The Arts at Alverno

Dance

In Dance I and II, Alverno students are exposed to myriad of different genres including ballet, jazz, modern, musical theatre, tap, hip-hop, and more. Dance classes fulfill Alverno’s physical education requirement and challenge students both physically and mentally. Dance students are regularly included in Alverno liturgies, campus productions, Arts at Lunch, Candlelight Celebration, and the musical in the spring.

Music

Alverno Singers is a year-long course offered to current and aspiring singers in grades 9 – 12, regardless of their previous choral experience. The core curriculum explores basic vocal technique, music theory, and history as it relates to Blues, Jazz, Broadway Musical Theater, Gospel, Folk, Classical, Sacred and other genres. This exploration takes place on a solo, small group, and large group performance level, as well as lecture and extensive listening. In addition, students are expected to work individually and in small groups on a self-guided curriculum to explore areas of particular interest in further detail. This class meets 3 mornings at zero period: Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings 7:00 – 7:45 am in the Villa Music Room. Student instrumentalists are encouraged to join and play on selected repertoire.

Do you play an instrument? Well, choir would love to have you join! In recent years, some very talented Alverno students have accompanied the choir on the piano, guitar, violin, flute, and even a dulcimer.

Theatre

The Performing Arts Department stages two performances each year: a play in the fall and a musical in the spring. Drama classes develop multiple skills in acting and introduce students to the history of theatre, play structure, script analysis, improvisation, creating characters, directing and production, and critical analysis.

Not an actor? No problem! In addition to onstage roles, there are plenty of opportunities behind the curtain from stage make-up to lights to set building to being stage manager.

Alverno’s Performing Arts Department regularly participates in local theatre festivals including Long Beach Theatre Fest and the Pasadena Playhouse Theatre Fest. During these events, students are given the opportunity to perform individually and as an ensemble cast.

Recent Fall Productions: Lost in Yonkers, Our Town: Our Story, Antigone, The Foreigner, The Crucible, Harvey, An Actor’s Nightmare, Wit, and The Thousand Paper Cranes

Recent Spring Musicals: Hairspray, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Legally Blonde, Godspell, Into the Woods, Chicago, Little Shop of Horrors, The Wiz, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Alverno Heights Academy, 200 North Michillinda Avenue, Sierra Madre, (626) 355-3463 or visit www.alvernoheightsacademy.org.

About Alverno Heights Academy

Alverno Heights Academy is an all-girls, independent, progressive Catholic, college preparatory school dedicated to its mission of empowering each young woman to be exactly the person she wants to be. Located on the property of the former Barlow Estate in Sierra Madre, California, Alverno Heights Academy was founded in 1960 by the Sisters of St. Francis who sought to create an environment in the San Gabriel Valley where young women could become informed and knowledgeable persons. Later renamed Alverno High School and sponsored by the Immaculate Heart Community, Alverno’s program—academic, spiritual, aesthetic, social, and physical—has been shaped by the staff, trustees, and students. As Alverno Heights Academy once again, the school remains committed to its mission by encouraging each of their young women to be who they imagine. For more information about Alverno Heights Academy, please visit www.alvernoheightsacademy.org.