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Classes and Workshops

Cocoon Theatre offers a wide range of acting, dance, and movement classes for all ages and abilities.

• Drama Production Program
• Class Semester Program (Improvisation, Intro to Theatre, Modern Dance and more)
• Ongoing Classes (Modern Dance & Exercise)
• Young Actors Summer Workshop
• Choreography Workshop
• Movement and Theatre Workshop
• Mentoring and community service
• Artists-in-Residence
• Arts-in-Education
• Creative Projects
• Living Threads workshops
• Storytelling, Birthday Parties & Puppet Shows

You can register for a class by clicking here.

Drama Production Program

This class teaches complete actor preparation: body, voice & character work, memorization skills. Serious commitment required!

Past drama production programs have included Scheherazade And the Arabian Nights, This Night To Remember, Outside The Tent, Five Children and It, and Fundevogel.

Spring 2012 Production

2 classic story considerations:"Mulan" or "Beauty & The Beast"

CALLING ALL ACTORS! YOUNG AND OLD!

Parts for 20 actors, ages 10-Adult

Audition: Tuesday, January 24 5:00-7:00 p.m. (consists of physical warm up, reading from prepared script and creative group work and improvisation)

Rehearses: Tuesdays & Thursdays 5:00-7:00 p.m. (some Thursdays until 8:00 p.m.), (1st class 1/317, no class 4/3 & 4/5)

Tuition: $450

Tech Week: Saturday May 12 (10:00-4:00 p.m.), Tuesday May 15 (5:00-9:00 p.m.), Wednesday May 16 (5:00-9:00 p.m.), Thursday May 17 (5:00-9:00 p.m.)

Performs: May 18,19,20 (Friday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.)

Tickets: $15

(Please note, material subject to change. Students enroll based on the idea of performing an original work, not on specific material only).

Register for this class

Class Semester Program Spring 2012

12 weeks: January 23 - April 21.

All semester classes participate in showing Saturday April 21 at 12:00 p.m.
(subject to change - call for specifics, no classes April 1-7)
Registration open through February 5

Children and Teen Classes

Poetry Masks

9-12 years. An exciting new addition exploring voice work and mask development to support a character; memorized scenes presented.

When: Saturdays 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Tuition: $200
Register for this class

Storytelling Scenes

8-10 years. Teaches acting techniques, memorization skills, stage terminology, character and plot development through sharing stories.

When: Wednesdays 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Tuition: $150
Register for this class

Creative Movement

4-5 years. Introduction to creative movement through games w/ music, using story ideas, ballet and modern vocabulary.

When: Wednesdays 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Tuition: $100
Register for this class

Creative Movement

5-7 years. Explores movement through dramatic imagery, dance terminology and Laban-based Theory of Movement studies.

When: Saturdays 9:00-10:00 a.m.
Tuition: $100
Register for this class

Improvisation

10-14 years. A fun-filled hour exploring character & plot development; voice & body work.

When: Thursdays 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Tuition: $150
Register for this class

Introduction to Scene Study

12-16 years. A class designed for in depth character exploration with voice & body work; monologues & group work; scenes performed.

When: Fridays 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Tuition: $200
Register for this class

Modern/Ballet

Combines modern and ballet techniques; teaching vocabulary, repertoire, floor work, and phrases.

A: 6-8 years, Mondays 4:00-5:00 p.m.
A: 9-11 years, Tuesdays 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Tuition: $150
Register for this class

Introduction to Choreography

12-16 years. Basics of choreography thru modern dance warm-up & moving phrases. Students create & perform solo & group dances.

When: Wednesdays 5:00-6:30 p.m.
Tuition: $200
Register for this class

Adult Classes (16 & up)

Portrait Drawing

Unfiltered exploration of portraiture using charcoal and paper. Students rotate modeling (some materials required - all levels welcome).

When: Saturdays 11:30-2:30 p.m.
Tuition: $300
Register for this class

Scene Study

Character work through performed monologues and group scenes with movement.

When: Specific Fridays 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Tuition: $250
Register for this class

Poetry Dance

A creative outlet for body & thought. Sweaty, bright & fun, with moments of quiet, peace & rest. No dance experience necessary.

Materials required: balloons, hula-hoop, squirt-gun!

When: Sunday 10:00-12:00 p.m.
Tuition: $200
Register for this class

Ongoing Classes

Modern I

A basic, thorough Modern Dance class with center and floor work, traveling combinations and phrases.

When: Mondays 5:30-7:00 p.m. (teachers rotate)
Tuition: $15 per class, $120 per 10-class card, $200 per 20-class card (good for months)
Register for this class

Modern II

Experience required for intermediate class with standing and floor warm-up, center work and full combinations.

When: Saturdays 10:00-11:30 a.m.
Tuition: $15 per class, $120 per 10-class card, $200 per 20-class card (good for 6 monts)
Register for this class

Exercise

A complete stretch and tone class based on the rhythm of the breath; floor and standing work with some locomotion.

