artsVoice 2014 MARCH

artsVoice Supporting the implementation of Years 7–12 visual arts, music, dance and drama syllabuses in NSW schools

artsVoice MARCH 2014

7-12

artsVoice is a curriculum publication produced

by Rah Kirsten to support the implementation of Years 7–12 visual arts, music, dance and drama syllabuses in NSW schools.

artsVoice

Cover image

Published MARCH 2014

Students in Years 7-10 from Coffs Harbour High School perform in Garlambirla: A Musical with Soul

Photography: Ellen Koester

Submission: Madge Hair (Drama teacher)

Any product and event information included in artsVoice from providers that are external to the NSW Department of Education and Communities are correct at the time of publication and are to be used at the reader’s discretion. The inclusion of product and event information is not an endorsement by the Department.

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SECONDARY EDUCATION CONTACT DETAILS Rah Kirsten is the Creative Arts Advisor for Secondary Education in the NSW Department of Education. In this role she coordinates curriculum and professional learning for teachers to enhance the implementation of dance drama, music and visual arts syllabuses in Years 7-12.

Rah also provides advice on state and national initiatives and policies and the implications for the teaching and learning of Creative Arts subjects in schools.

Rah Kirsten Creative Arts Advisor, Years 7-12 Learning and Leadership - Secondary Education

NSW Department of Education and Communities

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INSIDE 6

Editorial

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Time-based forms and the 19th Biennale of Sydney

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Garlambirla: A musical with soul

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Appreciating dance: Approaches to programming dance at Campbelltown Performing Arts High School

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Fresh AIR: NSW implementation of the Artist in Residence initiative

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artsVoice // your voice: Vignettes from arts teachers across NSW

Subscribe or contribute to artsVoice

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EDITORIAL Welcome to the first edition of artsVoice for 2014.

to tour to Broome. In her article, Madge provides an insight to the development process, including advice about their extensive consultation with Gumbaynggirr students, families and Elders.

Callback and OnSTAGE performances have ensured dance and drama teachers have had a busy start to the year.

These showcases provide valuable demonstrations of HSC standards to students and teachers. Congratulations to the schools who have had student work included in the programs, and also to those who will have work featured in the forthcoming ENCORE showcase and ARTEXPRESS exhibition.

This edition, I am also delighted to feature an article from Ashleigh Baso from Campbelltown Performing Arts High School, who reflects on changes she has made to her programming practice in dance.

The 19th Biennale of Sydney: You Imagine What You Desire, begins this month. This year Carriageworks presents a diverse, multi-disciplinary program exploring contemporary ideas and issues. In her feature article, Alana Ambados, Public Program and Education Coordinator, deconstructs timebased works for the classroom by suggesting pathways for the study of works. She also gives insight to time-based works that will be exhibited.

The Australian Curriculum and Reporting Agency (ACARA) has now published the Australian Curriculum: The Arts. Although awaiting final endorsement, the curriculum is available to view online, and also to download. I recently provided advice about the current status of implementation in NSW to the Department’s arts teachers through arts curriculum networks.

If you teach a secondary arts subject within the Department, and would like to join an arts curriculum network, I invite you to subscribe.

And finally, I am excited to be introducing a new column in artsVoice called artsVoice // your voice. It features vignettes of arts teachers from across NSW. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed putting it together! Please let me know if you would like to be a voice for your discipline in a future edition.

It gives me very great pleasure to become part of the voice that shares the story of Garlambirla: A Musical with Soul. Madge Hair, Simon Smith and the team at Coffs Harbour High School have had outstanding review and interest in this original musical that they wrote, and are hoping

Rah Kirsten Creative Arts Advisor, Years 7-12

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CONTRIBUTORS

Alana Ambados Public Program and Education Coordinator, Biennale of Sydney

Ashleigh Baso Campbelltown Performing Arts High School

Alana Ambados completed the Bachelor of Art Education at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales in 2013. She has teaching experience in a range of primary and high schools throughout Sydney and has previously worked in the public program and education departments of the Biennale of Sydney (18th Biennale of Sydney: all our relations), Kaldor Public Art Projects (Project #27: 13 Rooms) and Sculpture by the Sea (Bondi, 2012). She is passionate about engaging diverse audiences and communities through creative public and education programming for the visual arts.

