Latin School of Chicago

arts Improvisation takes center stage at Latin For theater teacher Nick Baer '96, every day at Latin is full of the unexpected: The quiet mostunassuming student in the room will come up with the most outrageous dialogue. Classes will veer off in different directions. A painfully shy participant will end the semester as a confident leader. And just about every day will include a moment of uncontrollable and surprising hilarity. Since coming to Latin in 2003, Baer has taught improvisational theater – a program that has blossomed over the years, attracting a diversity of students beyond those with a passion for the stage. Active in theater at Latin and the University of Illinois before becoming a member of Chicago's vibrant improv community, Baer was teaching a Project Week class when veteran drama teacher Ann Hartdegen approached him about bringing his talents full-time to the school. His first year, in addition to a regular course load of acting classes, he taught a single improv class with about a dozen students. This year, Baer is teaching three improv sections with about 44 students participating each semester. Because of the popularity of the classes, he started an improv club, added playwriting and directing courses, and hopes to continue integrating more student-directed offerings into the theater curriculum. Latin's improv program is continually enriched through the school's location in Chicago, arguably the most active improv community in the United States. Baer himself was part of the iO Theater (formerly ImprovOlympic) house team James Jackson and is currently a member of a local sketch comedy group The Backrow. Professional improv performers have held workshops at the school, students frequently visit Second City and other improv venues, and Latin students have had the opportunity to perform along side professional improv troupes. "Having Second City around the corner had a huge impact on me growing up," says Baer. "I think our students have a great opportunity to learn from this community." At the same time, the basic principles of collaboration and mutual support inherent to the genre bring in students who would not normally choose theater courses. According to Baer, two central tenets of improv are: "the best improvisers are those who make other people look "It is all about support – supporting other people and working collaboratively." While at the outset, introducing improv may have been intended as an additional tool to help Latin's theater students build valuable skills such as character development, over time students have developed respect for the genre as its own art form. "Certainly, what makes improv attractive to high school students is that it can't help but be interesting and different every time," explains Baer. "Each performer expresses him- or herself entirely because they are making it up on the spot. So, with each show you see 10 different perspectives, 10 different kinds of humor. It's always exciting." good" and "every idea has the potential to be brilliant." "It is all about support – supporting other people and working collaboratively," he says. "In the beginning of the semester students are judging each other's ideas like they would in any other setting. But gradually you can see them getting their brains around the concept that any idea is going to be great as long as everyone gets behind it. It is a pretty unique experience for students to be in a setting where everything they say is immediately going to be rallied behind." The value of the experience carries beyond the Wrigley Theatre, says Baer. "I've seen a lot of students who you would never expect to feel comfortable in a theater setting take an improv class and be really expressive and much more confident in anything they do." • – Evelyne Girardet 10 Latin Magazine

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