The Departments
The Summer Arts Conservatory is an advanced training program for students interested in exploring the curriculum utilized at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. The Summer Arts Conservatory is structured into the same 5 art departments at LACHSA: Cinematic Arts, Dance, Music Vocal, Theatre and Visual Arts. Each of the core intensives that your child will take daily at the Summer Arts Conservatory have been restructured to allow six feet of distance at all times and are outlined below:
SCREENWRITING
CA Intensive
Discover how to draft treatments, format screenplays and draw storyboards as you write your own scripts! This class is designed to give your child the fundamental building blocks for structuring a compelling 3 act narrative, draft treatments and layout storyboards.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
CA Intensive
Explore shot composition, camera movement, framing and lighting! In this class, students are given a chance to learn the key elements of cinematography including exposure, aperture, shutter speed, shot sizes, camera angles and camera moves and creating shot lists!
EDITING
CA Intensive
Finish your film as you learn how to edit, add effects, graphics and titles using Adobe Premiere Pro CC! In this class, students are taught how to assemble a film using the footage captured by the director.
PRODUCTION
CA Intensive
With this final project, students are given the opportunity to construct a fully-realized digital short. Working in small teams, theory and practice are integrated at every step as the students plan, write, shoot, and edit a short film.
CINEMATIC ARTS
The Cinematic Arts Department is structured to teach the fundamental technical skills of digital film production. Students will study screenwriting, storyboarding, script breakdown, directing actors, cinematography, sound recording and editing. The department is project based with the students completing two full projects assignments over the course of the 1 week session!
BIOMECHANICS
Dance Intensive
Designed to help students improve their physical coordination and spatial awareness, this class utilizes the movement theory of Meyerhold through a select combination of yoga, biomechanics and gymnastics.
BALLET INTENSIVE
Dance Intensive
This class covers classical ballet principles, technique, and terminology. Special attention is placed on developing strength, flexibility, and artistic interpretation while providing a foundation in classical movement.
JAZZ INTENSIVE
Dance Intensive
In this course, students will study the style, choreography and technique of jazz in order to develop a deeper understanding of the historical cultural context in which this uniquely American dance form evolved.
CONTEMPORARY INTENSIVE
Dance Intensive
This class serves as an introduction to contemporary dance as an expressive medium, building technical skills at the beginning level. Pattern variations are analyzed in time, space, design, and kinetic sense.
DANCE
The Dance Department is designed to train young dancers into powerful and expressive artists with the skills and versatility to perform in multiple dance genres. With daily classes in ballet, biomechanics, jazz, modern and hip hop, students are encouraged to appreciate and care for their bodies though proper conditioning, dance technique, rest and nutrition.
MUSICAL THEATRE
Music Vocal Intensive
In this course, students will have the chance to study and perform selected musical theatre songs. Additionally, students will explore proper vocal technique and learn how to correctly support the voice while maintaining pitch, tone and resonance.
MUSIC THEORY INTENSIVE
Music Vocal Intensive
In this class, students will have the chance to study basic music theory including staff notation, note and rest values, time signatures and tempos, major and minor chords, key signatures, the circle of fifths, intervals, triads and scale degrees.
CLASSICAL INTENSIVE
Music Vocal Intensive
This class is designed to introduce the students to a wide range of classical choral music. Special attention is given to certain compositional elements of music, such as tonality (major, minor, and modal) and functional harmony.
JAZZ INTENSIVE
Music Vocal Intensive
Students are given the opportunity in this class to train and perform in the genres of gospel, blues and jazz. Emphasis is placed on building a jazz ensemble while developing solo techniques including vocal improvisation.
MUSIC VOCAL
The Music Vocal Department allows students focus on the acquisition and development of proper vocal technique. Through a combination of scales and breathing exercises, the students will strengthen their ability to correctly support the voice while maintaining pitch, tone and resonance. In addition, the fundamentals of music theory and staff notation are taught utilizing ear training and visual aids.
IMPROVISATION
Theatre Intensive
Centered around classic improv games, this class focuses heavily on imagination, creativity and "impulse dialogue". Students are strongly encouraged to free associate ideas and words to avoid "overthinking" the situation.
SCENE STUDY INTENSIVE
Theatre Intensive
In this course, students are given a concrete technique for creating a character using the text and their imagination. Specific attention is placed on script analysis, emotional characterization, vocal production and organic movement.
STAGE COMBAT INTENSIVE
Theatre Intensive
In this class, students will learn how to safely engage in armed stage combat using rapiers, cutlasses and broadswords with an emphasis on maintaining proper distance, targeting, footwork and "combat characterization".
AUDITION INTENSIVE
Theatre Intensive
This class provides students with the skills and confidence to successfully audition. Students will focus on contemporary and classical monologues, cold reading technique, resume construction and industry expectations.
THEATRE
The Theatre Department is designed to provide a multi-dimensional experience that captures the breath and depth of theatre as an art form and exposes students to a wide range of theatre genres. The program emphasizes individual growth and personal discovery while building confidence through daily classes in scene study, monologue work and stage combat.
DRAWING
Visual Arts Intensive
This drawing lab course integrates fundamental drawing principles (including composition, value, structure, contrast, line, shape, pattern, space and rhythm) with an emphasis on building a formal visual vocabulary.
THEORY/HISTORY INTENSIVE
Visual Arts Intensive
PAINTING INTENSIVE
Visual Arts Intensive
Students are introduced to the fundamentals of painting with special emphasis placed on technical procedures, tools and materials. Conceptual and formal concerns are addressed to help students implement their ideas.
MEDIA ARTS INTENSIVE
Visual Arts Intensive
This course provides a broad survey of art history beginning with ancient and medieval art, continuing through the Renaissance and baroque period up to the impressionists, pop art, minimalism and modernism.
This class presents techniques for image processing using popular software including selecting parts of images, moving, duplicating and resizing images, creating layers, layer effects, filters, painting, blending and color modification.
VISUAL ARTS
The Visual Arts Department provides visual art students with critical skills and techniques in various media while focusing on concept exploration and ideas. Students will enjoy a diverse curriculum of classes including Drawing, Painting, Graphic Design and Theory/History. At the end of the session, students will have the opportunity to exhibit their work!