She is also one of the ICT mentors and a Microsoft Peer Coaching Facilitator at the school.

Madge Hair teaches drama and English at Coffs Harbour High School. She has a Master of Arts (Hons) in Theatre Studies. Her Grandmother’s people came from Scotland and settled on Gumbaynggirr country at Ulmarra on the Clarence River.

Ashleigh is a dance and circus teacher at Campbelltown Performing Arts High School.

Madge Hair Drama teacher Coffs Harbour High School

Ashleigh has been working at Campbelltown PAHS for nine years. During this time she has established a culture for peer and self-assessment, embedding ICT into classroom practice across a variety of Key Learning Areas.

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TIME-BASED FORMS AND THE 19TH BIENNALE OF SYDNEY

By Alana Ambados

Juliana Engberg, Artistic Director of the 19th Biennale of Sydney: You Imagine What You Desire has curated an exhibition at Carriageworks that highlights artists’ use of film as a form of the readymade. Tapping into the plethora of images that exist in our everyday, artists have used found images and footage to re-examine our relationship with and perception of time and reality, as well as manipulating the structures of film and theatre to engage with ideas of space, framing and context.

screen culture, past and present, in order to investigate the intersection between film, art and the imagination.

Monitors and screens have become the interface with which we communicate on a daily basis.

Technology is now an extension of our physical and emotional selves, and despite being familiar with, and somewhat reliant on, screen culture, deconstructing time-based forms in the visual arts classroom still proves challenging. How can we make it easier for students to digest film and video when they are already living in such a hyper-visual, overstimulating digital world?

Set against the historic architectural backdrop of Carriageworks, installation, video and film works explore, extract and re-imagine filmic, theatrical and cinematic conventions. From popular culture and the golden-era of Hollywood filmmaking to science fiction and the sublime, artists are appropriating and digitally remastering aspects of

Carriageworks, one of five major venues for the 19th Biennale, provides an excellent platform for students to study the multifaceted nature of time-

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based forms. Below are three different ways that students could approach this study, along with examples and tips for further research projects.

Mathias Poledna, Daniel McKewen and Broersen & Lukács examine and re-define the context in which films are produced as well as the iconic characters and stories that have reached cult-like status.

Frame by frame: breaking down time-based forms

Austrian artist Mathias Poledna taps into the alluring history and language of filmmaking by appropriating the golden-era of American filmmaking in his film A Village by the Sea (2011).

The cultivation of the celebrity as the infallible hero is brought to attention in Daniel McKewen’s video installation Running Men (2008–14). Mastering Bambi (2010), by Broersen & Lukács, turns the classic tale of Bambi on its head by removing the eponymous deer and his assortment of animal friends, to expose the natural world in all its empty, almost sinister glory.

Let’s begin with time. Our students are working with and analysing time-based forms. We need to learn about and understand time before we deconstruct it. Time is linear, continuous, and fleeting – instinctively we want to preserve the moments in our everyday. Photography, film and video have allowed us to capture events in the present instantaneously, and no sooner than it is created, this documentation serves as a record of our past.

Film is analogue, ‘old school’ if you will, and video digital of the now. Time-based forms can be cinematic, linear or non-sequential narratives that reflect on, alter and reimagine our understanding of ourselves and the world.

These artists have used the imagery and conventions of popular culture as readymade construct. Their reinterpretation of film and cinema awaken audiences to the sentimentality of the process of production and the nostalgia of the narrative depicted on screen. In the adaptation of space, duration, storyline and protagonist we are encouraged to reconsider and critique our role in, and consumption of, a culture that influences and informs our own social experience.

In considering time-based forms, we think of the context of the work; referring to appropriation and the readymade – the history of time-based forms in art and popular culture. We can also consider the content of the works – how and why artists have used the medium to convey and challenge certain ideas, in particular about reality and the imagination.

