Education ViVA
Transitions
Tuesday 20th March 2007
Newbold Community School, Chesterfield
"I can't see how it could have been a more successful merging of the artforms. " - Dancer
Music and dance students from Newbold Community School joined forces with sinfonia ViVA for a performance which included the premiere of a new music, dance and film piece Transitions created by the students during a project which took place at the school in March 2007.
Following the successful launch of the Transitions project in November this project was part of a series of creative arts workshops all themed around Transitions taking place over the year. Transitions was chosen as a theme to celebrate the fantastic new facilities of the newly built Newbold Community School.
"There was a feeling of excitement and ownership during the performance. " - Musician
GCSE and A level music and dance students from the school worked with dance workshop leader, Tom Dale, music leader, Lucy Forde and a team of musicians from sinfonia ViVA to create an original piece of music and dance. The participants took their inspiration from a film which was produced as a result of a visual art and literature project which involved students from years 7-9 at the school.
" Many of the dancers grew in confidence from the start to the end of the project, particularly as they were proud of what they managed to achieve of themselves." - Dancer
The project culminated in an evening performance at the school to friends, family and the general public. The first half of the performance show-cased sinfonia ViVA performing the world premiere of the work Chesterfield Flourish, which was especially commissioned for this occasion from the composer Graham Hall. sinfonia ViVA also performed a selection of pieces themed around Transitions, including works such as: Elgar, Chanson de Matin and Chanson de Nuit, Piazzolla, Summer from Four Seasons of Buenos Aires and Honneger, Pastorale d'ete, amongst others.
"I thought the students, though reluctant at first, developed a great deal as musicians over the 4 days and gave a fantastic performance on the night that left the whole audience and performers on a high." - Musician
The second half of the performance involved the music and dance participants performing alongside 21 musicians from sinfonia ViVA in the premiere of their new music, dance and film piece. The performance, which involved sections of music, music and film and music and dance, was a spectacle for the eyes and ears!
This work would not have been possible without the generous support of Beam, Chesterfield Borough Council (Percent for Art Programme), Derbyshire County Council and ACE.
Images from the project...
