At Simon's Rock, there are numerous opportunities for artistic and creative study. Through opportunities in music, theater, and dance, students can deepen their study of creative expression in collaboration and performance.
Music Opportunities
AT SIMON'S ROCK / MASSENA CAMPUS
Students can register for MUS-222 Jazz Ensemble, which is open to students in the College and Academy. Jazz Ensemble is taught by longtime Simon's Rock professor of music John Myers.
AT BARD COLLEGE / MAIN CAMPUS
Starting in their first semester in the College, students have access to Bard's College & Community Ensembles and Private Music Lessons. In their second semester and sophomore year, students can begin to take courses in music theory and music history on the main campus.
Private lessons are available through Bard College in a wide range of instruments. Students enrolled in an ensemble can take lessons for credit, and pay $250 for the entire semester (up to 12 lessons).
Students not enrolled in an ensemble can still take lessons as an audit for no credit. In this case, students work out the payment directly with the instructor.
Students can register for MUS-222 Jazz Ensemble, which is open to students in the College and Academy. Jazz Ensemble is taught by longtime Simon's Rock professor of music John Myers.
AT BARD COLLEGE / MAIN CAMPUS
Starting in their first semester in the College, students have access to Bard's College & Community Ensembles and Private Music Lessons. In their second semester and sophomore year, students can begin to take courses in music theory and music history on the main campus.
Private lessons are available through Bard College in a wide range of instruments. Students enrolled in an ensemble can take lessons for credit, and pay $250 for the entire semester (up to 12 lessons).
Students not enrolled in an ensemble can still take lessons as an audit for no credit. In this case, students work out the payment directly with the instructor.
Dance Opportunities
The Simon’s Rock dance program encourages each student to understand movement as a form of personal expression, a kinesthetic experience, a cultural and historical phenomenon, and as a subject of aesthetic analysis. From their first semester, regardless of previous dance experience, students not only focus on dance technique, but also begin a guided study of the creative process through choreography and performance.
The dance curriculum includes courses in dance fundamentals, modern dance, Flamenco dance, and dance composition. Dance Concert Workshop is the heart of the Simon's Rock dance community. This weekly gathering brings students together to develop, rehearse, share and respond to works in progress in a supportive and collaborative environment. The workshop provides a space where students can experiment with choreography and performance, receive feedback from peers and faculty, and participate in the creative process regardless of the level of experience.
Each semester culminates in a dance concert, providing students with the opportunity to share their work with the broader community. The concerts bring together choreographers and performers and may also involve students interested in music, theater technology, costume, lighting, and other aspects of performance production. These semesterly performances celebrate the creativity, collaboration, and diverse perspectives of the Simon’s Rock dance community.
The dance curriculum includes courses in dance fundamentals, modern dance, Flamenco dance, and dance composition. Dance Concert Workshop is the heart of the Simon's Rock dance community. This weekly gathering brings students together to develop, rehearse, share and respond to works in progress in a supportive and collaborative environment. The workshop provides a space where students can experiment with choreography and performance, receive feedback from peers and faculty, and participate in the creative process regardless of the level of experience.
Each semester culminates in a dance concert, providing students with the opportunity to share their work with the broader community. The concerts bring together choreographers and performers and may also involve students interested in music, theater technology, costume, lighting, and other aspects of performance production. These semesterly performances celebrate the creativity, collaboration, and diverse perspectives of the Simon’s Rock dance community.
Theater Opportunities
Dedicated to experimentation and process, The Simon’s Rock Theater Program at the Massena Campus fosters dynamic collaborations
across creative disciplines of dance, visual arts and music while empowering a new generation of theater artists and creators.
Through hands-on courses in contemporary theater making practices, students explore a variety of tools and approaches to embodying performance, generating original material and examining both contemporary and extant works. Some sample courses include Outrageous Theater Lab: New Plays & Practices, Foundations of Acting, Solo Performance, Theater Production and many other courses and avenues to explore voice work, movement, physical theater styles, improvisation, playwriting, directing, investigative theater and devising.
Students interested in performance opportunities (both onstage and behind the scenes) have two opportunities to stretch themselves in new ways.
In the fall semester, the theater program presents an annual showcase of work generated throughout the semester. This has included scenes and monologues from scripted plays, original writing, solo performance, movement and multi-media pieces, class demonstrations, and more.
In the spring, students embark on a fully staged production of a full-length play, which brings together guest artists working in the professional theater, as well as Bard Academy students, Simon's Rock students, Bard matriculants, and alumni. Theater Production offers a unique vehicle to adapt to the needs, skills and interests of our students offering additional opportunities not only for performers, but also for those interested in working behind the scenes. In recent theater productions, students have served as actors, musicians, assistant choreographers, assistant directors, designers, and stage managers, as well as composers, light and sound board operators, scenic painters, property artisans and more.
Recent theater productions:
Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play by Anne Washburn
The Hatmaker’s Wife by Lauren Yee
The Moors by Jen Silverman
She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen
RIOT by the Wardrobe Ensemble
across creative disciplines of dance, visual arts and music while empowering a new generation of theater artists and creators.
Through hands-on courses in contemporary theater making practices, students explore a variety of tools and approaches to embodying performance, generating original material and examining both contemporary and extant works. Some sample courses include Outrageous Theater Lab: New Plays & Practices, Foundations of Acting, Solo Performance, Theater Production and many other courses and avenues to explore voice work, movement, physical theater styles, improvisation, playwriting, directing, investigative theater and devising.
Students interested in performance opportunities (both onstage and behind the scenes) have two opportunities to stretch themselves in new ways.
In the fall semester, the theater program presents an annual showcase of work generated throughout the semester. This has included scenes and monologues from scripted plays, original writing, solo performance, movement and multi-media pieces, class demonstrations, and more.
In the spring, students embark on a fully staged production of a full-length play, which brings together guest artists working in the professional theater, as well as Bard Academy students, Simon's Rock students, Bard matriculants, and alumni. Theater Production offers a unique vehicle to adapt to the needs, skills and interests of our students offering additional opportunities not only for performers, but also for those interested in working behind the scenes. In recent theater productions, students have served as actors, musicians, assistant choreographers, assistant directors, designers, and stage managers, as well as composers, light and sound board operators, scenic painters, property artisans and more.
Recent theater productions:
Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play by Anne Washburn
The Hatmaker’s Wife by Lauren Yee
The Moors by Jen Silverman
She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen
RIOT by the Wardrobe Ensemble