Performing Arts at SJV
🎶🎭🌍
Foundation – Exploring Dance and Music Around the World 🌏
Our Foundation students have had an energetic and joyful semester exploring music and dance through games, rhythm activities, and creative movement. They’ve learned to move different body parts to music, follow a beat, and create rhythms using instruments like drums, maracas, and shakers. We’ve travelled the world through dance—learning styles from the Cook Islands, Spain, Ireland, and the Torres Strait—and discovered instruments from the Caribbean, West Africa, and Mexico. In dance, students also brought The Very Hungry Caterpillar to life, using movement to explore how caterpillars crawl, spin cocoons, and transform into butterflies. A beautiful mix of creativity, storytelling, and movement!
Year 1/2 – Media Arts: Telling Stories with Pictures and Sound 🎨🔊
Students in Years 1 and 2 have been exploring how stories can be told using images and sound. They’ve discovered how pictures can show emotion, how sound influences how we feel, and how combining them creates powerful storytelling. Through activities like drawing, listening, and making storyboards, students are building creative and communication skills—laying the foundation for understanding how film, animation, and digital media work.
Year 3/4 – From Flipbooks to Silent Films 🎬🥁
This semester, Year 3/4 students have taken a creative journey into early filmmaking. They started by making flipbooks, discovering how still images can appear to move—just like the first movies! Next, they explored how music sets the tone in film by creating and performing soundtracks to silent films using percussion instruments. They experimented with tempo and dynamics to match the action and mood of each scene. Currently, they’re learning about silent film comedy, inspired by Charlie Chaplin, and creating their own slapstick mime performances. It’s been a fun and imaginative way to explore storytelling through sound, movement, and visuals.
Year 5/6 – Voice and Drama: Puppet Power! 🎭🗣
Our senior students have been diving into the world of voice and performance. They’ve learned how the voice works, how to warm it up, and how to use expression through pitch, pace, volume, and accent. Each student created their own unique puppet and developed a voice to match, ready to star in a short puppet play with their group. They’ve been rehearsing, scripting, and performing with flair, showing fantastic creativity and teamwork. We’ve been so impressed by the bold voices, clever storytelling, and confidence students have shown!