New York State Standards for Arts Education: Grade 12

NY.1. Commencement General Education: Creating, Performing and Participating in the Arts: Students will actively engage in the processes that constitute creation and performance in the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts) and participate in various roles in the arts.

1.1. Dance: Students will perform set dance forms in formal and informal contexts and will improvise, create, and perform dances based on their own movement ideas. They will demonstrate an understanding of choreographic principles, processes, and structures and of the roles of various participants in dance productions.

1.1.1. Students perform movements and dances that require demonstration of complex steps and patterns as well as an understanding of contextual meanings.

1.1.2. Students create dance studies and full choreographies based on identified and selected dance movement vocabulary.

1.1.3. Students apply a variety of choreographic processes and structures as appropriate to plan a duet or ensemble performance.

1.2. Music: Students will compose original music and perform music written by others. They will understand and use the basic elements of music in their performances and compositions. Students will engage in individual and group musical and music-related tasks, and will describe the various roles and means of creating, performing, recording, and producing music.

1.2.1. Students compose simple pieces for at least two mediums, including computers (MIDI) and other electronic instruments. (Pieces may combine music with other art forms such as dance, theatre, visual arts, or film/video.)

1.2.2. Students sing and/or play recreational instruments accurately, expressively, and with good tone quality, pitch, duration, loudness, technique, and (singing) diction.

1.2.3. Students use common symbols (notation) to perform music on recreational instruments.

1.2.4. Students identify and describe the roles, processes, and actions needed to produce professional concerts and musical theatre productions.

1.2.5. Students explain the commercial-music roles of producer, recordist, public relations director, recording company executive, contractor, musicians, union officials, performers, etc.

1.3. Theatre: Students will create and perform theatre pieces as well as improvisational drama. They will understand and use the basic elements of theatre in their characterizations, improvisations, and play writing. Students will engage in individual and group theatrical and theatre-related tasks, and will describe the various roles and means of creating, performing, and producing theatre.

1.3.1. Students write monologues and scenes to communicate ideas and feelings.

1.3.2. Students enact experiences through pantomime, improvisation, play writing, and script analysis.

1.3.3. Students use language, techniques of sound production (articulation, enunciation, diction, and phrasing), techniques of body, movement, posture, stance, gesture, and facial expression and analysis of script to personify character(s); interact with others in improvisation, rehearsal, and performance; and communicate ideas and feelings.

1.3.4. Students design and build props, sets, and costumes to communicate the intent of the production.

1.3.5. Students make acting, directing, and design choices that support and enhance the intent of the class, school, and /or community productions.

1.4. Visual Arts: Students will make works of art that explore different kinds of subject matter, topics, themes, and metaphors. Students will understand and use sensory elements, organizational principles, and expressive images to communicate their own ideas in works of art. Students will use a variety of art materials, processes, mediums, and techniques, and use appropriate technologies for creating and exhibiting visual art works.

1.4.1. Students create a collection of art work, in a variety of mediums, based on instructional assignments and individual and collective experiences to explore perceptions, ideas, and viewpoints.

1.4.2. Students create art works in which they use and evaluate different kinds of mediums, subjects, themes, symbols, metaphors, and images.

1.4.3. Students demonstrate an increasing level of competence in using the elements and principles of art to create art works for public exhibition.

1.4.4. Students reflect on their developing work to determine the effectiveness of selected mediums and techniques for conveying meaning and adjust their decisions accordingly.

NY.2. Commencement General Education: Knowing and Using Arts Materials and Resources: Students will be knowledgeable about and make use of the materials and resources available for participation in the arts in various roles.

2.1. Dance: Students will know how to access dance and dance-related material from libraries, resource centers, museums, studios, and performance spaces. Students will know various career possibilities in dance and recreational opportunities to dance. Students will attend dance events and participate as appropriate within each setting.

2.1.1. Students use dance technologies without significant supervision.

2.1.2. Students are familiar with techniques of research about dance.

2.1.3. Students know about regional performance venues which present dance and how to purchase tickets and access information about events.

2.1.4. Students know about educational requirements of dance-related careers.

2.1.5. Students identify major muscles and bones and how they function in dance movement.

2.2. Music: Students will use traditional instruments, electronic instruments, and a variety of nontraditional sound sources to create and perform music. They will use various resources to expand their knowledge of listening experiences, performance opportunities, and/or information about music. Students will identify opportunities to contribute to their communities' music institutions, including those embedded in other institutions. Students will know the vocations and avocations available to them in music.

2.2.1. Students use traditional, electronic, and nontraditional media for composing, arranging, and performing music.

2.2.2. Students describe and compare the various services provided by community organizations that promote music performance and listening.