Reality and imagination

Appropriation and the readymade

Moving on from artists who study and manipulate existing ideas and imagery in film, we encounter the dreamers – the active philosophers projecting their vision for future utopias or distopias, pushing the boundaries of reality and the imagination. The work of Henry Coombes, Gabriel Lester and Ann

Hollywood is the epitome of popular culture. As a society we are fascinated, to the point of obsession, with the drama of the American film industry – both on and off screen. Artists such as

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Lislegaard transports us to worlds that transcend reality and suspend our disbelief.

discussion during excursions, to the development of essays and practical artmaking tasks. In demystifying time-based forms, the exhibition will inspire and challenge students to re-imagine screen culture as they know it, becoming critical consumers of video and contemporary art.

The battle between the rational, ordered architect versus the chaotic, impulsive artist is played out to humorous effect in Coombes’ video I am the Architect, this is not Happening, this is Unacceptable (2012). With his frozen-moment installation, Lester’s work provides a focal point within the industrial interior of Carriageworks, referencing the evocation of mood in film and theatre. Interested in human-machine and humananimal relationships, Lislegaard’s threedimensional animation employs narratives from science fiction as a basis for the exploration of communication and language.

Resources The 19th Biennale Secondary Education Kit NSW Department of Education and Communities and Kaldor Public Arts resource: MOVE Video Art in Schools Australian Centre for the Moving Image resource: Film Analysis in the Classroom

Through processes of juxtaposition, exaggeration, and allusions to the smoke, mirrors and costumes of theatre, these works become static and moving canvases that draw audiences in, out, around, up and down. Whether standing on the precipice of a moment in time or jolted back and forth between alternate realities, audiences are invited to imagine a world filled with endless possibilities and desires.

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia resource: The Wandering: Moving Images from the MCA Collection

Alana Ambados Public Program and Education Coordinator, Biennale of Sydney

Summary Whether you are introducing time-based forms in the classroom, or extending students’ knowledge, skills and understanding, Carriageworks is a fantastic venue for engaging with a wide variety of contemporary film and video works. The 19th Biennale Secondary Education Kit provides students with a platform for analysing these contemporary time-based forms, with each question being adaptable to in-situ note-taking and

The 19th Biennale of Sydney: You Imagine What You Desire is open from 21 March – 9 June at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artspace, Carriageworks, Cockatoo Island, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. Additionally, several performative projects and public programs are presented around the city.

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GARLAMBIRLA: A MUSICAL WITH SOUL Sometimes we have a dream which develops a life of its own and surpasses our original expectations.

This was the case with Coffs Harbour High School’s original musical, Garlambirla: A Musical with Soul, which premiered in August 2013 at the Jetty Memorial Theatre, and had a second season by popular demand in October 2013. Both seasons were sell-outs.

Garlambirla poster

Artwork by Alison Williams

The purpose of this article is to share our developmental process and offer suggestions to other schools who would like to take on a similar life-changing and life-affirming project.

Madge Hair, Drama teacher Coffs Harbour High School Simon Smith, Music teacher Coffs Harbour High School Ben Ferguson, Aboriginal Education Officer Orara High School

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Students in Years 7-10 from Coffs Harbour High School perform in Garlambirla: A Musical with Soul

Photography: Ellen Koester

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By Madge Hair

Giinagay ngujawiny!

process, students travelled to important sites with Elders and listened to cultural stories on country.

I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the Coffs Harbour area, the Gumbaynggirr nation, and to thank our Elders for their participation in this project.

The re-enactment of these cultural stories is supported by traditional and contemporary dance and a full band pumping out soul, reggae and ska classics plus some solid Aussie singalong numbers like Solid Rock, Yil Lull and Blackfella Whitefella.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Cooperative; Mark Flanders and Garlambirla GuuyuGirwaa Aboriginal Elders Corporation; Yarrawarra Cultural Centre, Aunty Sue Tomkins and Bush Tucker Shack; and Margaret Somerville and Uncle Tony Perkins for use of their book, Singing the Coast.

