
Instrument of Self: Musical Theater Summer Program Gives Students a Sense of Agency Joy Lamberton Arcolano, the programs director, discusses her collaborative approach to teaching theater to middle-school aged students.
By
Darry Madden
April 12, 2023
Joy Lamberton Arcolano
Joy Lamberton Arcolano loves her Youth Musical Theater summer program. For one or two weeks each summer, students ages 11 to 14 sing, dance, and act, of course, but also develop what she calls their instruments of self in service to greater personal agency in everything they do.
An award-winning actor and voice actor, Arcolano brings decades of experience in theater education and a deep conviction to her program. With a master's degree from Harvard in arts in education, she developed a curriculum that challenges students to be collaborative artists and meets middle schoolers where they are developmentally.
What makes the Youth Musical Theater program unique? What we are trying to do is have each person grow in their understanding of their instrument of self. How do they play themselves as an instrument to share a story with an audience? We do instrument-of-self work every day. And then we also incorporate that with the nuts and bolts of a high-level arts education camp. We have some of the best teachers in the country. Isaac Leaverton is amazing, and Kristen Katsimpas is our choreographer on staff. Theyre both Boston Conservatory faculty and theyre top of the game.
You are cognizant of the nature of theater being a group of individuals within an ensemble. The average theater program goes, Lets put on a show. Yes, of course. But I'm also very specifically thinking about the development of the individual artist within the collective. Im holding a space for the whole group, but I am more interested that every single person gains some skills and some agency over the course of the time that I spend with them than there being a fancy show at the end.
Could you describe what the practice of teaching artistry means for you? A teaching artist is not an artist who happens to go teach and not a teacher who happens to do art. The art that I am making is a collaborative endeavor with the learners that Im working with. Ive brought that into the Youth Musical Theater program. It's different than other theater programs, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
There is a mental health awareness component to your curriculum. Can you talk about that? Middle school is a big, transitional time. Its the separation from the parent and family community into valuing the peer group a little bit more. Youth Musical Theater is a place where the peer group is being shaped around how do we develop? and how do we celebrate what we already know?
Which levels of experience can students expect to find in their fellow campers? Our youngest are as young as 11, and some of them are just kind of trying musical theater for the first time. Other kids have been on national tours.
Is it challenging to have such a range of experience in the students? The more experienced students bring this really lovely level of dedication and professionalism that they model for the other students. And they are in with a group of people that are just excited to run around and sing and dance because this is cool and new-that level of enthusiasm is infectious and reminds some of those older kids why they loved it in the first place.
There is also an age differential at work. We use proximal development to our advantage.
Our goal throughout the week is that everybody gets a line of solo. We do that with 60 kids. Its definitely not a place where we are oriented around That one person is so amazing. Instead it's Wow, look at this ensemble. Thats a really important part of why I think mixed skill groups are really, really useful.
What is feedback you hear from alumni of the program? That the students feel included and they feel heard.
We educate all of the faculty and staff about judgmental language, and that means we do not offer empty praise either. We work towards observation-based language only when providing feedback.
A huge thing when I direct shows with students: I dont block anything. A lot of directors come in and say, Heres all the blocking. This is where you stand. Do this, do this, do this. Thats the experience that my students are coming in with. Its that theyre puppets. This program is my love letter to the death of puppetry. I really would like the students to actually be collaborating artists.
To be collaborating artists, they both need to develop their understanding of their instrument of self so that theyre making informed decisions about how they can or cannot be in a space and whether they can speak or sing or meet the note. But then I also am giving them this space where they understand what a collaborative relationship is like.
What can a student expect to take away from a week in Youth Musical Theater? Confidence in the agency they currently have. And new friendships.
Related Categories
News
Most Popular
Berklee President Erica Muhl
Image by Kelly Davidson
Berklee to Hold Inauguration of President Erica Muhl in April Muhl is the fourth-and first female-president of Berklee.
Latest
Berklee Today Honored in Prestigious Design Competition The alumni magazine makes the Society of Publication Designers Print Merit Winners list.
Instrument of Self: Musical Theater Summer Program Gives Students a Sense of Agency Joy Lamberton Arcolano, the programs director, discusses her collaborative approach to teaching theater to middle-school aged students.
Symon Dice
Image courtesy of the artist
Berklee to Host Business of Latin Music Symposium Featured guests include RichMusic producers Symon Dice and Animal.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Marshall Electronics Showcases New Feature-Rich CV320 and CV520 IP and 3G-SDI PO...
27/03/2026
Sony Electronics Inc. Elevates Professional Video Workflows with Powerful Update...
27/03/2026
GatesAir Extends AirWatch365 Managed Service with Edge Gateway Site Appliance
Brie Clayton March 27, 2026
0 Comments
NAB marks global launch of servic...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...
27/03/2026
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...
27/03/2026
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...
27/03/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...
27/03/2026
130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary
MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...
27/03/2026
Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...
27/03/2026
Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production
Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...
27/03/2026
San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...
27/03/2026
Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...
27/03/2026
Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...
27/03/2026
Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...
27/03/2026
RT Supporting the Arts
RT is Supporting 20 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this April
RT is proud to support an exciting month of arts and cul...
27/03/2026
Average of 1.37 million viewers watched Irish World Cup heartbreak on RT 2
Over one million streams on RT Player
Highest number of streams for any single eve...
27/03/2026
March 27 2026, 01:30 (PDT) Dolby Unveils Dolby House Shanghai, its First Global Flagship Experience Center
A New Global Platform Showcasing Dolbys Innovatio...
27/03/2026
March 27 2026, 03:30 (PDT) Dolby and QQ Music Advance Streaming Music with Enhancements to Dolby AC-4
Delivering greater fidelity, clarity and detail to Dol...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
Spotify's partnership with NAVER, Korea's leading digital platform, is built around one simple goal: making it easier for listeners in Korea to discover...
26/03/2026
Exclusive to ComposerCloud for first month
Sample library and virtual instrument gurus EastWest have announced the upcoming release of a new virtual drum i...
26/03/2026
Friday 27 March
Friday 27 March will mark Dynamic Range Day 2026, the annual day of online activity that was started in 2010 by mastering engineer Ian Sheph...
26/03/2026
Includes four separate instruments
Max Richter's SRM Sounds venture have just announced their fifth release, ASMR Choir. Captured at the main live room ...
26/03/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), has been tasked with administering the Sixth Presi...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...