The audition process in Junior School productions always delivers surprises – not just to the students themselves, but to the staff who thought they already knew them, and to the families who raised them. A student who has never sung in front of anyone opens their mouth and something extraordinary comes out. Another discovers that the stage, far from being terrifying, feels oddly like home. In Year 5 this term, these moments have been the rule, not the exception.
To stand up and offer something of yourself in front of your teachers and peers is an act of genuine courage. Our Year 5 students brought that courage in abundance. The calibre and range of talent was such that our inaugural Year 5 musical, Finding Nemo Jr, could have been cast several times over – hidden talents have a way of surfacing when students are given the right conditions. Watching them come to light is one of the great privileges of this role.
But the story of this production does not begin and end with Nemo, Dory and Marlin. One of the things I love most about musical theatre is that every student has a meaningful place in the ocean. Our ensemble and chorus cast chose their own roles from a rich array of characters: seagulls, sharks, turtles, sea creatures and specialist dancers. That element of choice gives students genuine agency and ownership – and the energy they bring as a result is remarkable. Backstage, Darcy and Zoe (5JS) are already designing costumes for the full cast, while Jasper (5JS) has stepped up as stage manager, carefully notating every entrance and exit onto his script.
In our timetabled Performing Arts sessions, the choreography for ‘Fish are friends not food’ is well underway. The number opens with an irresistible swing feel before erupting into punk rock when Bruce catches a whiff of blood. To find the movement language, Year 5s were introduced to archival footage of Fred Astaire, Debbie Reynolds and the Nicholas Brothers – and watching them then apply that same focus to mastering the time step, tongue out, encouraging each other through every count, is precisely what Performing Arts education is for.
An inclusive Performing Arts program creates the conditions in which every student – whether they are a lead, ensemble artist, stage manager or costume designer – can discover what they are capable of. The ocean, it turns out, is big enough for all of them. We cannot wait to share it with you.
Donna Walker
Head of the Arts – Junior School