2.2.3. Students use print and electronic media, including recordings, in school and community libraries to gather and report information on music and musicians.

2.2.4. Students identify and discuss the contributions of local experts in various aspects of music performance, production, and scholarship.

2.2.5. Students participate as a discriminating member of an audience when listening to performances from a variety of genres, forms, and styles.

2.2.6. Students understand a broad range of career opportunities in the field of music, including those involved with funding, producing, and marketing musical events.

2.3. Theatre: Students will know the basic tools, media, and techniques involved in theatrical production. Students will locate and use school, community, and professional resources for theatre experiences. Students will understand the job opportunities available in all aspects of theatre.

2.3.1. Students use theatre technology skills and facilities in creating a theatrical experience.

2.3.2. Students use school and community resources, including library/media centers, museums and theatre professionals, as part of the artistic process leading to production.

2.3.3. Students visit local theatrical institutions and attend theatrical performances in their school and community as an individual and part of a group.

2.3.4. Students understand a broad range of vocations/avocations in performing, producing, and promoting theatre.

2.4. Visual Arts: Students will know and use a variety of visual arts materials, techniques, and processes. Students will know about resources and opportunities for participation in visual arts in the community and use appropriate materials. Students will be aware of vocational options available in the visual arts.

2.4.1. Students select and use mediums and processes that communicate intended meaning in their art works, and exhibit competence in at least two mediums.

2.4.2. Students use the computer and electronic media to express their visual ideas and demonstrate a variety of approaches to artistic creation.

2.4.3. Students interact with professional artists and participate in school- and community-sponsored programs by art organizations and cultural institutions.

2.4.4. Students understand a broad range of vocations/avocations in the field of visual arts, including those involved with creating, performing, exhibiting, and promoting art.

NY.3. Commencement General Education: Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art: Students will respond critically to a variety of works in the arts, connecting the individual work to other works and to other aspects of human endeavor and thought.

3.1. Dance: Students will express through written and oral language their understanding, interpretation, and evaluation of dances they see, do, and read about. Students will acquire the critical vocabulary to talk and write about a variety of dance forms.

3.1.1. Students make comparisons of the nature and principles of dance to other arts.

3.1.2. Students analyze and describe similarities and differences in different dance forms and styles.

3.1.3. Students describe and compare a variety of choreographic approaches used in the creation of dances.

3.2. Music: Students will demonstrate the capacity to listen to and comment on music. They will relate their critical assertions about music to its aesthetic, structural, acoustic, and psychological qualities. Students will use concepts based on the structure of music's content and context to relate music to other broad areas of knowledge. They will use concepts from other disciplines to enhance their understanding of music.

3.2.1. Students, through listening, analyze and evaluate their own and others' performances, improvisations, and compositions and suggest improvements.

3.2.2. Students read and write critiques of music that display a broad knowledge of musical elements, genres, and styles.

3.2.3. Students use anatomical and other scientific terms to explain the musical effectiveness of various sound sources (traditional, nontraditional, and electronic).

3.2.4. Students use appropriate technical and socio-cultural terms to describe musical performances and compositions.

3.2.5. Students identify and describe the contributions of both locally and internationally known exemplars of high quality in the major musical genres.

3.2.6. Students explain how performers, composers, and arrangers make artistic decisions.

3.3. Theatre: Students will reflect on, interpret, and evaluate plays and theatrical performances, both live and recorded, using the language of dramatic criticism. Students will analyze the meaning and role of theatre in society. Students will identify ways in which drama/theatre connects to film and video, other arts, and other disciplines.

3.3.1. Students articulate an understanding, interpretation, and evaluation of a theatre piece as drama and as a realized production, using appropriate critical vocabulary.

3.3.2. Students evaluate the use of other art forms in a theatre production.

3.3.3. Students explain how a theatrical production exemplifies major themes and ideas from other disciplines.

3.4. Visual Arts: Students will reflect on, interpret, and evaluate works of art, using the language of art criticism. Students will analyze the visual characteristics of the natural and built environment and explain the social, cultural, psychological, and environmental dimensions of the visual arts. Students will compare the ways in which a variety of ideas, themes, and concepts are expressed through the visual arts with the ways they are expressed in other disciplines.

3.4.1. Students use the language of art criticism by reading and discussing critical reviews in newspapers and journals and by writing their own critical responses to works of art (either their own or those of others).

3.4.2. Students explain the visual and other sensory qualities in art and nature and their relation to the social environment.

3.4.3. Students analyze and interpret the ways in which political, cultural, social, religious, and psychological concepts and themes have been explored in visual art.

