At SIS 2025, the Performing Arts program allowed students to push themselves out of their comfort zones, challenge themselves creatively, and meet new friends from around the world! Designed to develop students’ creative imagination and confidence, the Performing Arts program gives students the tools and freedom to devise an entirely original performance from scratch. This program teaches students how to tell a story, build a world, and bring that world to life through music, movement, and words. 

From day one, students are challenged to think like performing artists. With guidance from our performing arts instructors, they develop their own characters, invent plotlines, create themes, and explore messages they want to communicate. Every idea comes from our students, and they had an amazing time challenging themselves to be writers, composers, choreographers, and the stars of their own show!

This session’s final piece, Don't Leave the Door Open, was a musical-theatre style production that followed a couple shipwrecked on an island infested with zombies! The play was a mashup of mini-plays created in small groups, improvisation sessions, and collaborative storytelling exercises. The result was something completely unique, with a blend of drama, humour, and eerie suspense!

Students explored how sound and music are used to support and enhance live theatre. They experimented with creating "soundtracks" for each other’s scenes, learning how to underscore dramatic moments and transitions. They also tried out songwriting, covering the basics of lyrics and song structure. They even began learning the ukulele, which will help them compose their own songs for future performances.

Dance was another fun element of their creative process. A flamenco workshop gave students a taste of cultural dance, while sessions in the studio focused on physical theatre, particularly embodying the movement of their characters (including zombies!) They explored how body language and choreography can enhance storytelling, and they also had a fantastic workshop in modern dance and choreography!

This program helped students discover their inner creativity as performers and creators. Whether students were writing dialogue, creating a dance, or performing their own work, they learned how to make their ideas into a reality and we are so proud of how far they have come! We hope to see these amazing performers at our summer program next year! 

(Please note that the course may change in Summer 2026)