What we want to share with other schools, is not so much the how we did it, as the how to do it yourselves. Remember that the task you are taking on is telling the story of 50-60,000 years in two hours. Prepare yourselves for tears, sleepless nights and battles with self-doubt, then get on with it!

In August and October 2013, Coffs Harbour High School performed two sold-out seasons of our original school musical, Garlambirla: A Musical with Soul, after a year-long developmental process, during which we consulted closely with our Gumbaynggirr students, families and Elders.

The first and most vital activity is to consult, consult, consult Our initial meetings with indigenous students established some of their priorities for a school musical. These included having Elders come to the school and tell stories, traditional dancing, Gumbaynggirr language, a boys group based on The Sapphires, hip-hop, dreaming stories, and the Jimmy Chi song Nothing I Would Rather Be from Bran Nue Dae. They also wrote down some of their own family stories, some of which were included in the final script.

To quote our press release: The plot of Garlambirla follows the Creation Ancestors on their journeys through Gumbaynggirr country and touches on significant points of crosscultural contact. Gumbaynggirr country comprises sky, land and sea, saltwater and freshwater and this is reflected in the surprising and colourful set.

First meetings with parents and Elders involved a lot of laughter as aunties reminisced about trying to iron box-pleat uniforms with old-fashioned irons, holding swimming carnivals in the creek and making dolls from bottles or steamrollers from MILO tins and coat hangers. Many of these stories,

The script was developed through extensive consultation with Gumbaynggirr students, families and Elders; academic research and moments of inspiration from country. As part of the consultative

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Student from Coffs Harbour High School performs Brolga Dance in Garlambirla: A Musical with Soul

Photography: Ellen Koester

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such as the first Aboriginal couple to be married in Coffs Harbour, or the correct pronunciation of the School of Hearts/Arts, also made it to the stage.

school. In my craziest notions, I had even imagined ‘flying’ the Moon Man onto the island on a trapeze.

These ideas were quickly quashed in informal discussions with Gumbaynggirr men Ian Brown and Ben Ferguson, who told me the story would have to begin with the first man, Yuludarla, coming from the east to land at Look At Me Now Headland.

Eventually, the opening scene takes form in total darkness, with clapsticks and boomerangs, then didge, as a huge sun rises above the sea.

Yuludarla comes on stage to meet with his wife, Gawnggan, the parents of the Gumbaynggirr nation, then dancers explode into movement to the tune of Goanna’s Solid Rock. Audiences love it.

One key suggestion from these meetings, was to avoid naming specific people or families and to instead use relationship names like ‘Granny’ or ‘Aunty’ so that the whole community could own the stories. Although we did try to practise this advice, families eventually gave identities to certain characters, coming to the school to correct us and offer other family names. This enriched the whole production by adding a deeper level of authenticity.

Go everywhere you have to go, in order to gain permission from knowledge-holders for specific sites and stories

Involve the kids in decision-making Our school was lucky to receive Transition funding, and we were able to use this to buy locally made didgeridoos, boomerangs and clapsticks. The didge-maker, Kristian Benton, came to the school with a variety of instruments and we had a few boys test them out and choose their favourites.

From that day, those boys practised didge every lunchtime, in corridors or in the playground, as well as formal lessons with Uncle Ben Ferguson on Monday afternoons. They were so proud of them that they protected the edges from concrete with bits of cardboard. They performed with them on stage and subsequently played them for other classes while teaching their cultural stories.

To do this, we attended meetings of the Garlambirla Guuyu - Girrwaa Aboriginal Elders Corporation with our Student Learning Support Officer, Mervyn Bolt, to show Elders draft versions of the script and discuss ideas. We also talked to Elders informally at other community events to keep them informed and to make sure we were following cultural protocols. Some Elders, who may never have attended school, prefer to stay within their community, so you have to be prepared to move out of your comfort zone.

Accept that consultation sometimes entails ‘killing off your babies’

Students ran the whole show. They painted the set, designed and ran the sound and lighting, stage managed and consulted with technicians from the theatre and other external bodies. They also got quite indignant if adults interfered!