3.4.4. Students develop connections between the ways ideas, themes, and concepts are expressed through the visual arts and other disciplines in everyday life.

NY.4. Commencement General Education: Understanding the Cultural Dimensions and Contributions of the Arts: Students will develop an understanding of the personal and cultural forces that shape artistic communication and how the arts in turn shape the diverse cultures of past and present society.

4.1. Dance: Students will know dances from many cultures and times and recognize their relationship to various cultural, social, and historic contexts. Students will recognize that dance is performed in many different cultural settings and serves many functions in diverse societies.

4.1.1. Students explain the interaction of performer and audience in dance as a shared cultural event.

4.1.2. Students identify the cultural elements in a variety of dances drawn from the folk and classical repertories.

4.1.3. Students recognize specific contributions of dance and dancers to their own lives and to people in other times and places.

4.2. Music: Students will develop a performing and listening repertoire of music of various genres, styles, and cultures that represent the peoples of the world and their manifestations in the United States. Students will recognize the cultural features of a variety of musical compositions and performances and understand the functions of music within the culture.

4.2.1. Students identify from performances or recordings the cultural contexts of a further varied repertoire of folk, art, and contemporary selections from the basic cultures that represent the peoples of the world.

4.2.2. Students identify from performances or recordings the titles and composers and discuss the cultural contexts of well-known examples of classical concert music and blues/jazz selections.

4.2.3. Students relate well-known musical examples from the 17th century onward with the dominant social and historical events.

4.3. Theatre: Students will gain knowledge about past and present cultures as expressed through theatre. They will interpret how theatre reflects the beliefs, issues, and events of societies past and present.

4.3.1. Students read and view a variety of plays from different cultures.

4.3.2. Students using the basic elements of theatre (e.g., speech, gesture, costume, etc.), explain how different theatrical productions represent the cultures from which they come.

4.3.3. Students articulate the societal beliefs, issues and events of specific theatrical productions.

4.4. Visual Arts: Students will explore art and artifacts from various historical periods and world cultures to discover the roles that art plays in the lives of people of a given time and place and to understand how the time and place influence the visual characteristics of the art work. Students will explore art to understand the social, cultural, and environmental dimensions of human society.

4.4.1. Students analyze works of art from diverse world cultures and discuss the ideas, issues, and events of the culture that these works convey.

4.4.2. Students examine works of art and artifacts from United States cultures and place them within a cultural and historical context.

4.4.3. Students create art works that reflect a variety of cultural influences.

NY.1. Commencement Major Sequence: Creating, Performing and Participating in the Arts: Students will actively engage in the processes that constitute creation and performance in the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts) and participate in various roles in the arts.

1.1. Dance: Students will perform set dance forms in formal and informal contexts and will improvise, create, and perform dances based on their own movement ideas. They will demonstrate an understanding of choreographic principles, processes, and structures and of the roles of various participants in dance productions.

1.1.1. Students use a variety of sources to find dance ideas.

1.1.2. Students select dance structures for use in choreographic projects.

1.1.3. Students perform dances requiring use of more sophisticated performance elements such as dynamics, phrasing, musicality, expression.

1.1.4. Students use a variety of choreographic approaches with any number of dancers, props, and performance spaces.

1.1.5. Students demonstrate ability to work effectively as dancer, choreographer, director, costumer, lighting designer, manager.

1.2. Music: Students will compose original music and perform music written by others. They will understand and use the basic elements of music in their performances and compositions. Students will engage in individual and group musical and music-related tasks, and will describe the various roles and means of creating, performing, recording, and producing music.

1.2.1. Students compose a collection of works for wind, string, percussion, vocal, keyboard, or electronic media that demonstrates an understanding and application of the musical elements and music-related technology.

1.2.2. Students monitor and adjust their performance and compositional techniques, identifying strengths and areas for improvements.

1.2.3. Students improvise and arrange extended musical compositions that exhibit cohesiveness and musical expression.

1.2.4. Students in choral and instrumental ensembles, read difficult/very difficult music (NYSSMA level V or VI); exhibit independent control over tone quality, intonation, rhythm, dynamics, balance, blend, expression, and articulation; and respond appropriately to the gestures of the conductor.

1.2.5. Students adopt at least two of the roles they identify as needed (composer, arranger, copyist, conductor, performer, announcer, instrument maker or provider, program annotator, recordist) to produce the performance of a musical composition in the classroom.

1.2.6. Students, in performing groups, produce musical performances by peer-led small ensembles and sections of larger ensembles.

