Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts (Utah)

Theatre Studio

The Theatre Studio at Tuacahn seeks to provide the foundations for theatre actors through a four-year curriculum. The academy mentor is Kyle Lewis, a theatre actor and director with over 25 years of experience in a variety of projects including full scale classic musicals, Shakespeare, and both traditional and experimental plays. The actor training program at Tuacahn provides not only a four-year curriculum but also a multitude of possible acting experiences. Theatre Foundations I acts as an introduction to the fundamentals of drama for beginning actors with little to no previous acting experience. Theatre Foundations II focuses on the development of skills used in the performance of modern plays. Theatre Foundations III focuses on the further development of classic theatre skills including improvisation and Shakespeare performance. The final class in the curriculum, Theatre Foundations IV, seeks to prepare students with the skills necessary for the college and eventually professional work in the field.

In a normal school year, the Actor Training Academy puts on one or two stage plays, a Shakespeare production, a musical produced on the outdoor amphitheater, and sometimes performances at other small events.

Dance Studio

The Tuacahn Dance Studio seeks to further the technical and performance ability of its students to a high level. Jennifer Dail, Bachelor of Dance Performance from Southern Utah University and Master of Dance from University of Wisconsin, is the mentor of the Tuacahn dance academy. She teaches a dance history course, and a three-level dance course that provides instruction in a variety of styles including ballet, jazz, tap and modern. Dance I provides an introduction to basic dance technique to those with little to no previous dance experience. Dance II is a continuation of the course that seeks to further skills needed for dance performance including strength, flexibility, endurance, coordination, and total fitness. Dance III, or Advanced Dance, continues with the development along with the extension of the dancers' vocabulary and knowledge of history.

Dance Company is Tuacahn's premiere, audition-only group. Along with being a continuation of the skills developed in previous experience, students are required to choreograph a dance for one of the concerts through the year.

The Dance Academy puts on two concerts throughout each school year, in fall and spring. In both concerts, pieces choreographed by the students themselves are performed.

Music Studio

The music program at Tuacahn is separated into two categories, vocal and instrumental music.

Visual Arts Studio

The Visual Arts Studio seeks to take students to their highest artistic performance and artistic best, whether in painting landscapes, portraits, or even modern expressive artworks.

Steven Stradley, the Visual Arts Academy mentor, has a bachelor's degree in art education from USU and a master in fine arts in painting from MSU. His artwork has been featured in exhibitions in Utah and Michigan.

The visual art academy provides a number of classes including an art history course designed to provide a complete overview of all visual arts through history. Painting technique mainly emphasizes the use of color and other processes, including opaque painting. 3D art & sculpture is a one-year course designated to introduce students to the skill of creating three-dimensional works of art. Fashion and interior design is a one-year class that focuses on fashion design, interior design, color themes and portfolio creation.

Carrie Beeke is the other visual art instructor at Tuacahn. She teaches the drawing courses and conceptual stage design courses. Drawing I and Drawing II provide a means to develop to an advanced level of creativity, technique and originality. Conceptual stage design is a technical theatre design course.