Junior School Arts
MRS BELINDA ELDRIDGE, CO-ORDINATOR OF JUNIOR SCHOOL ARTS MUSICAL We started 2020 rehearsing our musical, The Art Book. A young artist, Julia, had been left an art journal by her Great-Grandmother; and each year level brought to life an artist as Julia learnt about famous artists. Year 6 taught us about famous portraits and Picasso, Year 5 taught us about Vincent van Gogh, Year 4 taught us about Claude Monet, Year 3 taught us about John Singer Sargent, Year 2 taught us about Cicely Mary Barker and our Year 1 students were some mice who lived near the art gallery. Just as we were entering the dress rehearsal and performance phase of production, everything came to a halt due to COVID-19. Once we were back at school, we re-invented the musical into a film project. Throughout Term 3, each class was filmed performing their scene and then early in Term 4 the film was screened to the Junior School classes before being provided to the families to watch at home. INSTRUMENTAL AND CHORAL What an unusual year it was for performers as a result of COVID-19. The Eisteddfod was unable to proceed, Sing Out was cancelled and rehearsals
12
as we knew them were reconfigured for safety. The Chorale, consisting of Years 4 to 6 girls, rehearsed in small, widely spaced groups and gave a performance that we were able to film for parents. The Tartan Trebles, the Years 1 to 3 girls, had a brief opportunity to rehearse at the start of the year, before being paused for the remainder of the year. Junior String Orchestra and a widely spaced Junior Band proceeded throughout the year, with performances filmed for sharing with parents. Year 2 Strings and Year 4 Band were able to continue and even included a period in Term 2 when our Year 4 girls were having their small-group lessons whilst at home, via the internet! Lunchtime Concerts occurred each term, where students who learned musical instruments were given the opportunity to perform. The students performed for their friends as we were unable to have visitors attending. CLASSROOM MUSIC, DANCE, DRAMA Our girls enjoyed classroom Music, Drama and Dance throughout the year,
with Mrs Belinda Eldridge teaching Music, Mrs Katrina Bailey teaching Drama and Mrs Brooke Choice teaching Dance. CHRISTMAS MUSICAL With changes to our year continuing in Term 4, the annual Christmas Musical for Kindy to Year 3 had to be re-imagined. Instead of a performance in the Assembly Hall to a full house of parents and grandparents, each class rehearsed their own nativity story in their classrooms. We then filmed our performance to share with parents. OUR YEAR IN PERFORMING ARTS COVID-19 made 2020 a challenging year for performers and audiences. We constantly looked for ways to continue creating and performing in enriching ways and share these performances with our families. We hope that even though things were different in many ways, our students still had great opportunities to be part of ensembles and enjoy expressing their creativity through Music, Dance and Drama.
