You do not need to be able to draw. The course is built around choosing a medium that works for you, including photography, painting, printmaking, 3D, and screen-based art.
Grade 11 covers set projects across different techniques plus the two written components, leaving most of Grade 12 free for the studio, where you develop a body of work in your chosen medium for your final exhibition. Students who want to work digitally have iPad Pros, Adobe Creative Cloud, and a large-format printer for exhibition prints.
What matters most is not technical skill on arrival. It is a willingness to make things, choose your own direction, and work as a young artist rather than a student completing assignments.
IB Theatre is collaborative by design. The course moves from the traditions and theories that shape the art form into practical work across creating, designing, directing, performing, and spectating. Rehearsal and performance sit alongside play text analysis, research into world theatre traditions, and hands-on technical work with sound, lighting, and projection.
Acting talent is not the entry requirement. The students who do well are the ones willing to take risks, analyse honestly, and work generously with others.
IB Film has no prerequisites. Students are taught from the ground up over two years, learning to understand, analyse, and contribute to the visual language of film. The course balances history and theory with hands-on production: film analysis and discussion alongside assignments and projects in which every student makes their own films.
Film connects naturally to other subjects. A class discussion can move through territory that belongs to English, History, Theory of Knowledge, or Global Politics, which is part of what makes the course distinctive. Students do not need to be confident editors, directors, or self-described creatives. The course asks for critical thinking and a willingness to solve problems, and builds the technical skills from there.
Music and dance are not formal courses, but both have a strong presence in campus life through student-led clubs. Student musicians perform each year at Ohga Hall in Karuizawa, and clubs rehearse and perform throughout the school year. For the full picture, see Clubs & Activities.
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