Performing Arts

A Midsummer Night's Dream

DRAMA

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Congratulations to all our wonderful Drama students involved in the first Co-curricular Drama production for the year, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A special thank you to Co-curricular Drama teacher Mrs Sheree Kearney who directed this production and the Designers and Theatre staff for all their work to make the production so magical. Thank you also to Alyssa Vardy, Year 12, who assisted the production in the role of Stage Manager. The Importance of Being Earnest A huge congratulations to our Years 10 and 11 Drama students that performed in The Importance of Being Earnest. This spectacular show was well received by a highly entertained audience. It was comic and engaging with strong characterisation and ensemble work; we are so proud of these students. A special thank you to the Director, Ms Lizzie Dobb, for her hard work on the production.

Ballet without Boarders

Eisteddfod Our Years 7 to 11 Drama Festival teams competed for the first time at the Sydney Eisteddfod in the original group devised category. The judge commented on their excellent polish, clear storylines and strong ensemble work. A special mention to the Year 8 Drama Festival Team who achieved third place and the Year 9 Drama Festival Team who received a Highly Commended. These are outstanding achievements in a very large category of almost 20 entries.

DANCE

Ballet without Borders Congratulations to all dancers who participated in the Ballet Without Borders event on Sunday 2 May. The show was a brilliant display of the dance talent at Pymble and the dedication and passion our community has for supporting a good cause. The presence and performance of the four Australian Ballet Artists, Amber Scott, Adam Bull, Valerie Tereshenko and Brodie James, was a special experience for both our Dance students and the audience. It was very exciting to announce that from the ticket sales we were able to raise $14,000 for Ballet Without Borders and a further $1,950 from the online auction.

A huge congratulations to Miss Katrina Cluff, Head of Dance, for her vision and leadership of her amazing and dedicated team to achieve such success.

Year 12 Farewell

MUSIC

Term 1 Ensemble Concert What an absolutely fabulous evening we had at the end of Term 1 when all our Music ensembles joined forces on Gloucester Lawn to finally perform after 17 long months in our Ensemble Concert, Let’s Get Loud! The rain held off, the stars came out and the quadrangle was filled with fabulous music and an enthusiastic audience! Congratulations to all the performers and to the Music staff and conductors for their fabulous work, and to the Head of Co-curricular Music, Mr Kurt Schweinberger, for his organisation of the event. Term 2 Ensemble Concert and Year 12 Farewell At our Term 2 Ensemble Concert, we said farewell to 15 amazing Year 12 musicians from the College Co-curricular program. For some of these girls, their music journey began as a member of the Year 3 String program in 2012, or the Year 4 Band program in 2013. From trips to Italy and Japan, band camps, concerts, early morning rehearsals, ensemble breakfasts, eisteddfods and musicals, these 15 students have made a wonderful and indelible contribution to the College Co-curricular Music program:

Moana

Esther Choi, Alison Cook, Grace Fritz, Katherine Gibson, Margaret Goh, Hannah Grogan, Amy Jarvis, Emily Ji, Annabel Johns, Serena Kao, Clare Macpherson, Priya Mehra, Pragya Mehta, Tara Narayan and Sophie Smith. The Music Department wishes them well for their next adventures and hope that music will always be a part of their life.

Year 8 Elective Music Musical Congratulations to all the girls in Year 8 Elective Music, who performed the Disney Junior version of Moana.

Each of the 51 girls had a role to play as either a Villager, Ancestor, Ocean Ensemble or Shiny Ensemble, as well as four Moanas, two Mauis and his entourage, a chief, Sina, Tamatoa, Tamatoa’s claws and his gang members. Every music lesson the girls rehearsed, choreographing sections in groups, learning to sing, as well as learning the Polynesian language. There were occasional lapses in memory, but above all, there were giggles and camaraderie that only being part of a musical can offer.

The girls rose to the occasion for their first performance in front of the Preparatory and Junior School girls. The laughter from the audience at Maui’s funny dance moves, and Tamatoa’s ‘tude brought the house down, allowing the Year 8 girls the chance to shine.

Thanks to the skilful direction of Mr Schweinberger and the talents of Miss Buckley on the piano, our girls once again proved that they can “change the world!”