Performing Arts News

Celebrating the Arts in Education Week

Education week has been a busy time in the Performing Arts Domain with performances in all areas – Drama, Dance and Music.

Each of these events have been celebrated with families and friends.

Performances have included:

Year 7 Drama Ensembles

Dance Night

Year 8 Concert Band “Open Rehearsal” and

Stage Band ‘Biggest Morning Tea’ in Chelsea Heights

Dance Night

I would like to congratulate everyone who participated in our Semester 1 dance night for 2018.  Everyone did extremely well & the night ran very smoothly.  It was great to see every year level involved whether it was class repertoire, Rising Stars, State Aerobics Team, Dance Xtension or Solo’s, I feel that this semester we produced some amazing talent.

Charlotte Baker – Performing Arts Captain

Aerobics

On Sunday, April 29th, the Patterson River Secondary College Aerobics Team competed in the Regional Qualifiers for TFT’s Schoolaerobics. After a sensational performance & equally fantastic feedback, they were informed they made it through to the State Finals!!

The team has worked extremely hard in the lead up to this competition - rehearsing every recess, lunch & during the holidays. They have shown tremendous team spirit, dedication & deserve a massive pat on the back!

Good Luck  Black Magic in the State Finals this weekend!

Ms Katherine Hawken

Dance and Aerobics Teacher

Drama

As part of Education Week, which is celebrating the Arts in schools, the Performing Arts department have been working tirelessly on a full entertainment program.

This term, Year 7 have been looking at the different conventions of dramatic story telling. Their task was to use a traditional fairy tale as a stimulus and make it their own. They had to include a clear narrative which includes a beginning, middle & end, along with a climax. They also needed to include narration and stage craft elements. 7A, 7F, 7G and 7C have all worked incredibly hard to brainstorm, create, rehearse, refine and perform their own renditions of their given fairytales.

Drama is one of the most effective ways to develop soft skills and emotional intelligence in young people. It promotes communication skills, teamwork, negotiation, socialization & creativity. It develops a better understanding of human behaviour and empathy.

Drama is fun and learning through play is a very effective way to learn skills for life.

Ms  Danielle Harvey

Singfest

On Thursday the 19th April our School Choir went to Mentone Girls’ Secondary College for an SEVR Music program called Singfest. The day was led by an African singing and dancing group called the Ubuntu Africa Choir which is currently touring Australia for Kwaya Australia. The Ubuntu Africa choir includes young adults from Kenya and Uganda, they sing, dance and play traditional instruments. The Ubuntu choir taught us their traditional songs and dances. It was a fantastic day, we all learnt a lot about the music and culture from Kenya and Uganda.

Written by Tegan Miller (Choir Captain) and Ms Molloy

Year 8 Concert Band

On Wednesday 23rd May, period 6, the year 8 concert band performed a concert in front of their parents, teachers and guests. The songs we played were Spinning Game, Strike Force, Beethoven’s 9th, Geronimo, We Will Rock You and Wipeout. It was a rehearsal to show the parents what we usually do in band. Before we play any songs, we do a warm-up by playing our tuning note and following the down beat. Different students introduced each song and talked about their instrument. A lot of parents came to watch and enjoyed our concert. Our class had a lot of fun performing.

By Kattie and Tiare, 8B

Stringfest

Students from Patterson River Secondary College were thrilled to attend Stringfest on Wednesday May 9th. Hosted this year by Cheltenham Secondary College, this event allowed for students from over 12 schools the south-east region to participate in a combined string ensemble under the tutelage of guest conductor Ben Castle. This event culminated in an excellent performance and recording at the end the day.

School Production News

Our performance of Beauty and the Beast is quickly approaching and we are looking forward to performing our 6 shows. Within 24 hours of tickets being on sale the Thursday matinee, Friday and Saturday evening sold out! If you still wish to purchase tickets, use the following link:  http://www.prsc.vic.edu.au/BeautynBeast/index.html

Earlier in the term, we had our movie night fundraiser which was a great success that saw our school community join together to raise funds for our production this year. We had over 150 people attend and it was fantastic to have so many parents and siblings participating in the fun! 

Everyone went above and beyond with their amazing Disney costumes and congratulations to all the students who received prizes for best dressed! 

Thank you to the parents who helped sew costumes, the staff who attended and helped with supervising and catering, we couldn’t have done it without you!

There is still an opportunity to help. For further information about sponsorship for the production, please see the article in the community announcement page of this newsletter.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Wednesday 20th June, 9am-5:00pm

All Day Rehearsal with the Band

Students will not be in classes

Monday 9th July, 2nd week of School Holidays 9am-4pm:   Costume/Set Working Bee

Tuesday 17th July All cast rehearsal until 5pm

Wednesday 18th July All cast rehearsal until 5pm

Tuesday 24th July 9am-5:00pm Dress  & Tech Rehearsal, Students will not be in classes

Thursday 26th July and Friday 27th July 11am and 7pm performances

Matinee to Primary Schools

Students will not attend classes this day

Saturday 28th July

1:00pm and 7pm performances

Mrs Hannah Witteveen

Production Coordinator

The Wizard of Oz Excursion

On Wednesday the 30th May, members of the senior concert band donned their ruby slippers and we were “off to see the wizard!”   It was a fantastic outing and we were dazzled by the majestic Regent Theatre and the amazing sets that transported us to Oz. 

The show stopper was Dorothy’s little dog Toto, who pranced along the yellow brick road with his new friends Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. The adventure was fast, energetic and of course full of musical masterpiece. Along with the sing along classics from this iconic story, the show had some new tunes to tap our feet to.  We were particularly grateful to have members of our upcoming production “Beauty and the Beast” in our midst. There is no better inspiration than learning from the best! A great day was had by all but of course it was time to head back….. after all, “there’s no place like home.”

Mrs Kristy Ackland and Mr Steve Mitchelmore