Kids dance, act, sing their way to The Nutcracker

Kids dance, act and sing their way to The Nutcracker ballet

Four Auckland primary schools are taking part in a unique arts programme, where the whole school gets involved and every subject taught during November, from maths to language is based on The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker.

At the end of the month each school has an evening for parents and their community where they showcase their newfound performance skills. The children then attend a special matinee performance of The Nutcracker and get to meet the dancers.

“The programme uses a different way of teaching and means children who don’t learn easily sitting in desks can really get creative and excited by learning through dance, drama and music,” says Sally Markham, Manager, Public Programmes at THE EDGE

Last year the programme was trialled successfully at New Lynn School using the Royal New Zealand Ballet performance of Coppelia.

“This is the second year we are running this programme. We had such an enormous amount of interest in this year’s programme we ended up taking on four schools instead of two,” says Ms Markham.

The programme will run during November, led by each school’s principal, and funded and supported by THE EDGE Public Programmes.

The primary schools involved in the programme are:

Hay Park School, Mt Roskill

Good Shepherd School, Balmoral

Mangere Central School, Mangere

New Lynn School, New Lynn.

The schools chosen to take part in the programme each take a leadership role and agree the whole school will be involved across the teaching curriculum.

“We have a lot of children who are part of this programme who have never even been into a theatre before, let-alone seen a professional production. It’s a great opportunity to expose these young children to opportunities and experiences they might not necessarily get,” says Ms Markham.

A group of actors, dancers and musicians including Taiaroa Royal, Ann Dewey, Wesley Dowdell, Rachael Dyson-McGregor and composer/musician John Gibson will also work with the teachers and children during the month at each of the schools.

Ends

Notes to editor:

The four schools (more than 1000 children) will attend the special student matinee performance of The Nutcracker on 8 December

The teachers in New Lynn Primary School are mentoring the teachers at Hay Park Primary School during the programme

The schools involved range from decile one to seven

THE EDGE® comprises three iconic Auckland landmark buildings, the Aotea Centre, The Civic and Auckland Town Hall along with the Aotea Square. The Public Programmes is focused on creating exciting innovative opportunities for young people to experience the arts. It is a leadership programme of THE EDGE.

Kids dance, act and sing their way to The Nutcracker ballet

Four Auckland primary schools are taking part in a unique arts programme, where the whole school gets involved and every subject taught during November, from maths to language is based on The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker.

At the end of the month each school has an evening for parents and their community where they showcase their newfound performance skills. The children then attend a special matinee performance of The Nutcracker and get to meet the dancers.

“The programme uses a different way of teaching and means children who don’t learn easily sitting in desks can really get creative and excited by learning through dance, drama and music,” says Sally Markham, Manager, Public Programmes at THE EDGE

Last year the programme was trialled successfully at New Lynn School using the Royal New Zealand Ballet performance of Coppelia.

“This is the second year we are running this programme. We had such an enormous amount of interest in this year’s programme we ended up taking on four schools instead of two,” says Ms Markham.

The programme will run during November, led by each school’s principal, and funded and supported by THE EDGE Public Programmes.

The primary schools involved in the programme are:

Hay Park School, Mt Roskill

Good Shepherd School, Balmoral

Mangere Central School, Mangere

New Lynn School, New Lynn.

The schools chosen to take part in the programme each take a leadership role and agree the whole school will be involved across the teaching curriculum.

“We have a lot of children who are part of this programme who have never even been into a theatre before, let-alone seen a professional production. It’s a great opportunity to expose these young children to opportunities and experiences they might not necessarily get,” says Ms Markham.

A group of actors, dancers and musicians including Taiaroa Royal, Ann Dewey, Wesley Dowdell, Rachael Dyson-McGregor and composer/musician John Gibson will also work with the teachers and children during the month at each of the schools.

Ends

Notes to editor:

The four schools (more than 1000 children) will attend the special student matinee performance of The Nutcracker on 8 December

The teachers in New Lynn Primary School are mentoring the teachers at Hay Park Primary School during the programme

The schools involved range from decile one to seven

THE EDGE® comprises three iconic Auckland landmark buildings, the Aotea Centre, The Civic and Auckland Town Hall along with the Aotea Square. The Public Programmes is focused on creating exciting innovative opportunities for young people to experience the arts. It is a leadership programme of THE EDGE.

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