Dance show has message
news@tepuketimes.co.nz
Te Puke Intermediate School’s dancers at next week’s Fresh Moves festival will have a serious take on the theme Because.
“We had a brainstorm together, about not only what could be in it, but also about what sort of things that were current issues to them,” says teacher Krystal Cooper.
“They came up with things like environmental issues, bullying, recycling — all sorts of things. But because we are an It’s Not OK school, we decided to go down the It’s Not OK road.”
Krystal admits domestic violence is a deep theme: “We talked about the bullying side of things when we did talk about the theme, and there were a lot who had been through that and family violence as well, and we talked about how to interpret those things through dance moves and music.
“A lot of schools go for the fun-loving stuff, but it’s quite a serious theme. We to get a message across, but in a way that’s beautiful.”
Krystal says having students aged 12 and 13 who can openly talk about the issues and who also understand the lyrics of the music helped.
“You probably wouldn’t go down that track if they were younger,” she says.
Dancing in front of others and working and dancing together tie in well with the school’s key competencies.
“Participating, contributing, managing self — all those sorts of things we talk about in classes — are part of it, Plus they are giving up their lunchtimes and a lot of their own time — they are really passionate kids.”
Pongakawa School pupils chose to base their dance around the idea “because we believe we can”.
The dance will take the audience through the letters of the school’s statement, which if the word “believe”: B. Be the Best you can be and give everything a go. E. Enjoy the journey and have a positive mindset. L. show Love, aroha and kindness to others. I. Information — we are eager and ready to learn. E. Environmental footsteps — we care about our environment just as we care about ourselves. V . Values — we have clear and visible goals. And for the finale the team all come together to show, E. Everyone together — tying up the dance as a group.
Teacher Jane McNeill says putting the school statement to dance was a massive challenge.
“We had to take something that we live and breath everyday and interpret it into dance which was incredibly tricky.
She says over time the dances improved with new ideas coming all the time.
“The commitment that these people have is insane. I first handedly know how much these people have trained and how hard they’ve worked. They’ve been giving up at least 2-3 lunchtimes each week.”