Excursions & Conferences
Year 11s Work with Jockey Club Sarah Roe School for First Ever Theatre-in-Education Unit
Posted by Carla Acepcion
Traditionally at the end of Year 11, students have worked on performing a play in the last term of the school year. However, we felt that this was too insular and that the students would benefit more from practising theatre directly in the community we are a part of.
Theatre-in-Education (TIE) is a term coined in the 60’s and typically includes a theatre company performing in an educational setting (i.e. a school) for youth, including interactive and performative moments. TIE seeks to educate young people on issues that are relevant to both them and their communities, for example; bullying, environmental preservation, and peer conflict resolution.
So, this year we incorporated a new unit, with our Year 11 Drama class entirely focussed on TIE.
In collaboration with colleagues at Jockey Club Sarah Roe School (JCSRS) we built a new unit of learning which focusses on our DC students creating, performing and supporting original theatre works specifically designed for a young special needs audience, set into the current JCSRS learning unit of inquiry. The unit was focussed on the environment and had themes of ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’, and our responsibility to help the planet.
Our year 11 students researched the relevant issues, explored similar materials for the allocated age groups and then, in groups, created a short play with accompanying activity to support the learning.
On the 5th of June, our two Year 11 Drama classes culminated the TIE unit with a trip to JCSRS to perform nine pieces of theatre and run their activities with across the age groups of 5-19. As our ESF sister school, the students at JCSRS all have complex learning needs, and yet all love Drama as much as our students do! Our students did a great job, and learned so much from the process. Their empathy, friendliness and teaching skills were heartwarming to watch, and the students at JCSRS all loved the performances and interaction with our students.
In response to the feedback received from the students, Holly Mannings, the arts coordinator at JCSRS, and I have
decided this was a great unit of collaboration, and the community engagement aspect was truly valuable for both sets of students. While the performances and activities were great, these were in groups, so while students were not on stage, there was little for them to do other than watch each other. Holly and I are already thinking of ways we can make more efficient use of the time we spend at JCSRS during the day, by having our DC students spend more time with specific classes, experience the Sensory Integration Room, and perhaps assist in the Living skills room or in the cafe run by their students. But for a first run, we are very pleased with the outcome of this unit – and as always I couldn’t be prouder of my year 11 Drama students!
– Danielle Veilleux
Celebrating Last Term’s Achievements: A Glimpse into Our Lively Department
Posted by Carla Acepcion
Welcome back! Spring break is over and today marks the beginning of term 3 – how time flies! This term is not a long one, but we look forward to the many performances, workshops and events we have coming up with it. But first, here’s a recap of our last term:
All year 7 students enjoyed a 2-hour workshop with Faust, focussed on stage fighting at the start of March. Matt and Ronja from Faust International Youth theatre company, joined us for two full days of teaching the students slapping, punching, choking and hair pulling, all for a fun way to explore stage fighting their next violent performances! The kids were superbly behaved, listened attentively and were highly engaged in a safe and fun way. They were so good at fighting realistically that we gave them stern warnings not to scare their teachers and parents with these moves around school or at home!
We hosted two evenings of Year 9 Duologue performances where all year 9 Drama students worked in pairs on an excerpt of a published play text; they memorised their lines, developed their characters and staged the piece themselves with lights, sound and set. Congratulations to all years ( students on an excellent debut to public performances -you all did a superb job!! The evenings went smoothly with some great acting, smooth transitions and fabulous engagement from all. We’re so proud to see how far you’ve come this year!
Year 10 Drama students have been studying Frantic Assembly, a UK theatre company known for their physical language and moving human pieces of strong, emotional theatre. Students created their own theatre based on this style, incorporating chair duets, standing duets, and monologues into their personal creations. These were performed to an invited audience over the space of two evening performances and all left with a feeling of amazement at the students’ creativity and professional development. Well done to all Year 10 students on their penultimate performance of the year.
Our wonderful Year 13 Diploma Theatre students performed their final component of the course, the Solo performances. Formed with research into a theatre practitioner, students show how they can apply a theatre practice to either a published play or a piece of their own creation. We had amazing performances to a live audience, based on Artaud, La Page, Wilson and Craig, with foci on set, lighting, projections and emotional response. A huge congratulations for the completion of the course -they have the final paperwork to submit, but their work here is done! We wish them all the best in their bright and shining futures!
