Text instructor Nike Doukas is one of the five teachers who contribute to the different segments of the program. She has high expectations for her students, she said.
"[Text] is the most dry subject-matter you can do, but I want them to get more sense of the language; I want them to feel more at ease with it and make it more accessible," Doukas said.
The program is limited to 20 students, said Education Director Dawn Kellogg.
"We like to keep it small because we want them to gel as a group," she said.
The students' day, which is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for full-time students or from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for part-time students, typically starts with warm-up exercises, such as improvisation. Students then attend the different classes planned for them throughout the day.
To capture the essence of the Shakespearean period, the costumes of the time are used during the period-movement dance class. Girls wear corsets and guys wear similar garb of the day, including doublets, tight fitting jackets, and capes.
"They're put into the clothes so they feel restricted like they used to," said Kellogg. "That's very important when working with Shakespeare."
For Burbank resident Zoë Corbett, the stage-combat class is the most interesting.
"I love it, I like acting in general; we are learning new things that I've never done before, like sword fighting," said Zoë. "It's really fun."
Along with learning sword-combat techniques, students are also going to learn how to perform hand-to-hand combat, said Kellogg.
This year the program is going to focus on spirits, fairies and witches, so students are reading excerpts from plays such as "Macbeth," "The Tempest" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Throughout the program, students work on acting and analyzing various Shakespeare scenes individually and in small groups.
This is the second year Glendale resident Anthony Schmerling, 13, is participating in the Summer with Shakespeare program.
