Due to technical difficulties, last week’s post disappeared into the ether – so this week’s post will cover the last fortnight. I start with Primary news and follow with Secondary news.
Students in the Primary School have leaped into the folk dance learning with enthusiasm. A number of children fondly recalled their previous year’s dances and talked about the reasons for which folk dance exists. Relating it to the culture and history of any country and looking for common understandings across countries has been the focus as we commence our choreography.
Each class in the Primary school has been assigned a dance from a different country. In some cases the dances have been either simplified or modified in order to best fit the age and stage of the dancers, but they are traditional dances. The performance will be held in the middle of March – keep an eye out for the date.
The students are doing the following dances:
K3 are performing a dance called the Itik Itik. It celebrates the traditional farmers who kept ducks. There are several steps reminiscent of ducks in the dance.
Grade 1 students are performing the Tea Harvest Dance from China. This dance celebrates the importance of tea to the Chinese culture and you will see several moves showing the picking and sharing of the tea leaves.
Grade 2 students are dancing a Kummi dance from southern India. The dance is used for many celebrations, including harvest festivals and weddings. The dance is traditionally in a circle; for audience viewing, this is not the case all the way through for our students.
Grade 3 students are doing a favourite of the 60s from South Africa, called the Pata Pata. It was hugely popular at a time when human freedoms were a hotly debated topic in the country.
Grade 4 students are working on a Fijian Meke. This is a dance that is performed for many occasions and may describe preparations for war or the return from a trading expedition. Hand motions for the girls are very important as they usually tell a story. Thanks to Ms Twigg, a Fijian friend who presently lives in Saudi Arabia, for providing me with music ideas.
Grade 5 students are trying a dance from Kyrgyzstan. The song celebrates the beauty of the country and the students will perform steps and patterns common across many traditional Kyrgyz dances. Look out for the horse riding step – horse riding is a particular cultural love and the Kyrgyz people are famous for their horsemanship. Many thanks for Mrs Bolotbekov for coming in and teaching me some steps and giving me ideas!
Finally Grade 6 students are preparing for a Kalinka, a famous Russian dance that comes with particular steps and is known for its changes in tempo. Thanks to Miss Camp and Ms Brewer for providing the inspiration through Ukrainiacs!
Clothing requirements for these dances are coming soon, and Miss Khadijah and myself are busy preparing for the Omani folk dance section of the unit. Stay tuned for this information. Heads up to parents of boys – check you have a dishdasha to fit your child!
Secondary of course have not been forgotten. They are required to take on more responsibility and therefore are expected to do the following: choose a country, investigate and view as many different folk/traditional dances from that country, identify common steps in those dances and incorporate them into a dance they choreograph themselves using music from that country. The students have been Risk Takers, looking at all sorts of innovative ideas that include Egyptian style dancing, Brazilian capoeira, Bollywood, Russian (cossack) dancing, a dance style from South Africa and more. The students will be performing these dances at the International Evening on the 12th of March. Choreographing, rehearsing and performing these dances are all part of their assessment.
The IGCSE dancers will be performing (as well) at the coming Cabaret – they are hard at work creating something of quality as I write. I hope to see many families there!
A busy busy couple of weeks and more to come! Have a lovely weekend!