High Tech High School Performing Arts
High Tech High School’s award-winning Performing Arts Program provides students with an immersive, conservatory-style experience in Dance and Theatre Arts, with each program offering two distinct divisions:
- Dance: Performance and Choreography
- Theatre Arts: Drama and Musical Theatre
Students audition for a specific division during the admissions process and, once accepted, begin a four-year journey of artistic, technical, and personal growth. While each division offers a specialized course of study, all Performing Arts students are part of a collaborative community that encourages them to learn from one another, work across disciplines, and contribute to a wide range of performances and productions.
Throughout their four years at High Tech, students study closely with dedicated instructors who bring extensive professional experience to the classroom and studio. Their training is further enriched through opportunities to work with guest artists and industry professionals, providing exposure to different techniques, perspectives, and professional practices.
The Performing Arts curriculum combines rigorous technical training with creative exploration and individualized instruction. Students are challenged to strengthen their craft, develop their artistic voice, take creative risks, and grow as confident performers and artists. Productions, showcases, workshops, and interdisciplinary projects provide authentic opportunities to apply their learning and experience the collaborative nature of the performing arts.
Beyond developing their craft, students become part of a close-knit artistic community. The relationships they build with classmates, instructors, guest artists, and industry professionals contribute to an experience that extends far beyond the classroom. Graduates leave High Tech with the discipline, confidence, creativity, and technical foundation to pursue continued study and professional opportunities in the performing arts.
High Tech Theater Arts Drama performs Radium Girls by D. W. Gregory
This winter, the Theater Arts Drama classes performed Radium Girls, the tragedy of the young dial painters working in a radium plant in Orange, NJ in the 1920s. The students, directed by their teacher, Raluca Georgiana Shields, focused on developing characters, their interwoven relationships, as well as bringing to light this profound story, unleashed by...
HTHS Dance Performance Shines at NJSBA Conference
The New Jersey School Board Association selected the Performance Division Dance majors from High Tech High School to represent the Hudson County Schools of Technology at their annual conference on October 22nd in Atlantic City. Under the direction of instructor Trista DeFilippis, these talented students showcased three beautiful performances."My Mind" performed by Stephanie Apolinario, Yalexa...
High Tech Theater Arts Drama performs Into The Woods by Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and Book by James Lapine
This year, the Theater Arts Drama classes, who are part of the Paper Mill Playhouse Adopt-A-School program (Year 3) presented an intricate and incredibly moving musical, Into the Woods, a musical about choices and regrets, mistakes and forgiveness, and above all about the value of friendship and humanity. The students, directed by their teacher, Raluca...
High Tech High School Performance Track Dancers Perform Glitter
March 6th through the 10th, 2024, the High Tech High School Performance Track Dancers attended and performed at the 14th Annual Regional High School Dance Festival in Norfolk, Virginia, hosted by the Governor's School for the Arts. This marks the 5th time instructor Trista DeFilippis and students have attended the Festival. The students attended classes...
High Tech’s Theatre Arts Students Perform in the Annual Improv Show and Fundraiser on February 8th, 2024
Only two weeks after our successful run of You Can’t Take It With You, High Tech Theatre Arts improvisers performed in our Annual Improv Show, consisting of original skits and live improvisation performances created by each of the four Theatre Classes. The show followed an SNL style format that started with the typical Cold Opening, Lady’s Talking...
High Tech Theater Arts Drama performs You Can’t Take It With You
This year, the Theater Arts Drama classes presented this hilarious romantic comedy as their Winter Show and midterm for the Senior drama students who all played the characters with skill and playfulness. The students, directed by their teacher, Raluca Georgiana Shields, focused on spoken and unspoken comedic skills, physical comedy, movement, and improvisational skills in...
From High School Theater to NASA: Joan Tubungbanua’s Journey
In an inspiring tale of resilience and determination, Joan Tubungbanua, an alumna of High Tech High School, recently gained recognition for her pivotal role in NASA's Psyche mission, set to explore a rare metal-rich asteroid. Her journey from a musical theater major to a key player in space exploration captivates the imagination. Joan's trajectory towards...
Gabriela Guadalupe’s Glitter at the Regional High School Dance Festival
Song Credit: Glitter by 070 Shake Congratulations to High Tech High School senior Performance Division Dance major, Gabriela Guadalupe, for her choreography being selected for the Regional High School Dance Festival in Norfolk, Virginia. She was cordially invited to present her dance, GLITTER, at the festival’s Friday evening Gala performance on March 8, 2024. Her...
HTHS Student Performance in NBC’s “Christmas in Rockefeller Center”
Their performance in NBC's "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" will air on Wednesday, November 29, starting at 7 p.m. We hope everyone will be tuning in! TAPinto: Voices of HCST will Help Light Up Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Hudson County View: High Tech's youth choir to perform at Rockefeller Center tree lighting in NYC
NBC Star Choir Singing Finalists
CONGRATULATIONS to Musical Theater director John Zisa and our students who are finalists in the NBC Star Choir Singing competition. On Wednesday, November 22nd, the winner will be announced on The Kelly Clarkson Show. The winning school will perform in the NBC Christmas in Rockefeller Center Special.