The Hong Kong Arts Festival is an amazing opportunity to see a range of great professional performances by theatre companies from all over the globe. This year we teamed up with Young Friends organization to be able to offer students the chance to see a minimum of two performances for a ridiculously reduced price. All of year 10 went to see a rehearsal of Whipped Cream by the American Theatre Ballet, while all year 11 students went to see National Theatre’s award-winning production of The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-time, after they had a workshop at school on the play, led by a Young Friends leader. All students had the opportunity to join in with a further four theatre trips; Bosch Dreams, two viewings of The Pursuit of Happiness, and The Suppliant Women.
ISTA stands for the International Schools Theatre Association, a global educational theatre company with strong links to the IB, and they have recently established a base in Hong Kong. Last weekend they celebrated 40 years of school festivals, and Hong Kong Academy hosted 80 students from 9 schools in Hong Kong for their 2-day festival titled ‘Come Together’. We had 6 DC students participate, from both primary and secondary, and in the space of a day and a half they created an incredible, fully formed production for an audience. This experience never fails to amaze me -the students start working with kids they’ve never met before, and led by ensemble leaders they create the most visual and physical work that, under the guidance of an Artistic director, is formed into a dynamic performance with lights, sound, projections, and even a live band accompaniment! Well done to these students who dedicate their entire weekend to this festival -you did a fantastic job, and you are true artists in the making! I know for a fact you each loved this festival and will be sure to join future events – I look forward to going with you!
So these are all the main events we have seen happen this eventful March, but all have happened alongside the continuation of the regular events, like classes and Lower secondary production rehearsals twice a week. The production is coming along nicely – as a Director my aim to is to give the students involved as much ownership over this play as I can -and their ideas have continued to pour in, demonstrating how innovative and creative these wonderful students are. This is going to be a great show! I would like to offer family and friends the opportunity to walk into any of our rehearsals to see how we work. You are always welcome -only please realise you are letting yourself into spoiler alerts!! In any case, we look forward to welcoming you to one of the shows held on the 3rd of May. We know you’ll think it’s ‘incredible’!
All of the events in the Theatre and Drama studios lead to a lot of mess, so this term we are starting up our brand new after-school club of ‘Stage managers galore’. Every Tuesday a dedicated group of volunteers come to tidy and manage the rooms, props, costumes and spaces we use for Drama. Thank you to those who signed up! The students who show dedication and commitment to DC secondary theatre have the greatest chance of becoming a DC Drama captain in the future. Each year we have one student from year 11 chosen to work with the captain from year 12 to run our events. Drama captains manage the spaces, run lights and sound at evening and daytime performances, support the Secondary school productions, and led a whole host of events. We are very grateful for the dedicated work of our current captains; Leticia and Csende – Thank you!!!!
This term we welcome a workshop for Y8 students by the world-renowned UK theatre company, Trestle. This company makes and performs with masks, and as well as a teacher workshop, DC is inviting the actors to lead a workshop for our year 8 students, coinciding perfectly with their unit of learning on Masks.
Year 11 are launching a brand new Drama unit this year. Replacing the performance of a full-length play, this unit will be deeply embedded in our community of ESF schools. Our year 11 students are creating their own pieces of theatre, supported by an activity, to bring to Jockey Club Sarah Roe school as Theatre in Education. JCSRS is our ESF sister school for differently abled children, who have special learning needs. Our students have studied Sarah Roe’s unit plan of ‘We are the World’ and they have designed theatre pieces which complement the inquiry of their target audiences, even creating an activity to play with their audience to support the performance of their play. Students will be taken to JCSRS on the 5th of June, and I am sure both our students and JCSRS students will enjoy and benefit greatly from this unit of learning. I am really looking forward to these pieces!
Thanks to all the commitment and enthusiasm of all our Drama kids – you are helping to grow this department and making us shine brightly as the stars we all are! We look forward to sharing with you again soon!
