College dance festival success

Horsham’s Holy Trinity Lutheran College students have won a major award in one of the largest performing arts festivals for schools in Australia.

A school dance group won a Natural Cultural award as part of Wakakirri, a festival involving 240 primary and secondary schools at 40 professional venues across Australia.

The school’s story dance ‘The Colour is Within’, reflected on the experiences of Aboriginal Stolen Generation children.

The school first performed the dance at Wakakirri’s Bendigo show in July before winning an invitation to perform again at a Victorian Secondary Schools Awards Night at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre in September.

A Wakakirri National Panel selected the school for the award, praising students for an ‘evocative performance of an important story’ and ‘excellent choreography’.

A Wakakirri story dance is a three to seven-minute performance by a group of students that theatrically tells a story using a combination of dancing, acting and creative movement to pre-recorded music.

This year students explored themes including reconciliation, environmental conservation and mental health.

Wakakirri is designed to provide a platform for thousands of students to tell stories that explore their thoughts, ideas and aspirations through dance and drama.

Other national winners in Wakakirri’s secondary challenge included Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College, Riverside Christian College, Maitland High School, Mount Warrigal Public School, Hoppers Crossing Secondary College, Coomandook Area School, Holy Spirit College and Mount Erin Secondary College.

The Wakakirri Story Dance Challenge will return in 2019.

Registrations have opened and details are available on website www.wakakirri.com.