For instance, I had always envisaged the show opening with a huge moon rising above Giidany Miirlaal, or Muttonbird Island, residence of the Moon Man and the cultural site closest to our

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seeing non-Indigenous students enacting their stories, and it also helped the students to bond as a family. Being “one big family”, was the most common comment students made when interviewed on film after the first season.

Take the students to your local important cultural sites We used Transition funding to pay for two excursions, where students travelled to important sites with Elders and listened to cultural stories on country. These excursions were absolutely key to informing ourselves about the Gumbaynggirr Creation Stories and cultural sites of significance, as well as gaining further permissions from Elders in southern Gumbaynggirr country at Nambucca and at Yarrawarra to the north. One key Elder died shortly after our visit to Nambucca and we dedicated the show to him. It was beautiful to have his sister and niece in the audience.

Start with a skills audit Know how many actors, dancers and musicians you have and either tailor your script to suit, or hire outside professionals to train the kids.

Simon has built up a 17-piece soul band, so our creation ancestors strutted, argued and loved to soul standards like Love Man, Respect, Midnight Hour and Shake. The first cross-cultural marriage was helped along by Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds, and the Truant Officer sent the Rude Boys down to Prince Buster’s 1964 ska classic, Judge Dread. The show was bookended by Solid Rock and Blackfella Whitefella, with Joey Geia’s beautiful Yil Lull taking the audience to interval.

It is hard to quantify how these excursions changed the kids’ attitudes, but we shared many special moments, such as playing Yil Lull while sitting in the sun on Look at Me Now Headland or, more poignantly, listening to the story of the Red Rock Massacre at the site, with the kids all painted up with ochre. The boys went out onto the headland with the men, while the girls plotted to hold a girlsonly excursion to local women’s sites, like birthing pools. These experiences gave the performers pride, respect and a feeling of honour in their task of representing the stories on stage.

In ten shows, only a handful of audience members failed to “stand up and be counted”, clap, dance and singalong.

Of the many eerily serendipitous things that happened (convincing us that the Creation Ancestors were on our side), one of the most fortuitous was meeting the incredible Afro-Cuban dance teacher, singer and choreographer Cristina Monneron. Christina transformed our dance scenes into a magical and energetic celebration of life.

Again, by serendipity, the dancers already had colourful costumes made by our CAPA Head Teacher, Jan Chivas, for their previous

Use colour-blind casting From the outset, Simon and I had planned to use colour-blind casting for both practical and philosophical reasons. We knew we had to use our best singers. However, this proved to be a huge strength of the show. The Goori community loved

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Students in Years 7-10 from Coffs Harbour High School perform in Garlambirla: A Musical with Soul

Photography: Ellen Koester

performance based on Earth, Sky, Fire and Water.

These fitted our show perfectly.

scenes, which mysteriously expanded! Or, kids would agree to perform provided they didn’t have to speak. One performer ended up with five major speaking roles through being sneakily coerced like this. He then went on to gain a place in a TV documentary Blue Zoo, which was filmed locally.

Play dirty tricks to get the cast you want A lot of our performers had never acted before, however they may have wanted to sing a particular song. Gradually we would reveal that the character singing that song had to act in certain ‘small’

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Students in Years 7-10 from Coffs Harbour High School perform in Garlambirla: A Musical with Soul

Photography: Ellen Koester

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Finallly, dream big

Aboriginal Elders had been acknowledged and completely involved.

We have a dream of touring our show to Broome.

But just in case, with the aid of a Community Arts and Cultural Grant from Coffs Harbour City Council, we brought Broome to us in the form of Stephen ‘Baamba’ Albert of Bran Nue Dae fame. Baamba performed some of his favourite Broome songs before and after the shows in the second season. The kids got to live their original request to sing Jimmy Chi’s Nothing I Would Rather Be with Uncle Baamba each night. What a joy to watch those boys painted up in ochre, helping Uncle Baamba up onto the stage, or the whole cast, arms joined as one mob, kicking their heels up to the chorus!

Our Goori students stand tall. All our performers and audiences know the Gumbaynggirr names for Coffs Harbour and important local cultural sites, as well as the Creation Stories behind them. We have apologised for atrocities in our area, and honoured those who passed away or were taken.

