Though the academic year is ending, TDPS students are finding ways to continue growing and learning outside of the classroom.  Many TDPS students utilize the summer months to further their training in theater and dance, as well as pursue professional opportunities through internships and performance opportunities.

In the case of Aries Limon, a tip from Costume Design Lecturer Annie Smart led her to an internship in costumes at California Shakespeare Theater, where she will be learning how a costume shop at a busy professional summer theater runs.  She will be joined by Theater Major Kendall Ewing, who was also accepted to the internship program. Both students have taken the costume design course in TDPS and worked in the TDPS costume shop, and are hoping to continue to develop their skills.  Says Limon, “My goal is to attend graduate school for a technical theater degree, and hopefully this internship will provide me with more experience in different aspects of costume construction.”

Sophomore Theater major Marie Cartier landed an internship as Assistant Stage Manager with the San Francisco Mime Troupe. She has wanted to work with the group for some time now. “The Mime Troupe has always been a model for me of what theater should be,” she says. “They do original, extremely entertaining musicals that confront social issues which are best of all are free to all.” Cartier, who is also double majoring in Peace and Conflict Studies, comments, “My hope for the future is to combine what I have learned in both fields to create art that makes a positive social impact. I am extremely excited to learn from such a long-running, important Bay Area institution.”

For students leaving the Bay Area, the summer months are also a perfect opportunity to take advantage of opportunities to study closer to home. Sophomore Dance Minor Perla Garcia was accepted into LA Contemporary Dance Company’s Summer Dance Intensive, a two-week program where she will be studying modern dance and improvisation.  Furthering the training she has received at TDPS, “I want to immerse myself in modern dance, and I thought this was a great way to do it,” says Garcia.  “I’d like to improve my stamina and technique since I would like to keep dancing even after I graduate and pursue dance as either a part-time career or serious hobby.”

Other students take advantage of their time over the summer to pursue acting opportunities that may not have been able to accept during the academic year. Junior Theater Minor Kevin Singer will start rehearsals in June for a production of Sweeney Todd at Ray of Light Theatre in San Francisco that opens in early July and runs for a month through early August, and then will begin rehearsals for a production of Assassins at Shotgun Players that runs from September through November. “I’ve definitely performed outside of school before during the school year,” says Singer,  “but nothing as intense as the performance schedule for Assassins. “

- Marni Davis

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