A funny, vibrant and well-attended performance of “Matilda: The Musical” brought the curtain down on a successful semester for Ma’ayanot’s performing arts students. Many cast and crew members of the musical also highlight the performing arts in their academic coursework, through Ma’ayanot’s Performing Arts Concentration, which introduces students to acting techniques, improvisation, theater history, production, musical skills, composition and theory, in a three-year series of elective classes. The courses also include opportunities to interact with and learn from working industry performers and creators, and are supplemented by multiple performance opportunities, including musicals, plays and variety shows, which allow students to share their achievements with the broader community.

Samantha Kur chairs Ma’ayanot’s Arts Department, as well as the English Department, and works in close collaboration with Matt Okin, Black Box artistic director and director of performing arts at Ma’ayanot. The Arts Department excels at helping students develop skills unique to the performing arts that also prepare students for lifelong success, such as confidence, collaboration and perseverance, and Kur also envisions continued progress in integrating creative and artistic activities into the English and visual arts curricula.

“Matilda” cast member Eleaya Jacob appreciates the performing arts: “We get to be creative. More than entertainment, it’s an amazing opportunity to express ourselves and have fun with friends on stage.” Fellow cast member Shira Halberstam highlighted another benefit: “The connections we make in drama society are like family!” Junior Sophie Fine, student producer of “Matilda,” noted that the Performing Arts Concentration “allows students to use their talents in ways that they might not be able to in other classes. I have grown as a performer and as a person through being in many Ma’ayanot shows, and meeting girls from every grade. Performing arts gives me so much energy and I am excited to be in the performing arts center, and in school, every day!”