CANVAS BAG DRAMA
It is great to be back on site at Rangi Ruru and connect with friends and tutors.
We are grateful to the facilities manager at Rangi Ruru for ensuing a super clean safe environment for us.
As I told parents in earlier emails, we had to change our Performance Dates. Normally we commence workshopping for the 3rd term show half way through Term 2, and that has just not been possible.
After negotiating with Rangi Ruru, and bearing in mind availability, we have been extremely lucky to secure new dates in Term 4.
Performance week will now be 2nd - 7th November. Dress rehearsals will occur in regular class time week beginning 2nd November, and groups are scheduled to perform on the following nights:
Students will need to be available from 4pm – 9pm on the night their class is performing on.
It is never easy rescheduling dates, so I am sorry for any inconvenience and in addition, asking that you mark your diaries now!
New Zealand went into Covid 19 lockdown at midnight on 25 March.
In less time than it takes a seagull to swoop down and grab a cold chip, a lot of enjoyable stuff that we fill our lives with, was similarly snatched away.
However, as humans, and especially as dramatic storytellers, we are nothing if not innovative.
And thanks to a couple of parents who emailed me saying how much their children missed drama, and could we provide something, anything, Canvas Bag also swooped its seagull wings into action and flew around to investigate how we could do this.
After two weeks of free trials, we began an 8 week Term 2 as Digital Drama using whereby.com.
Our digital classes are now in full swing, we have ironed out most of the technical problems and our talented students are now reconnecting and socialising and most importantly, telling stories.
“You’re a storyteller. Dream up something wild and improbable,” she pleaded.
“Something beautiful and full of monsters.”
“Beautiful and full of monsters?”
“All the best stories are.”
— Laini Taylor, ‘Strange the Dreamer’
Our digital classes are evolving as both students and teachers learn.
Of course we miss each other meeting in a physical space, we miss the rack of dressups, the drums, the easy way we could split into small groups to devise and then come back to peer assess.
But we are also witnessing something quite wonderful. The ability that students and teachers have to adapt and change to this new digital space. We can still share our friendship and laughter. We can still charge around our homes, an hour before class starts and dress up with whatever is available. We can still have a best actor award at the end of every session!
And we have also all learned where the mute button is!
So parents, thank you for supporting your children in continuing their online drama experiences. Please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us if you want a one on one to improve any technical issues. We are here to help and engage with, and extend your children, our students, as they ‘Imagine, Create! Perform!’
We look forward to welcoming everyone back, in the future, to our classes on site, but at the moment, there will still be plenty of beautiful things to encounter, as well as the occasional monster in our brand new digital drama room.