Theatre students from Miami Arts Studio visit FIU


Last week, more than 30 theatre students from Miami Arts Studio 6-12 @ Zelda Glazer (MAS) visited FIU Theatre for an afternoon of portfolio reviews and design workshops.

MAS senior design and technology management students looking to continue their theatre training at the collegiate level met with the FIU Theatre design faculty and shared their design portfolios. This was their official interview for admittance into the design program at FIU.

The faculty also gave the high school seniors valuable feedback on their portfolios for future interviews at other universities and theatres.

While the MAS seniors and FIU Theatre faculty were going over portfolios, current FIU Theatre students led the 9th, 10th, and 11th graders in design workshops. For FIU students, it was an opportunity to pass on what they know to high schoolers. For the MAS students, it was an opportunity to see what the college theatre classroom is like and to make connections with our students.

The visit was part of a strong and on-going relationship between FIU and MAS. Aside from these kind of workshops and masterclasses, students are also invited guests to the final dress rehearsal for every FIU Theatre production.

The ties between the schools go even deeper. Rey Bode, Nicole Quintana, Ozzie Quintana and Yamarys Solomon, four of MAS’s theatre teachers, are also FIU Theatre alumni.

The workshops challenged the students to explore their creativity and apply it their theatre work.

Students interested in lighting spent some time in our light lab learning how to use professional equipment such as an ETC Ion light board. They explored how different instruments, directions and colors create varying emotional qualities on stage. Then, using what they learned, students were able to experiment by lighting a model figure.

In the model-making workshop, students learned how to create basic 3 dimensional geometric shapes in miniature scale. They then used those shapes to create environments and sets in a black model box – just like they would do if they were designing a theatrical set.

Another group of students learned about gathering visual research. They searched for images that evoked a certain emotional quality and created collages that would serve as inspiration for scenic, lighting or costume designs.

In the scale story workshop, students were given small model figures and LED lights and set loose to create imaginative worlds with found objects. Students then returned to share their series of three pictures that told a story.

 

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