'Spirited Dance' a triumph!
The theatre at The Friary School, Lichfield was full to overflowing
on the evening of Monday 19th October 2009. Parents, pupils and
teachers gathered to watch 'Spirited Dance', a Study Support project,
and the atmosphere was positively buzzing with excitement and
anticipation.
'Spirited Dance' was the brainchild of the School Improvement
Division's Innovations Officer, Caroline Holder. This project,
focusing on building relationships between secondary schools and their
partner primary schools, combined the grace and skills of dance with
knowledge and understanding of faiths and belief systems.
The aim of the work was to explore the way in which dance is used to
express beliefs in many of the world's faiths, and how individuals can
use movement to develop their spirituality. Dance artist Charlotte
Edwards was brought in to work with students in their own schools on
examples from the major faiths and all the pieces were brought together
in a moving and professional production at The Friary.
The performance began with a Buddhist meditation walk featuring all
those taking part. This spiritual procession culminated in the stage
being filled with young people in calm and respectful pose, setting the
tone for the evening. Younger students at The Friary then performed a
piece focusing on Christian prayer which was full of symbolism.
Chadsmead Primary School presented their work on Hinduism through a
lively performance based on the story of Divali. The pupils of St.
Stephen's Primary School had been studying Islam and incorporated
complex patterns into their skilful combination of dances. 'Fiddler on
the Roof' provided the music for Willows Primary School to demonstrate
with enthusiasm their study of rites of passage in Judaism. A rousing
finale was presented by older students from The Friary who brought the
exuberance of bhangra to the theme tune from 'Slum Dog Millionaire',
providing a Sikh element to the programme. To complete the evening,
the pupils gathered together on the stage once more through their
meditation walk.
The hard work that had gone into 'Spirited Dance' was evident and
the student's' pride and enjoyment was self evident. Comments of
'excellent and 'amazing' were heard from all quarters on the way out of
the theatre. No charge was made for the evening, but the audience gave
generously to the Anthony Nolan Trust, a charity working to assist bone
marrow transplants for those suffering from leukaemia.
Many thanks go to the staff and pupils of all the schools involved.
The performance exceeded all expectations for the project, and was
nothing short of a triumph.
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