1.3. Theatre: Students will create and perform theatre pieces as well as improvisational drama. They will understand and use the basic elements of theatre in their characterizations, improvisations, and play writing. Students will engage in individual and group theatrical and theatre-related tasks, and will describe the various roles and means of creating, performing, and producing theatre.

1.3.1. Students write plays to communicate their ideas and feelings.

1.3.2. Students collaborate in the development of original works which reflect life experiences.

1.3.3. Students use vocal, movement, and body techniques to create complex characters in monologues, oral interpretation, and scene study.

1.3.4. Students create props, scenery, and costumes for different styles of plays.

1.3.5. Students carry out acting, directing, and design choices which support and enhance the intent of a production.

1.4. Visual Arts: Students will make works of art that explore different kinds of subject matter, topics, themes, and metaphors. Students will understand and use sensory elements, organizational principles, and expressive images to communicate their own ideas in works of art. Students will use a variety of art materials, processes, mediums, and techniques, and use appropriate technologies for creating and exhibiting visual art works.

1.4.1. Students produce comprehensive and well organized commencement portfolios of their work.

1.4.2. Students reveal through their work a broad investigation of a variety of individual ideas and at least one theme explored imaginatively and in depth.

1.4.3. Students give evidence that they have developed an emerging personal style.

1.4.4. Students use selected mediums and techniques and select the most appropriate mediums and techniques to communicate their ideas.

NY.2. Commencement Major Sequence: Knowing and Using Arts Materials and Resources: Students will be knowledgeable about and make use of the materials and resources available for participation in the arts in various roles.

2.1. Dance: Students will know how to access dance and dance-related material from libraries, resource centers, museums, studios, and performance spaces. Students will know various career possibilities in dance and recreational opportunities to dance. Students will attend dance events and participate as appropriate within each setting.

2.1.1. Students use technologies to research, create, perform, or communicate about dance.

2.1.2. Students understand the roles of dancers, audience, and creators in a variety of dance forms and contexts.

2.1.3. Students participate in, or observe, dance events outside of school.

2.1.4. Students know about educational requirements of dance-related careers and how to prepare for possible entrance into those fields.

2.1.5. Students know about good nutrition, injury prevention, and how to care for the body.

2.2. Music: Students will use traditional instruments, electronic instruments, and a variety of nontraditional sound sources to create and perform music. They will use various resources to expand their knowledge of listening experiences, performance opportunities, and/or information about music. Students will identify opportunities to contribute to their communities' music institutions, including those embedded in other institutions. Students will know the vocations and avocations available to them in music.

2.2.1. Students develop a classified and annotated directory of nearby music-related establishments such as instrument and music retailers, instrument makers and repair persons, recording studios, union representatives, etc.

2.2.2. Students identify ways that they have contributed to the support of the musical groups of which they are members.

2.2.3. Students explain opportunities available to them for further musical growth and professional development in higher education and community institutions.

2.3. Theatre: Students will know the basic tools, media, and techniques involved in theatrical production. Students will locate and use school, community, and professional resources for theatre experiences. Students will understand the job opportunities available in all aspects of theatre.

2.3.1. Students identify current technologies, published scripted material, and print and electronic resources available for theatrical productions.

2.3.2. Students identify college and/or community opportunities in theatre after graduation and the requirements for application or participation.

2.3.3. Students cooperate in an ensemble as performers, designers, technicians, and managers to create a theatrical production.

2.3.4. Students design an individualized study program (i.e., internship, mentorship, research project) in a chosen theatre, film, or video vocation/avocation and share the information with the class.

2.4. Visual Arts: Students will know and use a variety of visual arts materials, techniques, and processes. Students will know about resources and opportunities for participation in visual arts in the community and use appropriate materials. Students will be aware of vocational options available in the visual arts.

2.4.1. Students develop Commencement Portfolios that show proficiency in one or more mediums and skill in using and manipulating the computer and other electronic media.

2.4.2. Students prepare a portfolio that meets the admission requirements of selected institutions.

2.4.3. Students understand the preparation required for particular art professions and acquire some skills of those professions through internships with local galleries, museums, advertising agencies, architectural firms, and other institutions.

NY.3. Commencement Major Sequence: Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art: Students will respond critically to a variety of works in the arts, connecting the individual work to other works and to other aspects of human endeavor and thought.

3.1. Dance: Students will express through written and oral language their understanding, interpretation, and evaluation of dances they see, do, and read about. Students will acquire the critical vocabulary to talk and write about a variety of dance forms.

3.1.1. Students express to others theories about the nature of dance and the underlying assumptions that people have about dance.