Student Learning Support Officer and in-school Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung Elder, Mervyn Bolt, wrote: I had the privilege of attending the opening night to what was a most awesome spectacle which united a community in relating its indigenous history in a fun, contemporary and at times sad way.

At the recent Buunji Conference in Sydney, keynote speaker Professor Graham Hingangaroa Smith challenged participants to ‘show us your blisters’.

Ben, Simon and I felt content that we could show not only our blisters, but our tears, sleepless nights and bruised behinds from having our butts kicked!

More importantly we could meet Professor Smith’s further challenge to demonstrate how our work had benefited our community.

The musical not only united a community but united a school in a way not seen before.

It had history, culture and modern day music intertwined in a stirring performance by students to a fantastic script.

Bring on the next performance!

One of our parents sent this message to the Principal:

So, if you are thinking about taking on a musical like this, all I can say is – do it! We are happy to share the script or DVD’s of Garlambirla: A Musical with Soul, or to come to your school and give you a hand.

I was completely gob-smacked with the entire show. I laughed, cried … but above all I was so, so proud. So proud that my daughter was a part of such an important message. So proud that children from all walks of life had come together on stage as one. So proud that ALL the children performed each action, word and song so genuinely. So proud that my children's high school had the presence of mind to tell such a story. So proud that the

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Madge Hair Coffs Harbour High School

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APPRECIATING DANCE Approaches to programming dance at Campbelltown Performing Arts High School

By Ashleigh Baso

As teachers, we seek many different methodologies when teaching the HSC dance course. Like many who teach dance, I have struggled with the intricacies of the course and its many parts within the designated time period. How do we find time to support students with their core performance, core composition, devote time to their major study, as well as ensure they have a thorough understanding of the theoretical components so they can sit the written exam with confidence?

“I simply tried a new approach to teaching the course and have seen the benefits of this so far. My new approach all started with the syllabus.”

I am by no means an expert on HSC dance or how it should be taught. I simply tried a new approach to teaching the course and have seen the benefits of this so far. My new approach all started with the syllabus.

appreciation of dance would underpin the study and practice of dance by students in my class.

This was by no means a simple process. In making Appreciation the cornerstone of my core practice, I was asking my students to adopt a duality in their thinking. This duality is ever-present in all their other subjects. For example, in English they are required to be the writer and the editor, in drama the director and the actor. This duality can often be logistically difficult to achieve in dance.

The thing that resonated with me was the term appreciation. The deliberate use of appreciation altered my perception of its purpose within the course. The theoretical component is not just about analysing and reading a dance work. The purpose of appreciation is to gain a skill set so students can appreciate the complexities of dance and its multiple layers. Appreciation in this context should be present in all components of the course. As a result, I have altered my pedagogy so that the

I am very fortunate, that at Campbelltown PAHS we have a strongly developed culture of peerassessment and self-assessment. I was able to use this as the foundation for student work in two ways.

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Dance students at Campbelltown Performing Arts High School.

Digital still: Rach Kirsten

was hard-going for all concerned. However, the gains far out-weighed the difficulty. Student understanding of the concepts within Appreciation grew exponentially. In addition to this, students’ ability to apply this to their own work and the work of other students meant that work in Performance and Composition not only improved but was validated beyond the scope of the confines in which it was created.

Firstly, it meant that students were already used to recording their work using a variety of devices and for it to be watched not only by themselves, but also by others as part of peer-assessment and selfassessment.

It also provided students with an understanding of criteria - what it means and how to meet the criteria successfully. This allowed students to hone their skills of analysis as they critiqued not only their own work but the work of their classmates. By altering the criteria against which students assess themselves for Performance or Composition, and aligning it to the concepts within Appreciation, students deepen their understanding of Appreciation concepts as they apply them to their own work. They are then able to make improvements to their work as they view it from multiple perspectives.

So, if the true goal of dance appreciation is to ensure students have an understanding of dance as an artform in its numerous forms - including in their own work, then Appreciation as a practice should be taught to reinforce the study of dance as a whole.

