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Performing Arts Newsletter
This year has been our busiest ever, with our students performing both at school and within the community.
We began our year with a visit to the Lowry theatre in Manchester to see Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella, the first of a number of theatre trips this year.
In October, our Street Dance group led by their choreographer, Levan Peart, became Midland’s champions. At the subsequent National Finals they were placed 7th overall – quite an achievement for a newly formed group – to be 7th in the country!
Rehearsals for the wizard of Oz began in earnest in September, as did all the dance clubs, in preparation for our annual dance production. Meanwhile, in February, a group of sixth form students performed a fifteen minute piece in the Telford Dance Festival at the Place theatre, Oakengates. Wizard of Oz was staged just before the Easter break, in April and the dance production followed soon after, in May.
On June 21st, our drama group performed a devised piece, ‘Homeless’, in the first ever Telford Youth Drama Festival at the Place theatre, Oakengates. Also in June our boys dance group performed at the ‘Boys Dancing’ Festival at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury. This followed on from their participation in a project to promote boys’ dance and they had worked for several weeks with a professional male dance artist to prepare the work. They also performed the piece for a group of boys at St Patrick’s Primary school and invited the boys here for a workshop, which they led.
Our Gold Arts Award students participated in a three day film making workshop, which culminated in them producing a film to be shown amongst others, in a film festival. The film was based upon one of the Olympic values, ‘determination’ and if deemed to be one of the better films, will be shown at sites around the 2012 Olympics.
Our Gold Arts Award and prospective Silver candidates participated in a two day residency with Rambert Dance Company and the experience will fulfil part of the requirements of the awards.
On July 23rd, several more of our students will be performing in a site specific dance work on the Severn Valley Railway as part of the Rosie Kay Dance Company. The section of the work has been choreographed by Dagmar Birnbaum, who was interviewed and employed to be one of the dance leaders for the piece.
Finally this year, our students have performed in an evening of drama. A complete play, based upon a true story featured in the first half, whilst two devised pieces and an extract from the John Godber play, ‘Bouncers; made up the second half.
On 12th July we attended the moderation for those who had taken the Bronze and the Gold Arts Award this year. Those who undertake this award do so in their own time and, as well as completing all practical tasks, must produce detailed evidence of their achievements in a portfolio. I am delighted to say that all our students passed and even more delighted that, for the first time, we entered three students for the Gold Award. Congratulations to Alicia Greaves, Lindsey Pritchard and Dagmar Birnbaum, who are also now the proud owners of an additional 35 UCAS points to add to their other A Level points towards entry to University.
I have many people to thank for this amazing year of performance; in the first instance I must pay tribute to Alicia, Lindsey and Dagmar for their production of the Wizard of Oz, not forgetting Abi Bradburn, who painted the scenery and who stepped into the role of the Wicked Witch at the last minute. The girls managed the whole project, from auditions to performance, to fulfil the leadership part of their Gold Arts Award. There were highs and lows along the way but the outcome was a positive experience for performers and audience alike.
Neil Bentley never fails to support us in all ventures and I don’t know what we would do without his technical expertise throughout our performances, an expertise he has shared with Georg Birnbaum, his excellent apprentice.
It is difficult to adequately express our thanks to Anthony Mason, who has turned up week in, week out to run our drama club, to support the production of Wizard of Oz, to prepare our students for the drama festival and our own evening of drama and to inspire and pass on his knowledge and passion for drama to them all. All this he has done on a voluntary basis. We shall miss him and we wish him well as he moves on to acting school later this year.
Finally, my thanks and congratulations to all the students who have made such a positive contribution to the Arts at BRJ this year. Your energy and enthusiasm, commitment and determination are a credit to you all.
Diane Whiting
Head of Dance, Performing Arts
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