Visual and Performing Arts
Like all subjects at Maine Coast Waldorf School, the visual and performing arts are offered with the intention of fostering students' holistic and harmonious self-development.
Music
Our music curriculum is balanced between small-group work that is keyed to students’ individual abilities, and larger ensembles that draw on the full breadth and depth of our school’s musical talent. Every student at Maine Coast Waldorf High School enjoys a rich instrumental and vocal musical experience. Each student is required to play either a wind or string instrument, and all students sing together twice a week in the high school chorus.
Movement
One of the unique features of Waldorf high school education is the central role purposeful movement plays in the educational philosophy. Several times a week, students start the morning with a movement class. Designed to literally and metaphorically “wake students up,” movement classes vary from intensely-focused sessions of yoga, Spatial Dynamics, and rousing games of dodgeball, to circus-themed challenges such as juggling or balancing on a slackline. These sessions empower our students and give them the confidence that they can surmount new challenges.
Drama
Every year, the 9th and 10th grade together and the 12th grade produce a stage performance. The choice of play or musical varies considerably from year to year, so students have the opportunity to act in a number of different dramatic genres; recent productions have included classic American farces, Broadway musicals, medieval mystery plays, and Agatha Christie “whodunnits.” Working together as a team, learning to feel comfortable in front of audiences, becoming adept at improvisation and “troubleshooting" are all skills that serve students well as they enter into the world of college interviews, summer jobs, and long-term careers.
Visual Arts
Every student in our school takes several hours of studio arts classes per week. On a practical level, increased manual dexterity furthers cognitive development; but more importantly, engagement with the arts allows students to delve deeper into the creative and imaginative realms opened up by their academic work. As they explore different artistic media and techniques, students discover aspects of themselves and the world that were previously unknown, while creating both beautiful and useful aesthetic objects.
