The VPAA academy is a rigorous program, ending in seniors participating in a large project as a culmination of all four years of classes. These projects range from a showcase to a literal performance. The following is a brief description and overview of the senior process so far.
Theatre
The Theatre seniors spend the first half of the year writing a play, and then they swap with another senior and direct their show at Virginia Wesleyan University.
“[It’s called] Fringe Festival,” said senior Ana Wright. “It’s a two day event where plays written and selected by theatre academy seniors are directed by them as well.”
It takes place on May 8th and 9th at the Virginia Wesleyan University Center for the Arts.
“We have been working on this project since around the beginning of this school year,” said senior Angela Chen. “We’ve been working since the start of the second semester and have cast our actors. We are currently going through the rehearsal process.”
Art
The art seniors have been working on their senior project for months.
“We spent about half our year working on a senior synthesis art piece,” said senior Mirabelle Malone. “We chose a topic, created thesis papers, artist statements, and created a piece of art. At the reception, the pieces will be on display, and there will be winners selected by a judge that the academy brings in.”
Their showcase takes place on May 7th 5:30 at Zeiders Dream Theatre.
Instrumental and Dance
These two are combined because their senior projects are combined as well. On May 28th in the Salem High School auditorium, both will take the stage together.
“Some of the pieces will have instrumental and dance working together, and some are going to be only dance and only instrumental,” said dance senior Haley Powers. “We have been choreographing a prepared piece and then [we will] perform them with the instrumental strand.”
As for the instrumental strand, they have been working hard as well.
“The seniors in the instrumental strand are all performing solos, and some of us are also performing duets,” said instrumental senior Kaitlyn Thomas. “So far, the process has been a lot of individual work, with some occasional meetings with the dance strand’s seniors.”
The work has been slow, but consistent.
“We have been working on ours since January,” said senior Oliver Philips. “It’s all been independent work, and we have mostly been on our own. We have been checking in with each other so we are all on the same page.”
Vocal
Their senior project is happening in the Auditorium on May 21st.
“We have to create the entirety of the senior production vocal concert ourselves,” said senior Jaeda Phelps. “[We also] plan and decorate and design and pick songs for ourselves.”
All of the projects have been in the works for months, and are all free to attend. Make sure you stop in and see what you can!
