Caption: Mr. Gui Moises and the students participate in a performing exercise while standing or sitting in a circle. [by Dr. Cristina Meier]
by Micah Greve w/ Levi Penha
At PACA, one of the middle school elective class offerings for this school year is the new Drama class taught by Mr. Gui Moises, who focuses on learning the techniques of acting and reading drama scripts rather than on practicing and preparing one central performance to present to an audience.
Normally, there is only a second semester class for middle school drama where they perform a play at the end of the semester. Two years ago was “Alice in Wonderland” and last year was “Matilda”. This year there is a drama class for the first semester and one for the second semester. However, the first semester drama class has a different focus.
The middle school drama class has 25 in total, but only about 16 of them go during the whole week. The ones that don’t go to drama twice a week participate in another elective the two days that they don’t go to drama.
One of the primary goals of the class is to make sure that they know “all the fundamental theories of drama and acting to make our students aware of their acting and improve them,” says Moises.
Video Produced by Levi Penha
For drama class, each student performs a daily routine at the beginning of seventh period. First, Moises plays a game for a warm-up to get them engaged with the topic because sometimes the students are sleepy and he wants them ready for the class.
For eighth grader, Lucas Toledo, he enjoyed these warm up games the most. “It’s about listening or hearing the person, which is important because then the person can learn.”
Next, they play a game that gets the students more focussed with their work and helps them to get ready to act for a scene or act. He says that the games are fun, but they are serious in reaching specific goals for each student.
After, they go towards the main part of the class where they talk about specific authors and plays and when they create and build their own scenes. Lastly, at the end of their class each group presents their scenes.
Manuela Miglio, an eighth grade student who attends Drama twice a week and study hall twice a week, says she likes to plan the short plays used during drama class.
Seventh grader, Davi Oliveira, has enjoyed this part of the Drama class and recollects a specific scene that he did with his classmates.
“I like to perform a play about a family,” said Oliveira.
Daniel Magalhães, an 8th grade student at PACA who participates in the middle school drama class, says that the main things that he likes about the drama class are the games, especially the one that involves concentration.
For Magalhães, the main importance of this drama class is to learn how to act on stage and control his feelings. Also, he does not want to not be affected by the pressure of stage fright. He sees this as a way to get ready for next semester and the following year when he starts high school. This is when they actually perform for an audience.
The middle school drama class is a place to “explore the fundamentals of acting through theater games, improvisation, character creation, voice and movement training, and scene work,” says Moises in his syllabus.
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