a positive classroom culture through working as an ensemble. My goal in creating an ELE is to collaborate with teachers to design an experience that will help students connect to the academic content in a creative way. I have a special interest in fairytales, fables, folktales, and script writing but also enjoy the challenge of building an ELE around science and history. I have also had experience in working with Special Needs Students."
*SCIENCE SPEAKS AND IT HAS A LOT TO SAY: Overview of 6th grade ELE combining Theatre and Science
Using the literary device personification, students will personify, give human characteristics, voice, personality and movement to scientific principles and ideas. Students will create improvisations and short scripts based on the layers of the atmosphere, the Water Cycle, and Air masses, fronts, and low-pressure systems.
Sample improvisations include:
a.) Improvisation based on Air Masses, Fronts, and Low-Pressure Systems.
Aka: WWE~ WILD WEATHER SMACKDOWN 2022
b.) Improvisation based on The Water Cycle.
Aka: The Excellent, Terrifying, Adventure of a Water Droplet
c.) Improvisation based on The Layers of the Atmosphere.
Aka: CHAOS AT THE HALL OF SUPERHERO LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
*POLAR BEAR PALOOZA: WILL YOU BE MY FRIEND? Overview of 4k ELE combining Theatre and Science. Students will participate in actor’s warm up and theatre games that promote focus, concentration, and imagination. Students will be participating in acting exercises and collective brainstorming to create dialogue and action based on the story, The Polar Bear and the Snow Cloud written by Jane Cabrera. Students will volunteer and take turns acting out the story. The students will be asked questions about the story that will help to create dialogue, action and movement that expands the story. The students will combine what they know about polar bears (science standards) and Theatre skills (imagination, creative dramatics, and improvisation) to create improvised scenes based on the book.
*Where Are the Wild Things? Hiding in the Shadows and Light: Overview of 1st grade ELE combining Science and Theatre.
The ELE will combine science standards and theatre arts standards. This project will reinforce the science concepts of light and shadows through theatre activities and shadow puppets using Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are. Students will be participating in actor’s warm up and theatre games that promote focus, concentration, and imagination. Students will be participating in acting exercises and collective brainstorming to create dialogue and action based on the story. Students will volunteer and take turns acting out the story using shadow puppets.