When: Tuesdays and/or Thursdays 9:00-10:00 a.m.
Tuition: $150 1x per week, $250 2x per week
Register for this class

Choreography Workshop (teens and adults)

"A REASONING"

A unique class designed to afford a venue for the adult choreographer to explore and perform, as well as introduce elements of choreographic responsibility to teens. Students prepare their own choreography, as well as perform original works choreographed by teachers. Field trips are taken locally to shre in other modern dance styles and techniques. Students must also commit to taking adult modern dance class Mondays 5:30-7:15 p.m. Accepted through audition only.

Audition: Sunday January 29, 12:00-2:00 p.m. (dance class, followed by creative exploration and assignment)

Rehearses: most Fridays 7:00-9:00 p.m. and some Sundays 12:00-2:00 p.m.

No Class: 2/5, 2/19, 3/4, 3/11, 3/16, 3/23, 3/30

Tuition: $350

Performs: June 1, 2, 3 (Friday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Tickets: $20
Register for this class

Movement and Theatre Workshop (teens and adults)

"THE UNKNOWN"

A live piece of theater created entirely from class-directed improvisation. A complete immersion in the intuitive process. Students explore movement and voice through solo & group work assignments. No theatrical or dance experience required.

Rehearses: Sundays 6:00-9:00 p.m. (some Saturdays TBA)

Tuition: $350

Performs: February 17,18,19 (Friday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Tickets: $15
Register for this class

Young Actors Summer Workshop

Young Actors Summer Workshop, now in its 19th year, affords creative performing opportunities for children of all ages from all backgrounds of theatrical experience. The workshop has varied through the years - changing to conform to location demands, as well as new needs to service as many students as possible.

All shows have incorporated music and dance believing that exposure to these forms broadens a young person’s experience allowing more exploration into what he/she enjoys. All shows have used unknown pieces of music and original works. Most struggle with original scripts to expose young students to an author’s original material.

Students are accepted by registration, unlike Fall and Spring Production Program classes where students must first complete audition acceptance. Stagecraft is often a part of the workshop, but differs with each production. For musicals, students often work weekly with musical director/composer Paul Schubert.

Students always have some choice involvement in the character(s) they’re interested in playing. Depending on the material, the enrollment size and particular class dynamics, the types of choices allowed will vary.

Young Actors Summer Workshop very much draws upon creative input from each student. Its focus is to expose students to many varied aspects of theater, allow them creative expression in a safe environment, and give them an unforgettable summer experience!

Past summer workshops have included: The Princess Bride, Romeo & Juliet, Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, Oliver!, The Von Trapp Family Story, A Little Princess, Godspell, Watership Down, Snow White, 101 Dalmatians, Lord of the Flies, The Sleeping Beauty, Black Beauty, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Rikki Tikki Tavi, Charlotte’s Web, Old Strange & Beautiful Stories, The Mermaid, City Seuss, A Grimm Tale, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Mentoring and Community Service

In 2005, we started a very interesting aspect to Cocoon: mentoring. Both in the Semester Classes and the Summer Workshop we began offering deserving and able teens the opportunity to learn about the teaching process, in a tangible way. Magdalene San Millan assisted as teacher in the modern/ballet semester classes and Stasha Rosen was assistant director in the youth class of the Summer Workshop.

In 2004, the initial guinea pig was Jane Riccobono, who has gone on to study theater education in college. Magdalene teaches us as we teach her - about vision, energy & grace. In “The Pied Piper,” an original musical written by Marguerite San Millan, we gave Stasha the responsibility of creating the entire music soundtrack. Stasha composed, performed & recorded the songs herself...at only 17 years old.

The youth class of the summer program will offer assistantship to another deserving teen…who that might be remains a mystery. Magdalene will continue as teacher assistant in the modern/ballet class.

Such work is also acceptable for public school requirements to complete work study hours at a non-profit organization for community service credit. Hours can also be accumulated working in the office, running lights/sound, sewing, cleaning, running concession/ticket booth…and a million other much-needed services. Interested teens call the office for an appointment.

Artist-in-Residence Program

These special workshops bring fine artists to Cocoon Theatre students and the general public.

Past Programs

In 2009 Cocoon's Artist-in-Residence Program brought NYC artist Peter Kyle to teach a modern dance technique master class incorporating elements from the Nikolais/Louis dance philosophy with improvisation. The performance included Murray Louis' solos, Mr. Kyle's work and Cocoon's own choreography.

In 2003, the Adult Modern Dance Class and the Cocoon Theatre Modern Dance Company enjoyed an exciting workshop by Taylor 2 - Paul Taylor’s 2nd Touring Company, as did invited participants.

Arts-in-Education

Cocoon Theatre appears many times throughout the year in various educational settings. For the past 10 years we have worked with Chancellor-Livingston students (see a list of our past performances) and during that time have also completed projects at Bulkeley Middle School in Rhinebeck, Rhinebeck High School, Red Hook Elementary, Middle & High Schools, as well as Poughkeepsie Day School and Dutchess Community College.

Performances with the students have included: Dance Workshops, full theatrical productions, simple drama classes, Art Workshops, Creative Writing Workshops, and Puppet Workshops.

