With bright smiles and sparkly costumes to match, Gymea Bay Public School and Mater Dei Catholic Primary School are in the running to win a major school performance award.
The primary schools are nominated for national story of the year in the annual performing arts festival, Wakakirri – Australia’s largest performing arts event. It tells stories that express the thoughts, ideas and aspirations of thousands of students.
A total of 22 schools from across Sydney were invited to Sydney Olympic Park across two nights on September 18 and 19) to perform their award-winning Wakakirri Story Dance productions.
A story dance is a 3-7 minute performance telling a story through dance and drama. Students theatrically tell a story using a combination of dancing, acting and creative movement to pre-recorded music.
After a knock-out performance at the Sydney primary awards this month, the schools were announced as among the seven regional winners, and are now in the running for the national award.
They celebrated multiculturalism, environmental protection, social responsibility and individuality.
Gymea Bay pupils put on a blockbuster performance called Believing Gives You Wings to Fly, about the story of Dumbo the elephant, centred around the themes of love, diversity and acceptance. When a baby elephant is born at a circus that is not quite like the rest of the herd, he is befriended by a tiny ringmaster who makes it his mission to make Dumbo the star of the circus, celebrating his difference. The school received the Best Musical Story award.
Wakakirri’s judge Wayne Scott Kermond called it “a highly energetic professional musical and visual spectacle, taking the audience on a journey.”
Also regional challenge standouts and best comedy story award recipients, Mater Dei told the energetic story of BEE Happy, where busy bees get into trouble among the anthills, where they compete against flies and leave audiences wondering who will pollinate the flowers?
It was described as a “very clever witty tale, with significant relevance to a serious situation.”
“The performances the story the tongue and check approach was very endearing and thoroughly enjoying to watch, a very polished performance from all the cast,” Wayne Scott Kermond said.
The national challenge is on October 17. Voting for People’s Choice is now open.