In Ty Scurry’s advanced drama class …
…and Carissa Kee's dance class, at New Haven Academy.
In a dim and costume-filled drama classroom at New Haven Academy, time slowed down as an alien ran away from two space cadets looking to capture it.
Time then sped up, and back down again, as theater educator Tyheed Scurry gave the student actors a lesson in tempo.
That was the scene in an advanced drama class Monday afternoon at New Haven Academy at 444 Orange St.
The magnet high school has worked to expand its arts education for students in recent years.
To get a first-hand look at that arts learning in action, on Monday this reporter swung by the classrooms of Carissa Kee, who teaches dance at New Haven Academy, and Tyheed Scurry, who teaches drama at New Haven Academy and is Hillhouse High School’s director of drama.
Educators Carissa Kee and Tyheed Scurry.
New Haven Academy used to have part-time visiting artists come to the school to introduce students to the arts. As a magnet school, New Haven Academy students cannot attend the Educational Center for the Arts, Program Director Meredith Gavrin said, and so the small high school now offers visual arts, drama, and dance as classes.
“With Ty and Carissa, these students can now see themselves as performers,” she said.
Students can also immerse themselves in the technical work of the arts like learning how to run lighting and soundboards, and designing sets.
New Haven Academy co-founders, Program Director Meredith Gavrin and Principal Greg Baldwin.
Gavrin added that the expansion of arts extracurriculars allows for students to get an “ensemble experience” of learning that “it isn’t just about what they can do alone, but what they can do together.”
Principal Greg Baldwin said that the school’s goal is to push students to pursue excellence and that is done by having returning educators that have professional standards for the students.
The performance aspect that comes with the arts merges well with the school’s project-based learning focus, Gavrin said, as well as its emphasis on seeing and understanding each students’ interests.
"Get That Full Range Of Motion"
At around 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Kee’s students arrived to her class and got dressed for practice. They started the day with a warm up mix of songs by R&B artist Ciara.
The students stretched from their neck to their toes to the beat of songs like “1, 2 Step.”
“Get that full range of motion,” Kee called out as the students warmed up their hamstrings, shoulders, and hips.
Kee has been dancing for 37 years and has been teaching for the past 25 years. She began teaching in New Haven straight out of high school. This is her ninth year teaching at New Haven Academy. She previously taught at the former Sheridan Middle School, and at East Rock School and Hillhouse High School.
When Kee first arrived at New Haven Academy, she said, she had a ways to go to earn the students’ trust after the previous dance teacher left the position without providing notice to the students. Once she gained the students’ trust she realized “everything this school does, I wanted to be a part of.”
During Monday’s class, Kee’s son, Kani Kee, was her senior teaching assistant (TA). The duo share a mutual love for dance.
Kee is the only teacher in the school’s dance department, which performs monthly at school town hall meetings and twice during the first two quarters for dance showcases.
Kee’s dance background is in modern, ballet, and lyrical dance, but her students mostly request to dance hip-hop.
Once warmed up, Kee announced to her class of six dancers that they have a last-minute dance performance to come up with for the upcoming town hall meeting this week.
She asked the students if they would take their lunch periods to practice and they agreed.
“I have faith in you guys, so don’t start freaking out on me,” she said.
The students practiced for ten minutes on choreography created by senior Kani Kee.
Mid-practice the class’s speaker system died, and the students briefly paused while in the middle of their routine until Kee called out “keep going, what happens if it happens during the real thing!”
Without missing more than a few beats the group synced back with the beat some hummed aloud and finished the choreography.
The group then took a break from practicing Kani’s dance and practiced another routine alongside Kee.
After a first run, Kee said the dancers were following each others’ steps rather than confidently executing them from memory and asked, “What question marks are there?”
She walked the students through doing the “Bankhead Bounce” while walking forward.
“I need to see your shoulders moving. A lot of this dance is about the shoulders,” Kee said. “This move is old school but the walk with it makes it new school. It’s called the Bankhead Bounce, say it with me.”
The students repeated after Kee then followed her shoulder movements as she demonstrated how to do the move.
Dance students Kani Kee and Abby Pellino.
Kani and sophomore Abby Pellino agreed they each look forward to dance class during the day.
“It’s a break from academics but our energy is still focused on learning, it just looks different from the classroom,” Kani said.
Dance has taught them both lessons that “practice makes perfect” and “you’ll never be perfect on your first try.”
Pellino, who has danced for the past 15 years, added that the dance class has allowed her to build stronger connections with her peers.
After graduating Kani plans to pursue a career in dancing and begin auditioning for companies.
Kani said dance has been a major way for him to express himself and believes having it as a class allows him to feel most comfortable.
“Learning in dance is harder than a lit class for me,” Pellino said. “You have the repetition in dance that challenges you.”
"Full Voice, Full Action, Full Body"
In a drama room off of the school’s cafeteria, performing arts teacher and director Ty Scurry worked with five students on a one-act show that they will perform at the school’s town meeting.
Monday’s advanced drama class is a half year course. Scurry has been teaching it since he started at the school two years ago. The school most recently put on its first ever musical show, Paradise Blue.
The comedic, five minute show called “Touched by an Alien” focuses on four space cadets who attempt to catch an alien and convince it to sign off on their colonizing of its planet.
The students ran through the show multiple times to practice their lines Monday.
This December New Haven Academy will put on Heart: The Holiday Play from Dec. 14 to 16 and In The Heights in the spring from May 2 to May 4. Tickets are currently being sold for both.
During Monday’s class, Scurry’s students practiced the lines of the one-act show several times while also working on projecting their voices and enunciating.
“You’re not screaming but you have to project,” Scurry advised.
At one point, Scurry had the students pay attention to their speaking tempo.
They started the play speaking and moving in slow motion until Scurry called out “regular” or “speed up.”
“Bigger,” he called out as the students recited their lines in slow motion.
Next, the students were tasked to jog in place during the entire scene.
“I need full voice, full action, full body, no matter what,” Scurry said.
Senior Ayana Salahuddin played the alien and freshman Analia Ventura-Rivera played a space cadet during Monday’s class.
The two said they enjoy Scurry’s class and teaching methods because “they push us to our limits.”
They both are taking drama for the first time this year. So far they’ve enjoyed the class because it has taught them how to speak in front of a crowd, how to express themselves, and how to not back away from a challenge.
Throughout Scurry’s classes he teaches his students about “false fears” which he described as a fear of something one hasn’t encountered, like performing, or has learned stigmas about, such as believing that theater isn’t serious.
As the students practiced the show Scurry offered them critiques like “give the funny a minute” meaning to pause after saying a funny line to allow the audience to laugh, to stand in the “sight lines,” and to practice their alien walk.
“I want to give every inner city kid a chance to experience theater,” Scurry said.
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Magnet school students should not be excluded from ECA. All New Haven students should be eligible to join ECA, because it can benefit so many students and it mixes together students from many different neighborhoods and backgrounds.
Back in the 1980’s, there were also suburban students who were allowed in small numbers to join ECA, which further integrated students and expanded their circle of friends and classmates, which helps to meet the goals of integrating schools between the suburbs and the cities.
The ECA program should be expanded, to allow even more students to participate. Studies have shown that the arts can improve students grades and math and literacy and it expands their knowledge of the world beyond the local community they live in.