After taking first and second place at the first round of the English-Speaking Union (ESU) National Shakespeare Competition held Feb. 13 on the Idyllwild Arts Academy (IAA) campus, IAA Theatre Department students Madison Chase and Eylül Hancilar went on to win second and fourth place, respectively, at the follow-up competition held March 4 at Palm Springs High School.
The ESU National Shakespeare Competition is a performance-based education program in which high school students nationwide read, analyze, perform and recite Shakespeare’s works. Through the program, students develop communication skills and an appreciation of the power of language and literature.
Since 1983, more than 300,000 young Americans of all backgrounds have taken advantage of this opportunity to bring the timeless works of Shakespeare to life and learn to express his words with understanding, feeling, and clarity.
Eight students from the IAA Dance Department recently competed at Youth America Grand Prix in San Diego. Eddy Perez Trimiño won first place in the Men’s Senior Contemporary Competition, and KraShane Sims (shown) won second place in both the Men’s Senior Classical Competition as well as the Men’s Senior Contemporary Competition.
Other competitors who represented the school were Hitomi Hashimoto, Gracie Johnson, Emma Hollenbeck, Isabel Moreno Vasquez, Freyja Rogenes and Maria Marin Reyes.
