Visual & Performing Arts

Tap your creativity in the OLP dance, drama, or visual arts programs, where you will be empowered to hone your love of the arts.

We offer courses for all levels—for those exploring performance for the very first time to lifelong artists — and encourage girls to explore new areas, styles, and techniques. Whether you want to find your voice in one of our vocal music or theatre programs, bring movement to the music that moves you, or add your voice to the art surrounding us, you’re sure to find your place at OLP.

When learning is approached through, with and by the visual and performing arts, creativity is cultivated, innovative thinking is fostered and imagination is both celebrated and enhanced. OLP provides and requires participation in visual and performing arts course work through a vast array of innovative elective courses including Pilot TV, digital arts, dance, painting, watercolor, ceramics, music theory and more.

Dance

In the OLP Dance Studio, art comes to life as students learn to express themselves through movement. Offering four distinct levels of dance instruction - ranging from Introduction to Dance to Advanced Dance Honors - OLP provides a welcoming space for students at every stage of their dance journey. In class, students explore a diverse range of dance styles, including ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and hip hop. They learn fundamental techniques, explore movement combinations, and dive into the principles of artistic expression within each genre. Students also gain insight into the choreographic process and have multiple opportunities to create their own original works. Our curriculum is designed to empower students, fostering confidence in their abilities while aligning with the National Core Arts Standards for Educational Dance, which focus on the key areas of Creating, Performing, Responding, and Connecting. At the conclusion of the academic year, students perform in our Annual Dance Showcase, a celebratory event featuring performances by students in all class levels and our award-winning Dance Team. Our new state-of-the-art dance studio provides a professional space for students to refine their technique, explore creative movement, and develop their performance skills in an environment equipped with the latest technology and resources.

Drama

Dive into a world of storytelling and self discovery with the OLP Drama program. From her direct experience in San Diego and New York City professional theatre, Miss Thorvick introduces theatre students to performance and production techniques currently used in the diverse theatre arts of America. Students will participate in exercises and improvisations designed to free them as performers and will also have the opportunity to get training in creative writing, theatrical design, stage management, directing, choreography and more. Text analysis, vocal and physical acting techniques are stressed in the OLP Drama program, and special attention is paid to exercises helping students explore their own imaginations with confidence.

In addition to Drama which is mostly performance focused, OLP also offers a course focused on Technical Theatre. This class is designed to help students gain a thorough understanding of theatrical and staging techniques as they have evolved through history and into the digital age. With hands-on experience in set building, light programming, sound design, stage management and prop design, students will get the full "behind the scenes" experience of what it takes to produce a theatrical show.

Credit is granted to participants in school productions. Our productions include student written and produced one-acts, full length musicals, mainstream shows and new plays. Our performance venues include our 750+ seat outdoor Aquinas Amphitheater, the new 260-seat St. Thérèse Theatre to more intimate spaces like site-specific performances on campus.

The OLP Music department boasts both instrumental and voice class options. Vocal Craft is a course designed to bring students from all levels of music and voice technique to become well rounded singer-songwriters and innovators of the music industry. Units of this class include: Foundation of Vocal Technique, Ensemble Singing and Harmony, Vocal Anatomy and Health, Lyric Writing and Poetic Composition, Melody Development and Style Exploration. In this class, students are encouraged to find their voice and become well rounded musicians and artistic collaborators.

Music

The Music Production course combines elements of music history, music theory (chords and scales), ear training (figuring out how to play popular songs by ear), reading of notes and tablature, and ensemble playing with pian, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, and electronic keyboards. Students are encouraged to try several instruments and perform with the group and in live performances, such as on PTV news and at school events. 

Students with more advanced skills will benefit from leadership “music producer” activities with the group. 

On the technical side, students will learn the basics of setting up a sound system for performances, and will use Ableton Live software with their laptops and school equipment to compose and record songs, both with microphones (analog) and with MIDI virtual instruments, and publish them to Spotify and Apple Music. 

The result will be a confident, well-rounded beginning musician, ready to increase their skills with a lifetime of experiences.

Visual Arts

The OLP visual arts studio offers the perfect setting for students to immerse themselves in the creative process. Introductory classes provide a strong foundation in a variety of media, while advanced classes stress self-expression and the development of personal themes. Many students assemble portfolios for college applications and the AP Exam in Studio Art. Our students' artwork consistently wins recognition in various competitions.
 
The spacious student art space in our historic Qualiato Building allows student artists the opportunity to experience a working art studio environment while they immerse themselves in classes that include technique workshops as well as sessions that incorporate symbolic and personally expressive meaning into their art making.
 
Students learn to make decisions in situations where there are no standard answers and to critically evaluate the results. We hope that they will leave their art class, as with nearly any class here at OLP, having learned to respect the often very different ways others think, work, and express themselves. 

VAPA Course Offerings