Tony's Bread workshop held at Chancellor-Livingston Elementary school, Rhinebeck.

Performances by Cocoon Theatre for the students as audience have included: Puppet Shows, Modern Dance Performances, full theatrical productions, and parades.

Tony’s Bread, held in 2003 at Chancellor-Livingston Elementary School in Rhinebeck with two 3rd Grade classes (total 40 students) The students built and painted props, sewed costumes, painted backdrops and set pieces, auditioned and were cast, rehearsed, memorized, sang, danced and took a beautiful well-deserved bow when completing three performances to full houses in one day - all in 10 days! See the Tony's Bread gallery for pictures of this exciting event.

Brave Irene, performed in Spring 2004 with 40 third graders from Chancellor-Livingston Elementary School - a modern dance, theater performance piece. This Spring (2005), Cocoon Theatre is again working with Jean Dobson of Chancellor-Livingston Elementary School as they creatively present, The Egyptian Cinderella.

If you are interested in having Cocoon Theatre run a workshop at your school affiliation or place of business, don't hesitate to call. We also offer audience-participation story-telling and special performances for private Birthday parties and events. If you want something different, you want Cocoon! Give us a call!

Creative Projects

Cocoon Theatre prides itself on the creative design of specific projects: from outdoor street festivals & parades, to performances designed for hospitals and nursing homes to private events (weddings, birthday parties), to larger performing spaces (Bardavon, Center for Performing Arts in Rhinebeck, Cunneen-Hackett in Poughkeepsie, Kaatsbaan International Dance center in Tivoli, NYC appearances), and more.

Cocoon Theatre leads many workshops throughout the year, reaching children of all ages. Here at Lagrange Library, 15 boys, ages 7-15, enjoyed a stimulating romp into the world of improvisation.

Living Threads Workshops

On Sept. 11, 2001, a tragedy happened in NYC, the U.S. & the world. Strangely enough, or not so strangely, this day also marked the beginning of a very special project started through Kaatsbaan International Dance Center and DCAC to spearhead a grant where Cocoon Theatre would take a group of Rhinebeck H.S. students, have them interview Senior Citizens and present the material they’d gathered from such personal experiences into a performance.

Cocoon was scheduled to begin reaching on September 11, but the school had closed. September 11 changed the minds of the students and the project designers, as it did minds around the world. The event pushed those involved to think much more seriously than when the grant was first envisioned. Strangely, or again not so strangely, the Senior Citizens interviewed had similar stories to share of prejudice, world political weakness and war and personal tragedies. The students wrote scenes, invited other actors to participate and performed these personal stories in a work entitled "Living Threads."

Happily, the performance was held in the gorgeous Kaatsbaan space. Sadly, it was performed for only one night. Cocoon did take the show to Ferncliff Nursing Home for, again, a one-night stand. It was a 7-month intensive project that Cocoon explored again in 2004 - this time with the focus of interviews being conducted by those people either afflicted with or affected by cancer, as opposed to that of the Senior Citizen’s stories collected and performed by teens.

See the Living Threads Gallery for pictures of this amazing event. Visit the Living Threads 2004 Workshop page for more information on that year's event.

This year, Cocoon Theatre is presenting Living Threads 3: What are You Waiting For?. It is our Spring 2007 Drama Production Program, where students take a hilarious and poignant look at the food service community.

Storytelling, Birthday Parties & Puppet Shows

We offer a wide variety of workshop options:

1-person, 45 minute Storytelling
2-person, 45 min.-1 hour Storytelling with audience participation

1-person, 2 hour Creative Workshop with small presentation
1-person, 4-hour Creative Workshop with small presentation

2-person, 5-day/45 min. Residency Workshop involving art, drama & dance, culminating with small performance
2-person, 5-day/2 hour residency Workshop involving art, drama & dance & dance, culminating with small performance

2-7 people, 1 hour Full Puppet Show; involves stage, lights and set with costumes, puppets and music with dramatized scenes and dances. (1-hour load-in & set-up, 1-hour performance and 1-hour strike and load-out)

The most popular for libraries are 1-2 person storytelling, based on seasonal themes or popular pieces of literature. Prices vary. Examples: Any Grimm’s, Andersen or Kipling Tales, as well as other cultural folk tales and stories: American Indian, Eskimo, Spanish, Indian, etc.

See our past performances page for a list of the puppet shows we've performed.

Please call for pricing.

Also popular is Create a Story. This workshop can be designed for any age group, from kindergarten to teens, and can be as elaborate as time and funds allow, or as simple and small as several hours. Participants create a story in Round Robin fashion. The story is then expressed by expansion into scenes and dances with art/puppets, percussion/music and performed by students before an audience. Prices vary.

Classic favorites are puppet shows. This can be an original show designed specifically for your need or come from Cocoon’s repertoire in function at the time. It can be done solely as a performance for you or as a workshop where your participants are the performers. Prices vary.

Birthday parties: Any of the above-mentioned is available for design for your event. Indoor-outdoor, large commercial space or small living room, any age group, any number of audience, straight performance or audience participation, design for your theme or Cocoon’s idea. Prices vary.