Ashleigh Baso Campbelltown Performing Arts High School

When first introducing this into the classroom, it

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FRESH AIR

NSW IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE INITIATIVE

Jason Wing, December 28 (within arms reach), 2013

aluminium, muslin, spray paint, projection

dimensions variable

Photographer: Silversalt photography

Courtesy of the artist jasonwing.net

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gained through the residencies to other local schools through gifted and talented student workshops and teacher professional learning sessions.

Three new residency programs confirmed for NSW public schools

Park Rd Studio: Artist in Residence This project will be delivered by Carriageworks at Alexandria Park Community School and the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence.

Artist in Residence is a federal initiative that is implemented in NSW through a partnership between the Learning and Leadership Directorate of the NSW Department of Education and Communities, Arts NSW and the Australia Council for the Arts. The NSW program - Fresh AIR, is a three-year, targeted, strategic initiative that builds on the previous NSW AIR program (2009-2012) and places professional artists in school-based residencies over a three-year period (2014-2016).

Four Aboriginal artists (working in dance, music and visual arts) are to be based at Alexandria Park Community School (K-12) over the three years, with outreach to the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence. Each artist will develop their practice while developing programs for both the primary and secondary students at the school.

The following is an outline of the three residency projects for 2014-2016.

Room 13 Artists in residence: A collaboration This project will be delivered by Shopfront Youth Theatre Co-operative in collaboration with Woniora Road School (Years 7-12) and Athelstane Public School (K-6). Room 13 aims to initiate a whole-school, multi-arts studio at each school.

between Cabramatta High School, Fairvale High School and Merrylands High School This project places three practicing artists in each school for each year of the program. Jason Wing, Clarissa Regan and Sarah Fordham are the artists in residence for 2014.

ROOM 13 is an international model of creative and social enterprise that explores artistic development and student-focused leadership and governance.

The visual arts staff across the three schools are working together to create collaborative teaching and learning programs with a focus on contemporary arts practice. They will also facilitate non-residential camps and extend opportunities

Rah Kirsten Creative Arts Advisor, Years 7-12

artsVoice

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artsVoice // your voice Vignettes from arts teachers across NSW A chart of part of the interior of New South Wales by John Oxley, Surveyor General, London, 30 Jan 1822 From the Dixson Map Collection of the State Library of New South Wales

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but even the idea of closeness to cats creeps me out. I was more of a horse-girl. One day I will move with my family to acreage in Tasmania, to expand our self-sufficient lifestyle, and hang out at MONA a bit.

ALISON JONES Visual arts and photography teacher, Head Teacher Professional Learning Willyama High School

DAN WILSON

My name is Alison Jones and I am an avid supporter of instilling an appreciation of the arts in our young people. I’m at my most creative when time permits me to escape from the necessities of life. Right now I’m working on new ideas for interesting programs to use with all my students. As a mum of young children, the art that gets done at home is usually 5 year old-directed, and not what I really want to do. I’m usually inspired by innovative use of materials and people who reuse and refashion objects for new purposes. My creative heroes are interesting, innovative and expressive people - whether artists or not. I admire them because they are not afraid to do and be themselves. The last exhibition that I saw was the Combined High Schools HSC Exhibition at Broken Hill Regional Gallery, that I officially opened. This exhibition showcases the Body of Work completed by the region’s visual arts and photography students. It made me think about how hard our students work to make something they are truly proud of and how wonderful it is to see the artworks in the great gallery space that is our regional gallery. In my spare time I grow vegetables and decorate cakes. I would like more spare time to finish the stained glass window above my front door and the quilt I started five and a half years ago while in hospital prior to my daughter’s birth. When I was younger I wanted to be a vet,

Head Teacher Creative & Performing Arts Lambton High School My name is Dan Wilson and I am Head Teacher Creative and Performing Arts @ Lambton High School in Newcastle. I’m at my most creative when playing music. As much as I love talking about it, so much more happens when doing music.

