Have a middle school student passionate about the arts?
Join us for the 2025 Spring Saturday Program! Classes begin March 8
Session I: Saturday, March 8—Saturday, March 29, 2025
Session II: Saturday, April 12—Saturday, May 3, 2025
More about the Saturday Program
The Academy offers a series of 4-week arts intensives on Saturdays in the Fall and Spring. These classes are designed to introduce students currently in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades to the arts education offered at The Academy.
If you have any questions about our programs or would like to receive more information, please don't hesitate to reach out to programs@chicagoartsacademy.org.
Who: The Academy Saturday Program is for students currently in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. The program is for students serious about the arts.
What: Two 4-week arts intensives in Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theatre & Musical Theatre, and Visual Arts. Registration for one session is $250. Registration for both sessions is $475.
Where: 1010 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60642
When: The program runs 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. on Saturdays in the Fall and Spring.
Saturday Program Curriculum
Please note that course descriptions are working and may be adjusted before the start of the program.
The perfect program balance for comprehensive dance training. We will give your child the fundamentals of ballet, jazz, and modern dance, all while inspiring their creative voice. This is the perfect introduction to dance training at The Academy. Each session will offer codified techniques and also allow your child to learn to express themselves through the language of dance.
Students will be introduced to the basics of filmmaking through scriptwriting, storyboarding, cinematography, and editing.
In a collaborative environment, students will have the chance to brainstorm ideas, develop their own unique stories, and ultimately turn those ideas into a short film. They will learn how to effectively use post-production software, camera angles, lighting techniques, and sound to enhance their storytelling abilities.
On the last day of the program, students, friends, and family will come together for a screening of their projects.
Spend your Saturdays in a professional recording studio learning to use industry-standard recording software to produce, record, and craft an original song.
During the program students will learn the ins and outs of Ableton Live, our industry-standard recording software, and how to setup and use cables and microphones, effects, and other studio equipment. Students will be immersed in topics such as music production, beat making, samples and remixing, lyric writing, and vocal recording. Students will use this knowledge to produce and record their own original song or piece of music.
An exploration of language and character relationships, this four-week program allows students to play with and recreate iconic Shakespearean scenes. This class aims to break down the barriers of classical text and showcase how even Shakespeare can be comical, relatable and joyful as an actor. The scenes will feature some popular Shakespearean conflict scenes and the class will start to incorporate some combat movement as storytelling towards the end of the session.
The Visual Arts Saturday Program mirrors The Academy’s Visual Arts Department’s curriculum and pairs teaching foundational skills and techniques with contemporary art-making practices. In Sketch to Study students will explore working at various speeds from gesture and improvisational methods of drawing to more planned and intentional methods of image making.
The perfect program balance for comprehensive dance training. We will give your child the fundamentals of ballet, jazz, and modern dance, all while inspiring their creative voice. This is the perfect introduction to dance training at The Academy. Each session will offer codified techniques and also allow your child to learn to express themselves through the language of dance.
Students will survey the ten principles of animation through a variety of technical projects. They will learn classic 2D animation techniques through storyboarding, illustration, and character design. They will use various software as well as hand drawn techniques. On the last day of the program, students, friends, and family will come together for a screening of their projects.
For the second Saturday session, middle school students have the opportunity to explore and learn about The Academy Music Department’s four main areas of musical study. Students will explore a new genre each week receiving training in Jazz, Classical, Popular, and Experimental styles! This is a great way to sample the versatility training that makes the Music Department unique.
A great follow-up to Session One, this four-week stage combat program will build upon basic combat techniques that can be used to deepen the storytelling of conflict in a scene. Students will use a Shakespeare scene from the first session as a template for creating a fight sequence. By the end of the program, students will be able to determine if the pen is truly mightier than the sword.
Students will be introduced to various techniques to combine painting, printmaking and sculpture. Whether working from imagination or observation to create abstract compositions or representational imagery that conveys a story, students will learn to integrate mediums and have the opportunity to work on individual and independent projects of their own design.