3.1.2. Students describe and analyze similarities and differences between individual performances, and between forms and styles of dance, past and present.

3.1.3. Students describe and defend an explanation of why people dance, based on experience in dance, witnessing others, and studying contexts.

3.2. Music: Students will demonstrate the capacity to listen to and comment on music. They will relate their critical assertions about music to its aesthetic, structural, acoustic, and psychological qualities. Students will use concepts based on the structure of music's content and context to relate music to other broad areas of knowledge. They will use concepts from other disciplines to enhance their understanding of music.

3.2.1. Students assess, describe, and evaluate the development of their personal contributions to their own, their school's, and their community's musical life by appropriately using musical and socio-cultural terms and concepts (contributions and skills of musicians, functions of music in society, etc.).

3.2.2. Students demonstrate a practical knowledge of sound production and architectural acoustics to predict the general effects on sound of room shapes, building construction practices, and common absorbers.

3.3. Theatre: Students will reflect upon, interpret, and evaluate plays and theatrical performances, both live and recorded, using the language of dramatic criticism. Students will analyze the meaning and role of theatre in society. Students will identify ways in which drama/theatre connects to film and video, other arts, and other disciplines.

3.3.1. Students develop a critical vocabulary through the reading and discussion of professional criticism.

3.3.2. Students explain the meaning and societal function of different types of productions.

3.3.3. Students design a plan for improving performances, using past and present critiques.

3.3.4. Students explore various other art forms and technologies, using them in theatre projects.

3.3.5. Students explain how theatre can enhance other subjects in the curriculum.

3.3.6. Students compare and contrast theatre, film, and video.

3.4. Visual Arts: Students will reflect upon, interpret, and evaluate works of art, using the language of art criticism. Students will analyze the visual characteristics of the natural and built environment and explain the social, cultural, psychological, and environmental dimensions of the visual arts. Students will compare the ways in which a variety of ideas, themes, and concepts are expressed through the visual arts with the ways they are expressed in other disciplines.

3.4.1. Students using the language of art criticism, describe the visual and functional characteristics of works of art and interpret the relationships of works of art one to another, to describe the impact of the work on the viewer.

3.4.2. Students demonstrate an understanding of art criticism, art histories, and aesthetic principles and show their connections to works of art.

3.4.3. Students give evidence in their Commencement Portfolios that they have researched a theme in-depth and that in their research they have explored the ways the theme has been expressed in other disciplinary forms.

NY.4. Commencement Major Sequence: Understanding the Cultural Dimensions and Contributions of the Arts: Students will develop an understanding of the personal and cultural forces that shape artistic communication and how the arts in turn shape the diverse cultures of past and present society.

4.1. Dance: Students will know dances from many cultures and times and recognize their relationship to various cultural, social, and historic contexts. Students will recognize that dance is performed in many different cultural settings and serves many functions in diverse societies.

4.1.1. Students demonstrate an understanding of dance as a shared cultural event when giving presentations (dance, lecture, video, written report).

4.1.2. Students demonstrate a knowledge of cultural elements in dance presentations of folk and classical repertories.

4.1.3. Students prepare formal presentations that use materials about dance and dancers of other times and places.

4.2. Music: Students will develop a performing and listening repertoire of music of various genres, styles, and cultures that represent the peoples of the world and their manifestations in the United States. Students will recognize the cultural features of a variety of musical compositions and performances and understand the functions of music within the culture.

4.2.1. Students analyze music from various cultures on the basis of its functions, giving examples and describing uses to which music is put in those cultures.

4.2.2. Students in performing ensembles, read and perform repertoire in a culturally authentic manner and use culture-based criteria for assessing performances, their own and others'.

4.3. Theatre: Students will gain knowledge about past and present cultures as expressed through theatre. They will interpret how theatre reflects the beliefs, issues, and events of societies past and present.

4.3.1. Students conduct an in-depth investigation of the works of a given culture or playwright.

4.3.2. Students create a multicultural theatre festival of excerpts from plays representing various cultures.

4.4. Visual Arts: Students will explore art and artifacts from various historical periods and world cultures to discover the roles that art plays in the lives of people of a given time and place and to understand how the time and place influence the visual characteristics of the art work. Students will explore art to understand the social, cultural, and environmental dimensions of human society.

4.4.1. Students present a body of work within their portfolio that reflects the influences of variety of cultural styles.

4.4.2. Students interpret the meaning of works and artifacts in terms of the cultures that produced them.

4.4.3. Students explain how cultural values have been expressed in the visual arts, how art works have been used to bring about cultural change and how the art of a culture has been influenced by art works coming from outside that culture.