DP Theatre Class of 2019 on their experience at ISTA TaPS
Posted by Carla Acepcion
On Friday, Dec 1st, our Y12 DP Theatre class attended ISTA TaPS Hong Kong at King George V 
school. Our students, Nicole Woo, Ethan Godinho, Abby Owen, Leticia Ayres and Hanna Swedenklef represented DC at the intensive three-day workshop with their usual unbroken enthusiasm and positivity, taking part in workshops on Wayang (Indonesian puppet theatre), Artaud, ensemble work and much more. The opportunity to meet and collaborate with their DP Theatre peers from across Hong Kong proved beneficial both in the context of the course and beyond, with the students feeling they had made new friends for life. Here’s what our students had to say about their experience in their own words:
“There is so much I want to say about TaPs and how much I loved every second of it, but I’ll keep it short. Spending 3 days in a supportive environment surrounded by people with the same level of interest in theatre really boosted my confidence and skills as a performer. From learning the techniques of Wayang
(Indonesian puppet theatre) to creating shocking pieces inspired by Artaud to working with students outside of DC, I was exposed to specific areas of theatre that will greatly benefit my progress in the IB theatre course. It’s so hard to choose my favourite moment from the past few days but I’ve got to say each session we had was extremely engaging and fun, exceeding my expectations by a mile. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to make friends and I have formed strong bonds that I hope will last forever – there’s a special place in my heart for every single one of the members in my ensemble and our inside jokes. It’s only been a few days but I can’t wait for TaPs 2018! There is no doubt in my mind that TaPs was the highlight of my year, and I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunity.”– Nicole Woo
“If I learned anything from TaPs, it is to “own your passion and do what you love.” Over the course of 3 days at ISTA TaPs, I cannot express the amount of gratitude I have towards the administrators
and anyone involved in creating these workshops. I am confident to say that I have grown as a theatre student. I have come out of this experience with a plethora of new skills and ideas that I can implement into my future projects. We had the opportunity to learn Wayang (Indonesian puppet theatre), an intense version of the 7 Levels of Tension taught by George Mann, and old and new techniques taught by our ensemble leaders. Throughout the workshops, I have learned so many new skills that will help me improve as a performer. I have never been so grateful and excited to be in a place that was so open and supportive about IB Theatre. It was so freeing to be open about my passion and finally feel like I was accepted fully as a theatre student. I am also so grateful that my ensemble became very close within the first day and continued so have a close bond even outside ISTA. If anyone was unsure about going to ISTA, I would tell them to just go for it! It was such an amazing and memorable experience! Can’t wait for ISTA 2018!”– Abby Owen
“TaPS was a great experience for all of us as we were able to meet people our age from all parts of Hong Kong who had the same interests in theatre as we did. We were able to share our thoughts[on] what theatre meant to us and how we could use it not only for entertainment in today’s society. Our ensemble leaders were very passionate and had a bunch of fun workshops up their sleeves which made the weekend even better.”– Ethan Godinho
“I would say my experience at TaPS was extremely positive. This past
weekend has been highly beneficial to me for the DP theatre course. I feel like I have learned so many valuable skills and lessons that will help me grow as both a performer and in my written tasks. This weekend has not only been a great learning experience but I have also had so much fun. I’ve absolutely loved meeting so many people that share the same passion for drama as I do and getting to collaborate with other DP theatre students across Hong Kong.”– Hanna Swedenklef
For more photos from the conference, check out this gallery!
You can find more information about ISTA & TaPS on their official website.
We would love to hear from you! If you would like to submit a review or other content please email:
Danielle Veilleux, Head of Drama: veilld1@dc.edu.hk
or
Paul McCracken, Drama Teacher: mccram1@dc.edu.hk
or
Carla Acepcion, Performing Arts Technician: acepcc1@dc.edu.hk
Photos from ISTA TaPS 2017
Posted by Carla Acepcion
This year’s ISTA TaPS was held on the weekend of Dec 1st – 3rd at King George V school. Check out some of the photos from the conference below:
We would love to hear from you! If you would like to submit a review or other content please email:
Danielle Veilleux, Head of Drama: veilld1@dc.edu.hk
or
Paul McCracken, Drama Teacher: mccram1@dc.edu.hk
or
Carla Acepcion, Performing Arts Technician: acepcc1@dc.edu.hk