Right now I’m working on building the ensembles here at my school, and musical directing Star Struck 2014, which is a production based on the Schools Spectacular. I’m usually inspired by passionate people. Surrounding yourself by people who are continually doing, and changing and getting their stuff out there, inspires me to do more, be better and find joy in all the arts stuff I’m lucky enough to be involved in. My creative heroes are Jason Robert Brown, Ben Folds & Stephen Oremus. I admire them because their music (or arrangements in the case of Mr. Oremus) really resonates with me. I love hearing everything new that they produce, playing it, and playing it to other people… generally nerding out over it. The last performance that I saw was the Blue Man Group, which made me think about how to engage young performers in different ways in the classroom. I’ve been using the Stomp group as a

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springboard for lots of work on duration in Year 7, but these guys are like the next step into introducing Pitch in a really cool medium. In my spare time I like to relax with my family and friends. I’m really lucky to be surrounded by some really talented people in my life (some of whom will be reading this publication) who are always mixing between my professional activities and social life.

But most of all, I like to have a good laugh. When I was younger I wanted to live in New York and be a music copyist and engraver. A friend of mine and I used to dream of how we would set up a business working for all the big musicals in New York, sitting in the theatre during rehearsals marking up all the changes that were taking place. One day I will manage the balance between home and work, paperwork and classroom, and stress and fun much better than I do right now.

an impact on the arts in different ways. The last performance that I saw was the Aussie Ballet and Schools Spectacular, which made me think about the importance of training my students in good technique, and how talented NSW public school students are, and how lucky I am to be teaching the arts! In my spare time I love watching TV and spending time with my special little girl. When I was younger I wanted to be a ballerina or a doctor but teaching was in my blood (parents and maternal grandparents are all teachers!). One day I will spend time traveling to the USA and Europe, just watching theatre and dance and enjoying the culture of the counties.

CLAIRE LEIHN

Visual arts teacher Henry Kendall High School

KIM-MARIE SKERRITT My name is Kim-Marie Skerritt and I am a creative visual arts teacher. I’m at my most creative when I am relaxed and listening to music. Right now I’m working on setting up Skype to conference with a sculptor with my Year 10 visual arts class. I’m usually inspired by nature, the ocean, clouds, bush walking, and by people who can turn a bad experience into a positive and rewarding outcome.

My creative heroes are Frida Kahlo, Janine Antonio, James Gleeson, Yasamusa Morimura and Andrew Cooney (past HKHS student). I admire them because their artistic practice is astounding.

The last exhibitions that I have seen were Central Vision (an exhibition of Central Coast high school students at Gosford Regional Art Gallery),

Dance and drama teacher Plumpton High School My name is Claire Leihn and I am a dance and drama teacher. I’m at my most creative when I’m driving and listening to music - my best choreography is done in the car! Right now I’m working on Scratch with my 9/10 Elective Dance class. I am impressed after coming back from Mat leave with my new found energy! I’m usually inspired by music and people and my creative heroes are Twyla Tharp, Caroline O’Connor, Audrey Hepburn and Margot Fonteyn. I admire them because they were strong women who made

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Preview of Tibor (an ex HKHS student was an associate producer and editor) and Andrew Cooney’s (an ex HKHS student) photographic journey of Norway, which made me think about how students can really achieve their dreams. In my spare time I love to draw and photograph anything that captures my imagination. When I was younger I wanted to travel the world. One day I will manage to balance work with my own artmaking.

ASHLEA ROSS Drama Coordinator Maitland High School My name is Ashlea Ross and I am in my first year of teaching and the only drama teacher in my school. I’m at my most creative when I clear my head of negative ‘I can’t do this’ thoughts and just let things flow. Right now I’m working on developing a culture of drama in my school... I have big plans! I’m usually inspired by early morning starts. There’s something inspiring about getting up early and getting things done. My creative heroes are community theatre directors. I admire them because they work with minimal casts, minimal funding and (often) minimal support. The last performance that I saw was Onstage - 2013 HSC Group-devised and individual performances, which made me think about the exceptional talent that young people possess. In my spare time I love watching trashy American TV. When I was younger I wanted to be an astronaut. One day I will look back on my first year of teaching and be proud of what I’ve accomplished.

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