Friday After School Guitar
Posted by David Coe
The After School Instrumental class had an awesome year!
Each Friday the room was filled with 4th – 8th graders all playing together and having lots of fun! Our favorite songs included Ode To Joy, Do Re Mi and the original compositions Friday Afternoon and Groundhog Day. Since there were no other classes taking place we could turn up the volume on electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass, keyboard and percussion. Rocking out is a great way to end the school week.
We’ll be back at it next year!!
Wonka Jr. A Smash Hit!
Posted by Megan Kirk
I am so extremely proud of the cast and crew of this years Spring Musical Project, Willy Wonka Jr!
Over the course of the last few months, students in performing arts have been learning all about musical theater and what goes into creating a production. This unit started with research about how the genre of musical theater came to be. After this, students were asked to choose and pitch a show suggestion. This allowed students to see through the eyes of a director how a show is chosen. We had to think about the age of our actors, the age of our audience, the difficulty of the show, how many roles the show had for actors, and much more. When the day came to announce the Spring Musical, the students were given tiny bars of chocolate as their clue. They knew right away we would be learning the show Willy Wonka. Students dove right in learning the music. Soon it was time to add choreography and begin blocking scenes. In addition to being in the cast or crew of the show, students also got a chance to be costume and set designers. Each student created either a costume plot, or a stage design for a scene in the show. It was amazing to see their wonderful and creative ideas! This process has been one of hard work, fun, and growth. Our final show ended with wonderful golden confetti raining down on our actors as they took their final bows. Although it seemed to end so quickly, this show will be in the memories of our students and audience for a lifetime.
Comedic Scripts
Posted by Megan Kirk
Students in fourth grade learned the basics of script writing in performing arts. They then completed a class project where they had to work as a team to create a comedic short play loosely based on an existing fairytale. Not only were students learning how to write and perform a short story, they were also learning how to work together as a team – one of the most important lessons in performing arts! The end result was amazing and students had a blast showing their classmates their work!
狗年大吉大利 Luck and prosperity in the Chinese New Year of the Dog!
Posted by Kate Haviland
Click here to watch the Chinese New Year Assembly.
With the drumbeat and chant from our kindergarteners, the excitement of performing to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Dog began from the first moment. Students performed songs and chants using their own traditional crafts as props and introductions and background were given by our older students in… Mandarin and English!
Making these crafts gave students the opportunity to learn the Chinese traditions involving food, decorations and the history of this holiday. Very quickly each student knew the character – 福（fú, luck and happiness)and the traditional gesture for wishing a good Chinese New Year with the expression – 恭喜恭喜 ( gōng xǐ gōng xǐ). Students in third and fourth grade were very proud of themselves when they made their 福（fú）character crafts. As students learned in class, when福(fú）is upside down, it means “luck and happiness have arrived.” There are several upside down 福（fú）characters in the first grade students’ crafts, so luck and happiness have just arrived around us at Unquowa. Upper school students also made their own 春联 ( (chūn lián), adding happiness and best wishes to the celebration.
As you are watching this video full of our students’ enthusiasm and talent, we wish you and your family 狗年大吉大利 (gǒu nián dàjí dà lì)…luck and prosperity in the Chinese New Year of the Dog!
2017 Winterfest – The Lost Treasure of Unquowa
Posted by Lloyd MitchellThe magic of this year’s Winterfest 2017 for your viewing enjoyment!
Winterfest 2017 … What A Night!
Posted by Kate Haviland
What an INCREDIBLE night! Bursting with energy, Winterfest 2017 had the audience clapping, singing, laughing and, yes, even crying a little bit.
Our performing arts teachers wrote a fantastic script, The Lost Treasure of Unquowa, masterfully weaving the school’s centennial into the plot. The future of Unquowa was threatened in its 100th year and the students were determined to save it! A map discovered in the school archives sent them searching for treasure in the Kingdom of Unquowa where they met pirates, mermaids, parrots and fortune tellers. With the help of our traditional knights, wizards, jesters, stick and star dancers they found the treasure, a 100 year old letter from the five founding families of the school. Having discovered that the real treasure was the unafraid spirit of Unquowa, they returned to Fairfield where the town declared the school to be a “historical site”… protecting it for many centuries to come.
The range of music was amazing – imagine a script with numbers by Aretha Franklin, J.S. Bach, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Cole Porter, Earth, Wind and Fire, Dropkick Murphys and Gloria Estefan! Our instrumental ensemble led the way, the performers nailed every song and dance and the tech crew kept the whole night running smoothly!
Before ending with our traditional dances and the royal court declaring Friday to be a pajama day, the story closed with the entire cast chanting “100 years strong, this is where we belong“… and, of course, the audience joined right in!
