Performing Arts

Howdy all!

Where has the time gone!? Though the end of the year is fast upon us, the young performers at Trinity have still been working diligently to put together a range of storytime pieces for an audience.

In Prep, students have continued to recall and refine their choreography throughout rehearsals, working hard to deliver their moves in sync and with individual expression. Engaging in a variety of dance activities and practice performances, these young performers have polished up their footwork and have continued to gain experience showing their work off to a small audience. These practice performances have also given students the opportunity to work on their audience etiquette and begin building their skills in providing positive, constructive feedback on what they have watched. It’s nearly showtime!

In Year 1/2, each class has been steadily working through rehearsals of several different children’s storybooks. Utilising the work they did last term on emotions and expression, students have tackled this storytelling project with curiosity, empathy and a great amount of imagination! Starting with auditions and read throughs in which students were challenged to take on the roles of several different characters, students experimented with their voice, emotional expression and movement. Each tale centres around different sorts of animals and the young performers in these classes have been focusing intently on bringing these stories to life!

In Year 3/4, students have approached storytelling through a film lens. Using Roald Dahl’s “The Magic Finger” as a starting point, learners were tasked to imagine what the story might look like if the magic finger were used to bring joy into people’s lives. Using their creativity, students designed individual storyboards that outlined, shot by shot, a short scene that reflected the given theme. We then began filming based on some of these storyboards, with students getting to experience being filmed as both principal actors and background actors. Filming encouraged students to work in both small and large ensembles and to consider how their artistic choices and actions can positively add to a story.

In Year 5/6 performers have been working on staging and performing monologues in chorus from Drew Dewalt’s “The Day the Crayons Quit”. Working in small ensembles and with audience engagement in mind, students have divided their given scripts and have annotated the emotions and their intensity for a variety of lines. Following improvisation games and rehearsals, students have also annotated their stage movement, utilising stage diagrams to easily recall their positions during any given part of their piece. Small ensemble work provided students with opportunities to more readily see their ideas be used in the staging process and for them to take on some of the responsibilities of a director. Keeping audience engagement as a central focus has challenged performers to think of creative ways to stage and deliver their parts for maximum entertainment.

We hope that you can join us next Thursday, November 30th at 9AM for a bit of story time and readers theatre (please note that the 3/4 performance is a short film and not a live performance).

Another huge round of applause to the 5/6 drama club for their performance at Dame Nellie Melba’s Spring Fair:

A student in Prep sharing her opinions and feedback on a dance rehearsal she just watched.

Students in Prep performing a dance rehearsal in front of their peers.

Performers in 1/2RT practising their narration skills.

Principal and background actors in 3/4TR, setting the scene.

Year 5/6 students engaging in an improvisation activity that encourages students to consider different levels to create more interesting staging.

Year 5/6 performers running a rehearsal in which they are testing out their planned stage movements.