Performing Arts
Communicating with the Specialist Team
We look forward to partnering with you in 2021, and welcome your input:
Penelope Lang (Performing Arts) penelope.lang@education.vic.gov.au
A very big congratulations to Peter, Ruby and Brigitte who will be the Performing Arts captains for 2021. They will, no doubt, be kept very busy.
It has been a very busy couple of weeks getting reading for the school production auditions (for our grade 5/6 actors) and commencing rehearsals for the very exciting Peter Combe concert. We are incredibly lucky to have been invited to support the Aria award winning children's entertainer, Peter Combe, on his 'Greatest Hits' tour at the Melbourne Recital Center. We had many interested students (any many brave auditions) and now six students from grades 5/6 are busy rehearsing lyrics and choreography for 21 songs! The concert will be held on Tuesday 13th April (in the Easter holidays) and tickets are available online (see below). I also believe Peter has made a guest appearance on this week's episode of BTN (behind the news).
https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/events/2020/peter-combe-greatest-hits-tour/
Foundation
The Foundation students enjoyed playing our name game, 'Teddy Bear' to continue learning each other's names and have been practicing the use of their singing hands when singing the class roll. We used the tuneful phrases, 'I can keep a steady beat' and 'the beat is in my feet' to work on our beat keeping skills. Some students accepted the challenge of trying to march in time to their words. We will continue to work on this. We have focussed on following instructions (verbal and visual) and have been developing our understanding of stage directions such as, 'face forward', 'move to the back', 'turn around', and stagecraft terminology such as, 'feet together', 'straight lines', 'face the audience', 'find your space'. These phrases will be used extensively next term when we begin to rehearse for the school production. More recently we played the 'Mirroring' game to enhance concentration and attention to detail. They love our dancing game 'Rock Star' and it has been wonderful to watch them grow in confidence.
Level One/Two
During the last couple of weeks the students have explored their drama voices and knowledge of stage directions to plan, rehearse and perform a small role play. Students learnt the importance of setting the location (like we would in our story writing), engaging in conversations between characters (using loud and clear voices) and then coming up with a reason for exiting the stage. Some locations included the beach, a flower shop, K-Mart, a magic forest, mushroom world and Phillip Island. We discussed the use of gestures when we are acting and the importance of facing the audience. We spent some time unpacking the word, 'rehearsal' and what we should aim to achieve during our rehearsal time. The students loved my 'ABC' game (face to face, back to back, change) which was used to encourage concentration (and laughter!).
Level Three/Four
Our warm up activity was the game 'ABC' which required the students to concentrate, cooperate and communicate with the rest of the class. Important skills for inside and outside of the classroom. We then continued to expand our understanding of how to use a 'drama voice' when acting. We used small group roll plays to explore clarity, pitch, tone, pace, volume and the dramatic pause. The students used their understanding of stage directions such as 'enter stage left', 'stand center stage' and 'exit stage right' to help their performances flow. Feed forward was given (by peers and me) at the end of each group. We will soon begin fairytale sequencing with a plan to rehearse and perform short scripted plays.
Level Five/Six
We have continued to have lengthy and detailed conversations during our lessons about the students' roles in our school production, 'The Wizard of Oz'. We have discussed the audition process and the need for students to list 'character preferences' when completing the audition application form. The students have now been given their audition parts and have had two weeks to learn their lines in preparation for the auditions next week. We created a 'Recipe for Success' as a mini check list for the things that can be used during the audition process. This included the elements of the 'Actor's Toolbox' such as using a clear and loud voice, varying the tone and pace, adding simple gestures, moving around the space and keeping in character (and not giggling!). I am so excited and can't wait to watch our stars shine next week.
