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Northern
Easter Holiday Course
Sunday
13th & Monday 14th April
As we
were unable to hold our usual Easter Holiday Course at ISTD HQ, the
decision was taken to hold two courses, one in the South and a Northern
Course to be held at Stevenson School, Gomersal, near Leeds, where we
could also hold our Examiners' and Committee meetings.
I arrived
Saturday lunchtime after a long drive from Essex to a warm welcome from
Cynthia Carr, the weekend's organiser, with refreshments on offer and
a relaxed chat before commencing the Examiners' meeting, which was to
last well into the evening.
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'Seagulls'
Photographs: Jennifer Schena |
Sunday
was pupils' day and proved to be very popular with over 50 youngsters
attending. I watched the younger group starting very tentatively with
their warm-up session, but finishing with smiling faces and confident
movements as they got to know each other and their teacher, Kim Cooper.
They were well set up for the day ahead.
The atmosphere
of the whole course was warm and friendly, with the teachers sharing
their enthusiasm and knowledge of Classical Greek Dance with the children,
who responded by doing all that was asked of them in their own inimitable
way.
Having
retired recently from teaching children, I found it lovely to be back
amongst them and to share their spontaneous reactions. As well as technical
work there were classes on the Olympic Games, and stories of the Gods.
Diane Sugden held a quiz, which had many original answers. One of the
questions - If you were a competitor in the Ancient Olympic Games, which
event would you choose and why? - was answered by a young lady of 7
or 8 years with, "Wrestling, because I have had lots of practice
with my brothers!"
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| Rona
Hart explaining Nature Rhythms |
Other
teachers during the day were Kay Ball, Cynthia Carr, Cathy Carroll,
Penny Childs, Susan Mitchell-Smith, Maureen Jeffery and Rona Hart, who
inspired the children with a class on Nature Rhythms, ending with a
day in the country. The youngsters portrayed badgers, noisy owls, plenty
of wildlife, a storm, daybreak, and finished very happily with imaginations
running riot.
The whole
day ended with an award going to two pupils who had applied themselves
during the day. I felt that they all deserved a big thank you for their
responsive work, eagerness and all-round entertainment value. As they
went home we settled down to our Committee meeting.
Monday
was programmed for students and teachers, starting with a class on the
new Grade 6, given by Cynthia Carr, and a session on tension and relaxation
taken by Rona Hart. This is a well thought out syllabus with challenging
sequences and innovative ideas enjoyed by the students and teachers
alike. I will certainly be trying some of the sequences with my more
mature ladies!
Alison
Seddon gave a strong and exhilarating athletic class, which led us all
into a break for lunch and our annual Faculty meeting, where we were
kept up to date with all the year's activities by our Chairman, Kay
Ball.
The students
were then given a class on expressive friezes by Rona Hart where it
was interesting to see them relax and respond to working together with
different moods and expressions.
The course
ended with the Joan Darwall Scholarship class, taken by Alison Seddon
and won by Ruth Draisey (Cynthia Carr/Christine Popple). The runner
up was Melanie French (Maureen Jeffery).
Roz Jennings
accompanied the whole weekend with her usual inspiring music which added
greatly to the enjoyment of the course. A very worthwhile weekend where
we had an opportunity to learn new additions to our syllabi, relax with
friends and keep up with all that is happening within our Faculty.
Thank
you Cynthia for organising the weekend, it was excellent value.
Jennifer
Schena
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