Stratford - Festival Theatre - Twelfth Night - Thursday, October 6th, 2011
Today, Ms. Chang's 4's and 5's, together with Mr. Greczi's 6's, 7's, and 8's attended a brilliant, mesmerizing, musically induced performance of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night!
We all had a terrific time, watching fantastic performers; though unexpectedly, the performance was an hour longer than we had been told it would be. Well worth it though! Bravo and standing ovations abound!
Ms. Chang's class, together with Mr. Browning and Mr. Sawatsky ate lunch on the town and toured a little before attending the theatrical performance.
Mr. Greczi's class together with me, had a picnic lunch by the water. We fed some ducks, marvelled a the swans, and photographed the beautiful, graceful, elusive black swan. After a delightful stroll around the water's edge, we viewed the gift shop, and proceeded to the theatre.
Boys and girls - from what I experienced with you today, I must say that I am very VERY proud of you!!!! Your behaviour (with some minor shushing) was excellent. Bravo!!!
Everyone was polite, well-behaved, and appeared to really enjoy the performance. Lunch was delightful, and the fact that you "hit the books" at the gift shop, brings tears of joy to any teacher's eyes. Well done, my students, well done.
A big thank you to our parent volunteers: Barbara, Amanda, and Alfredo - your presence and assistance are greatly appreciated.
My apologies to parents for waiting for our arrival longer than expected. The performance was not expected to take 3 hours! Nor did we anticipate construction on the return trip. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
THE LAST TWO WEEKS.................
Grade 3's
We have been hard at work learning about presentations on stage: poise, elocution, diction, projection, pausing, breathing, and voice modulation while reading short selections on stage. Every student has had an opportunity to read individually on stage and be critiqued by their peers.
We have seen the stage, and understand that in drama, very often you must simply WAIT - QUIETLY.
We have received instructionS on puppeteering so that our audience will be more aware of which puppet is speaking.
Christmas productions are underway, slowly.......
Grades 6, 7, 8
Twelfh Night synopsis, characters, plot, love cycle, and theatrical presentations have taken up our last two weeks. We were well prepared for the performance in Stratford, as everyone had figured out that in the end there are three weddings, and all is well............sort of............poor Malvolio!
Auditions were mandatory for this group and with the exception of 3 students, I was surprised that after our lenghty discussions, Q&A's, and poignantly written instruction the rest was so ill prepared.
Audition results will be posted shortly - hopefully next week.
Grades 1 and 2
Stories and singing in prepartion for the Christmas concert are well underway. We have discussed many concepts to date that will assist us in our performance: miming, voice modulation, beginning and ending together, singing in unison, stage presence and bowing have all been experienced individually and as a group on our small stage. Soon we will progress to the larger stage.
We have also finished our Emotions series of books by Jane Bingham, and the children are very capable of showing emotions with their faces and body language. All very important when conveying what we feel on stage.
Grades 4 and 5
Once again, this class has been hard at work preparing for Twelfth Night. We have reviewed the plot, the characters, as well as theatre behaviour and etiquiette. We also reviewed proper behaviour in a restaurant. Hopefully, you were able to apply all we discussed at length in class.
Auditions were optional for this group, and the entire auditioning process was discussed at length. Unfortunately many opted out, and those brave sould who did audition were ill prepared. Next time I will walk you through it EVEN MORE, but the expectation remains that you: a) read the blog, b) read the bulletin board, c) ask questions in class, d) do the required readings - if it's in your drama folder you MUST learn it! That means read it over and over many many times!
ON WEDNESDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING WEEKEND: THERE WILL BE A TEST REGARDING THE OVERALL PLOT OF TWELFTH NIGHT!
It will be in class, half an hour, writing required. Please study your handouts, and watch the links of the BBC Shakespeare Animated Tales for TWELFTH NIGHT in this blog!
You will not receive a script without passing the test!
JK B (Mrs. P)
This young group is getting better and better. After a few frustrating classes, I am discovering that you CAN sing, that you DO know your actions, and you are able to combine them. Good job boys and girls!
We are now able to introduce ourselves. Our introductions are getting stronger and louder. I hope very soon that we will be able to start practising for the Christmas concert.
The children are repeating tongue twisters; they have listened to poems about animals and their sounds; they have heard stories about animals and have acted out how they move............all in preparation for the stage. (Wouldn't it be Funny, by Anonymous)
JK A (Ms. H)
This very young group is beginning to combine their actions and their singing. While still very quiet, they are slowly coming along. The ability to move to songs strengthens understanding and also allows for inadvertent development of breathing techniques.
Our animal imitations in terms of onomatopeaic sounds and characteristic movements were very impressive. We had many ducks and kangaroos waddling and hopping very around the classroom very well, based on our poem about them and their voyage. (The Duck and the Kangaroo, by Edward Lear)
JK B and SK's
Ms. M's SK class has been incorporating knowledge of animals and their movements to the stage. This is to be in preparation for the Christmas concert. We have now heard the entire story that will be performed on stage.
Ms. G's JKB/SK class has been very hard at work with our surprise for the Christmas concert. This group catches on very quickly, and is showing tremendous promise at following directions. They are extremely eager to perform, and are becoming experts in taking their bows and curtseys.
Both groups were very capable of acting out, in groups of two, the entire poem of The Elf and the Dormouse by Oliver Herford . The poem was mimed extremely well, as children were able to follow along with appropriate actions at the appropriate times. Well done.
A very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving long weekend to all!
Should you need to reach me with any questions, please don't hesitate to do so at mderas@stjudesacademy.com
Best regards,
Mrs. Deras
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