The Huntington Launches The Huntington Academy, With Professional-Led Courses For All Ages

The Huntington's Education Department is launching The Huntington Academy, new tuition-based classes for students of all ages to learn, play, and engage with the theatrical arts. Online registration is now live for five courses starting in September for students Pre-K through 12th grade. More courses, including adult workshops and corporate trainings, will be added throughout the 2024-2025 season.

The Huntington's steadfast commitment to arts education is a core pillar of its mission and operations. Theatre education builds prosocial behavior, encourages empathy, improves public speaking, and develops both creative and critical thinking.

The Huntington Academy's launch this September marks the first time since 2008 that tuition-based education programming will be made available by the Tony Award-winning theatre company. The Academy features all new course offerings, plus a handful of familiar favorites under the umbrella program EPIC: Empowered Performers in Conversation. Academy courses provide an opportunity for students of all ages to explore playwriting and performance. Led by industry professionals, Academy courses will also empower students with essential life skills through theater games, scene work, and performance. These offerings will serve as a new programming pillar, accompanying The Huntington's longstanding, subsidized education programming, including School Residencies, the Student Matinee Series, Poetry Out Loud Massachusetts, and the Boston chapters of the national Next Narrative Monologue Competition and August Wilson New Voices Competition.

Courses for K-12 students are structured to stand alone and also provide a scaffolded, cumulative learning experience for individuals who wish to experience the entire course catalogue as they progress year-over-year. 

“The Huntington Academy has been in the planning stages for more than five years and we are thrilled to celebrate its launch,” say Huntington Director of Education Meg O'Brien and Associate Director of Education & Practical Learning Marisa Jones. “With our course offerings we aim to celebrate the theatrical process, which in turn will amplify and elevate the creative spark and rich imagination that exists in everyone, regardless of their age or career.”

Current Huntington Academy course offerings include:

Stories to Share | PreK & K

This course is an introduction to storytelling, creative expression, and play. Throughout the semester, students will be encouraged to tap into their curiosity and wonder as they explore oral narration and folk tales. While focusing on self-expression, students will gather new skills to support them as they form their own ideas about how they want to create and share stories with their peers. This course is a fun and playful experience for first-time performers, curated and taught by theatre arts professionals.

Journey into Acting | 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Grade

Designed and taught by theatre arts professionals, this course provides opportunities for students to build their confidence, collaborate with their peers, and explore how they can use their bodies and voices to tell a story. Through theatre games and exercises, students will develop listening skills, sensory awareness, and focus. Using strategies such as Reader's Theatre and improvisation, students will gain foundational knowledge in the performing arts, having lots of fun along the way!   

Crafting Characters | 4th & 5th Grade

In this course, students will dive deeper into character development and build their skills in physicality and voice work. Students will practice listening and responding in character, learning new acting techniques along the way. Using improvisation games and theatre exercises, students will continue to build a relationship with acting and discover a wide range of performance styles. Led by theatre arts professionals, this is a great course for young actors seeking to hone their performance skills and begin thinking about theatre as a multi-disciplinary art form. 

EPIC: Middle School | 6th, 7th, & 8th Grade

Under the umbrella program EPIC: Empowered Performers in Conversation, this is a course for young actors who are excited to develop their theatrical physicality, ensemble work, and creative writing. Students will work together to create an original piece of theatre utilizing devised theatre techniques taught by theatre industry professionals. Using external stimulus as inspiration, they will devise their own characters, text, and blocking as an ensemble. Theatre exercises will be used to encourage risk-taking, creative expression, and age-appropriate acting techniques. Students in this course will participate in the EPIC: Festival at the end of the semester, where they will perform their work and be in community with other EPIC: Festival participants. 

College Audition Prep | 9th, 10th, 11th, & 12th Grade

This course is designed to coach students preparing for college auditions and students who wish to hone their craft in a fun, focused, and supportive learning environment. With guidance from theatre industry professionals, students will develop their voice and style on stage as they develop their skills in monologue and scene work. Plus, they will strengthen their knowledge about the audition process, including learning how to write a resume, how to make a successful self-tape audition, and more! 

Adult workshops for theatre and non-theatre professionals will be added in Fall 2024. General courses will center on introducing and developing artistic skills for adults of all experience levels in an accessible and fun atmosphere. Artist courses will provide skill-sharpening workshops for those who are currently in or will be pursuing an artistic career. These workshops will create a more empathetic and creative community in Greater Boston, both in the board room and on stage.

For corporate organizations who want to give their workforce the star treatment, The Huntington Academy corporate training will be made available later this season. Workshops led by industry and HR professionals can be curated to a company's needs and will ensure “the show will go on” thanks to a strengthened foundation of teambuilding, trust, and strategic creative instinct.

More about The Huntington Academy here

THE HUNTINGTON ACADEMY REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Register for courses PreK-12th Grade online at huntingtontheatre.org/the-huntington-academy

Questions about The Huntington Academy can be emailed to academy@huntingtontheatre.org

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